Kelly Disability Law

Focus and practice areas

Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income claims are the entire focus of attorney Patrick Kelly's firm in Alameda, California. The firm handles the first application, the appeals that follow a denial, and federal court actions when a claim reaches that far.

SSDI and SSI both turn on proving a disability under Social Security's definition, yet they reach different applicants. SSDI ties to a person's work history and the payroll taxes paid into the system over the years. SSI rests on financial need, and it is open to people with limited income and few resources. Kelly Disability Law works on both programs, so a client who falls outside one may still have a route through the other.

Keeping to a single field has a plain effect on the day-to-day work. The same statutes, the same medical standards, and the same hearing procedures come up on case after case. The lawyer already knows which forms the agency expects and how each stage feeds the next. In my opinion, that repetition is where a focused firm earns its keep, because the attorney has seen how a given argument tends to land.

The attorney and his background

Patrick Kelly is a native Californian who has practiced law in the state since 1976. He attended Santa Clara University and San Francisco Law School. For the past 30 years his work has centered on Social Security and SSI disability, and that focus defines the firm today.

Kelly has represented clients before the Social Security Administration at every appeal level, including federal court, in more than 20 states. The multi-state span points to a lawyer comfortable with the federal side of these claims, where the disability standard is set nationally even as local hearing offices vary. A career that reaches back to 1976 also means he has worked through decades of change in how Social Security decides these cases.

Credentials and memberships

Kelly is admitted to the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals and the California Supreme Court. He belongs to the California, San Francisco, Alameda and Marin County bar associations. He is also a sustaining member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives, a group known as NOSSCR that trains and connects lawyers who represent disability claimants.

As a reviewer, I read the pairing of a state supreme court admission and a federal appellate admission as the clearest public marker of how far Kelly has carried these cases. The county bar memberships also match the firm's service area, since Alameda and Marin sit among the counties it names.

How a disability claim moves

A Social Security disability case rarely ends at the first decision. Social Security denies most initial applications. A claimant can then ask for reconsideration, and after that request a hearing before an administrative law judge. If that hearing goes against the claimant, the Appeals Council and then a federal district court are the levels that remain. Kelly Disability Law works at each of these steps, which fits Kelly's stated record at all appeal levels including federal court.

The evidence that carries a disability claim is mostly medical. Treatment records, a treating doctor's opinion, and a clear picture of how a condition limits work all weigh on the result. The claimant's own account of a typical day often fills gaps the records leave. A lawyer who has worked these cases for years tends to know which records a judge looks for and how to present them in order. That familiarity is the practical value a focused firm brings to a person who is often unwell and waiting on a slow decision.

The hearing and what it involves

The hearing before an administrative law judge is often the turning point in a claim. The judge reads the medical file, hears from the claimant directly, and sometimes questions a vocational expert about what work a person could still do. Because the judge sees the person only briefly, the written medical record has to do much of the talking. A lawyer prepares the claimant for those questions, collects the medical opinions that speak to the legal standard, and shapes the argument the judge has to weigh. Kelly Disability Law represents clients at this level, which is where many claims are decided.

Where the firm works

Kelly Disability Law serves the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. The named communities include Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro and San Francisco, and the reach extends across Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties. A disability claimant is often in poor health, so a lawyer rooted in the East Bay offers a real convenience to clients nearby. That local base can matter once a hearing office assigns a case, since the Bay Area offices set their own calendars. The office sits in Alameda, which places the firm close to the Oakland and San Leandro communities it lists.

Fees and the first consultation

Kelly Disability Law offers a free initial consultation and asks for no payment up front to begin work on a case. For a claimant who has stopped working and lost a paycheck, that arrangement removes an obstacle at a point when money is short. A person can have the firm review a claim, or a denial letter, without paying to find out where the case stands. Because the firm does not ask for money to start, it carries some of the risk on a case that may take a long time to resolve. The Social Security Administration approves attorney fees in these matters, and they generally come out of any past-due benefits the claimant is later awarded, so a client rarely writes a check at the outset. I point to the free consultation because it lets someone get a read on a claim before committing, which counts when the road ahead can run for many months.

A practice inside public benefits law

Social Security disability sits within public benefits and federal administrative law, and Patrick Kelly's listed practice focus reaches both fields. These claims run first through the Social Security Administration rather than a civil courtroom, so the work turns on agency rules and on how a hearing office reads a medical file. The skills are closer to administrative practice than to a jury trial, at least until a case reaches federal court. Public benefits work of this kind rewards familiarity with the agency more than courtroom flourish. A lawyer who has spent 30 years inside that system knows the vocabulary the agency uses and the standards it applies.

The office and reaching the firm

The office sits at 2150 Mariner Square Drive in Alameda, and the firm lists 510-769-4895 as its phone number. A prospective client can call that number to arrange the free consultation and learn whether the firm will take the case. The Mariner Square address keeps the practice in Alameda, the city the firm names first among the communities it serves.