If you are a disabled resident of Fresno, California (Fresno County), you have access to many experienced Social Security Disability lawyers who are available to walk you through the disability application process. With the help of a Fresno lawyer, you can get the benefits you deserve.
The Fresno hearing office is currently handling a total of 3,455 pending cases and has a wait time of 361 days. Applicants are often overwhelmed by the long wait for disability benefits. Yet, once they are awarded benefits, many find that Social Security Disability payments are worth the minor inconvenience.
In December 2011, Fresno County was home to 42,186 SSI beneficiaries as well as 17,900 SSDI beneficiaries.
Learn about SSDI and SSI here.
Begin your application for Social Security Disability benefits online or in person at the following Social Security office:
640 West Locust Ave
Fresno, CA 93650
Telephone: 866-931-9041
Consulting with a Fresno Social Security Disability Attorney
Retaining the services of a Fresno lawyer can increase your chances of being approved for disability benefits. A lawyer will understand the ins and outs of the application process and can help you file your claim completely and efficiently.
Learn more about the benefits of hiring legal representation here.
A Fresno Social Security Disability lawyer will also handle disability claims in the following cities located in Fresno County, Mono County, Inyo County, Tulare County, Kings County, Monterey County, Merced County, San Benito County, and Madera County: Madera, Merced, Modesto, Stockton, Salinas, San Jose, Hanford, Visalia, Tulare, Porterville, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Los Angeles.
Contact the Fresno Bar Association with any questions you may have about the lawyers who practice in the Fresno area:
Fresno County Bar Association
1221 Van Ness Ave, Suite 300
Fresno, California 93721-1720
Fresno Disability Hearings
Once an initial claim or reconsideration has been turned down, the applicant will have to schedule an appeal hearing to be held in the Fresno Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR).
Listed below are the approval rates for the judges (ALJs) who hear disability cases in the Fresno office:
| ALJ | Approval Rate |
| Bozarth, Shiva | 55.45% |
| Frost-Wolf, Joyce | 36.56% |
| Madsen, Sharon L. | 32.71% |
| Meyer, Ruxana | 32.01% |
| Septer, Scot | 41.51% |
| Snelling, Timothy S. | 44.83% |
| Stewart, Nancy M. | 56.54% |
| Surh, Matilda | 27.32% |
| Trunick, John | 59.75% |
*Data from http://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/03_ALJ_Disposition_Data.html
Once an attorney has handled many disability cases in the same hearing office, he or she may become well acquainted with the judges who hear their cases. Your attorney can use this information to prepare your case in the most effective manner.
If you are experiencing extreme financial or medical distress and need your hearing to be scheduled sooner than the date you have been given, you can contact your local congressperson to request a congressional inquiry. Your congressperson reached at the address and phone number listed below:
855 M Street, Suite 940
Fresno, CA 93721
559-495-1620
For more on disability benefits in California, see How To Qualify For Disability In California.
Fill out the following form to receive a free legal evaluation with a Fresno Social Security Disability attorney:
