William Charles Bernhardi

William Charles Bernhardi

4.5
Rating: 7.9

Licensed for 39 years

Social Security & Disability Lawyer at West Seneca, NY
Practice Areas: Social Security, Administrative Law

950 A Union Rd Ste 240, West Seneca, NY

About William

Biography

Practice Areas

2

Practice Areas

Social Security & Disability 90%

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income Disability claims, Railroad Retirement Disability claims: from initial application to federal court appeal. For clients already receiving benefits: continuing disability reviews, overpayments, Workers Compensation offsets.

39 years | 11,000 cases

90%
Administrative Law 10%

New York State and Local Employees Retirement Systems claims for disability pensions: State and local employees, police, firefighters, corrections officers, teachers, other. From initial consultations and applications to court appeals. --- Student Loan forgiveness for total and permanent disability

34 years | 550 cases

10%

Fees and Rates

Cost

Free Consultation

$0 first 30 minutes

Hourly Rates

$ 150-300 per hour

Contingency

25%-33%

Pro bono

10 %


Payment Methods

  • Cash
  • Check
  • Credit Card

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Licenses

Licensed in New York for 39 years

State: New York

Acquired: 1986

Currently Registered

No misconduct found

Location

William C. Bernhardi Law Offices PLLC

950 A Union Rd Ste 240, West Seneca, NY, 14224-3463

William C. Bernhardi Law Offices PLLC

2656 West State Street, Suite 509, Olean, NY, 14760

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William Charles Bernhardi's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.5 /5.0

8 Client Reviews

5 star (7)
4 star (0)
3 star (0)
2 star (0)
1 star (1)

Posted by Sue | August 12, 2021 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Office Assistant 1

Every one on staff including Mr. Bernhardi did an exceptional job for my case. I cannot thank all of you enough for bringing closure to my case in my favor. You were recommended to me & I in return will do the same for you too who are in need of a very good lawyer. I will review the links you sent... me. If any problems I will call Lindsey for advice about my signing into SSA.gov. Thank you again for all your assistance n bringing justice to my situation. I wish every one the very best in all you do andsucceeding with cases as you have done with mine. Very best always - Thank you again - Sue Polich

Posted by anonymous | February 24, 2020 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Go anywhere else but here wasted 18 months of my time just showed up in court which case was lost office staff rude and unprofes

Waste of almost 18nminths he lost my hearing then told me to appeal then sent letter sayingntheyy dropped my case afteri became very sick and was hospitalized certain one hung up on me more then once very rude don't waste your time a lawyer s should be for their clients not let their paralegals or wh...oever they are be rude to clients when I told him she hung up on me more then once he claimed oh her husband is sick don't waste your time as mine was wasted they never call you back and when you call there they act as if your bothering them go elsewhere horrible experience find a lawyer with compassion also office staff most were no help at all they stated several times oh we don't help with paperwork big big mistake wish no woulda went with anyone else as I was told after I got him as a lawyer .. He lets his so called paralegal assistant Denise hang up on people then defends her stating her husbands sick well th e n she s should be doing different work my case was toast from the get go as th e y gave no help at all and lawyer you met once for 20 min then he goes to court no other interaction at all

William Bernhardi

Replied last July 11, 2023

I cannot comment on the particular details of this case. However, It does not seem consistent with my office’s normal practice. Before any hearing the attorney has an extensive meeting or conference call with the clients, to prepare the client for the hearing. These are straight contingency fee cases, no fee unless we win. Of course we want to maximize the client’s chance of winning. If we receive an unfavorable decision, we file an appeal for the client if the claim has any merit at all. If what this reviewer said is true, that we declined to appeal their case further after an unfavorable hearing decision, that would only be for one of two reasons: (a) the case was shown to have no reasonable chance of success, either because of the evidence or because the client was caught in an obvious lie or otherwise clearly not a credible witness; or (b) it was one of the rare cases where the client was so abusive toward staff despite warnings, that we could no longer tolerate representing them. I leave it to the reader to speculate which of these applied to this reviewer.

Posted by Christopher | December 17, 2019 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

On the ball

I was very impressed on how Mr. Bernhardi was responsive and on the ball. He was always available for questions and made the process easy. I highly reccomend!

Posted by anonymous | May 2, 2019 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Good Results

I couldn't be happier with the results from working with Bernhardi Law. Although the process takes awhile and there is a lot of paperwork to file Initially Bernhardi Law answered any questions I had and handled additional paperwork that you will receive through out the process. Thank you so ...much to Everyone at Bernhardi Law.

Posted by cynthia | May 1, 2019 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Very Satisfied Client

My attorney at the William Bernhardi law firm was very thorough in their research and presentation of my case. As we got further into my consultation i became more and more confident in their ability to present a strong case and eventually was awarded a favorable verdict. I highly recommend calling... the William Bernhardi firm to make an appointment for a consultation.

See All Client Reviews

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Experience

Rating:  7.9 (Very Good)

Honors

2024

Distinguished, Martindale-Hubbell

2016

BV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

2016

Top Attorneys North America 2015-2016, Who's Who Legal

Work Experience

2016 - 2016

Attorney Owner, William C. Bernhardi Law Offices PLLC

2011 - 2015

Managing Partner, Bernhardi & Lukasik PLLC

1988 - 2011

Attorney Owner, William C. Bernhardi Law Offices

1986 - 1988

Associate Attorney, Small law firms

1983 - 1986

Social Security Disability Analyst, NY State Disability Determination Services

1977 - 1980

Claims Representative, Social Security Administration Field Office

Associations

1995 - Present

National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives

Sustaining Member

1986 - Present

Bar Association of Erie County

Member

2005 - 2007

Bar Association of Erie County

Committee for the Disabled Chair

Sample of Legal Cases

Poole v. U.S. Railroad Retirement Board

Fully favorable outcome, Court of Appeals ordered the claim paid without further proceedings.

See More Legal Cases

Education

1980

Syracuse University College of Law

JD - Juris Doctor

1975

University At Buffalo

BA

1971

Ithaca College

Speaking Engagements

2009

Bar Association Noonday lecture

Workers Compensation offset and Social Security

Languages

English

Spanish

Activity

Avvo Rating

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