On March 2, 2020, the Social Security Administration’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) updated the list of where to serve OGC when commencing a Social Security appeal in U.S. District Court on or after January 1, 2020. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-02/html/2020-04246.htm. Of note, the Office of the Regional Chief Counsel for Region I (Boston) will now be responsible for litigation in the District of Vermont and the Northern District of New York. The Office of the Regional Chief Counsel for Region VII (Kansas City) will assume responsibility for cases in the District of Connecticut and the Eastern District of New York.

While the appeals will remain in and be decided by the courts in which the action will filed, the attorneys representing SSA in the District of Vermont and the Northern and Eastern Districts of New York will be from other parts of the country. In those districts, summonses and complaints should be mailed to:

Office of the Regional Chief Counsel, Region I

Social Security Administration

JFK Federal Building, Room 625

15 New Sudbury Street,

Boston, MA 02203-0002

Or

Office of the Regional Chief Counsel, Region VII

Social Security Administration

Richard Bolling Federal Building

601 E 12th Street, Room 965

Kansas City, MO 64106-2898

Service in cases originating in the Southern and Western Districts of New York should still be mailed to:

Office of the Regional Chief Counsel, Region II

Social Security Administration

26 Federal Plaza, Room 3904

New York, NY 10278-0004

Advocates, however, should be sure to consult the local rules of each court. In the Western District, for example, service is now done electronically by the court at the commencement of the action. And observant advocates may have already noticed that attorneys from these OGC offices have been appearing in cases, including in the Western District. They have apparently been brushing up on Second Circuit case law.