Yocasta Duran was born and raised in The Bronx, New York. She joined many organizations and became a board member for Key Club International, encouraging leadership through serving others. While working full time, Yocasta graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Business. Yocasta’s internship with the American Association of Retired Persons allowed her to learn the needs and interests of the middle aged and elderly citizens in the United States. Yocasta focused on helping retiree and college students with their taxes and other financial needs. Prior to becoming a Disability Advocate, she worked for several years as a Paralegal for the Romano | At Law. Her passion to assist others grew from there, urging her to specialize in Social Security. Yocasta became a licensed representative in 2019. She continued her education of Social Security Law with the completion of various EDPNA courses. Yocasta became a member of the National Association of Disability Representative in 2020.  Her ability to speak fluent Spanish allows her to have a diverse clientele and form a genuine connection with our Hispanic claimants.

Throughout Yocasta’s time with the Law Offices of Joseph A. Romano, P.C., she has quickly grown in her professional life. Since becoming a representative, Ms. Duran has handled various cases related to Social Security Disability, Supplemental Security Income, and Widows’ benefits. Yocasta has completed over 100 hearings in the New York area and specializes in the four primary stages: Initial Application, Reconsideration, Hearing, and Appeals Council. She has obtained multiple on-the-record and bench decisions. She has aided compassionate allowance clients in obtaining a decision quickly. She has been successful in both children and adult disability cases. Due to Yocasta’s eagerness to learn new skills, she is available to assist in training new representatives in legal writing and hearing procedures. When she is not focused on writing legal memos, Yocasta occupies her time with translating legal documents and volunteering to translate for members of her community. 

Yocasta has always had a willingness to learn and grow. The Law Offices of Joseph A. Romano, P.C. has challenged her since day one and allows her to develop professionally. The firm has always pushed her to raise her standards and excel at everything she does in order aspire to be a better representative. In addition, Yocasta chooses to continue to develop her career with the Law Offices of Joseph A. Romano, P.C. due to their genuine care for the claimants and passion to represent each client to the best of their ability. The Law Offices of Joseph A. Romano, P.C. values their claimants and is understanding of the hardships each of them go through, striving to place the claimants’ needs first.