Who decides cases at this office
The panel at this office consists of 4 judges with a moderate spread in their allowance rates, which range from 55% to 80%. Because cases are assigned randomly, you cannot choose your judge, and each weighs evidence differently. This variation makes it essential that your file is robust enough to stand on its own merits regardless of who presides.
| Rank | Judge | Approval Rate | Total Decisions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert E. Lowenstein | 80% | 6,348 | |
| 2 | James L. Moser | 76% | 18,763 | |
| 3 | Michelle Thompson | 73% | 25,239 | |
| 4 | Sigrid Irias | 66% | 6,014 | |
| 5 | David J. Agatstein | 62% | 20,269 | |
| 6 | Jan Donsbach | 60% | 938 | |
| 7 | David G. Marcus | 56% | 18,673 | |
| 8 | Evelyn M. Gunn | 55% | 17,593 | |
| 9 | Alexander Weir III | 55% | 27,650 | |
| 10 | Sung Park | 36% | 21,261 |
Heading to an ALJ hearing? Get a free case review to prepare for your upcoming hearing.
Free Benefits ReviewHow long you'll wait
At Los Angeles Downtown, the average wait from hearing request to written decision is 9 months— versus a national average of 8 months. Here's how it's tracked month by month over the past 16 months.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
SSDI hearing approval rates — represented vs. on your own
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.
Going to your hearing
Hearings at this office center on your ability to perform work. You will sit before an ALJ who will review your file, often with a Vocational Expert present to testify on job availability. You must submit all new medical records well before the deadline, as last-minute evidence is often restricted. Bring your identification, a list of current medications with side effects, and a daily-activity log that details your physical or mental limitations. Because the wait here is 9 months, you have a significant window to ensure your file is complete. A well-documented case is the strongest tool you have to address the vocational expert's findings.
With a 9-month wait between your appeal and your hearing, you have a critical runway to build a case that anticipates the questions a judge will ask. Cases that fail at this stage often do so because the evidence does not clearly map to the vocational requirements of the jobs the expert identifies. You can pressure-test your file against these specific standards before you walk into the hearing room.
Field offices that route cases here
If your hearing is at Los Angeles Downtown, your case originated at one of the SSA field offices below — the local intake counter where you (or a representative) filed the initial application. Field offices don't decide hearings, but they hold your file, issue benefit-payment notices, and field the day-to-day questions during your wait.