William C. Bernhardi

Personal Introduction

- June, 2026 will mark my 40th year practicing law. For the first few years I had a family law trial practice, but my past SSA work experience surfaced. For the last 38 years I have concentrated in Social Security and SSI Disability claims for benefits, and related matters such as DOJ Law Enforcement Total and Permant Disability, Railroad Retirement, and Workers Compensation offset of SSDI benefits.. - I am admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. See Poole v. United States Railroad Retirement Board, 905 F.2d 654 (2d Cir. 1990). I am also admitted in the United States District Court, Western District of New York, with numerous reported cases. - Before admission to practice I was a Social Security Claims Representative responsible for nonmedical aspects of claims, and as a Social Security Disability Analyst responsible for initial level medical adjudication of disability claims. - Almost all Social Security hearings are remote by Telephone or Microsoft Teams video, and hearing level cases are routinely assigned to hearing locations which could be hundreds or thousands of miles from the claimant's residence. SSA regulations only require an attorney to be admitted in one state, not where a claimant lives or where the hearing is held. Apart from slight case law variations between federal Circuits, the law is uniform throughout the country. For those reasons, I can and have represented claimants who live in different states.