Approval rates
Comparing approval rates requires looking at the same timeframes to ensure accuracy. While your judge's overall approval rate since 2023 is 54%, the latest-period approval rate is 58%, which sits 8 percentage points below the Greenville office's latest-period average of 66%. These figures are drawn from a docket of 1,121 decisions. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your individual hearing.
Office- and national-level breakdowns of fully favorable vs denial rates aren't currently published by SSA in the per-office disposition data. The judge's own breakdown is the detail we have today.
Approval rate over time
Year-over-year approval rate across Judge Capece's docket. Annual rates fluctuate with the mix of cases SSA assigns; the longer-run pattern is more informative than any single year.
Decision pattern
Since January 2023, the approval rate for Anthony Capece has shown a steady pattern across 1,121 decisions on record. After holding at 53% in 2023 and 2024, the rate was 51% in 2025 and 58% in the partial 2026 fiscal year. This recent uptick in the latest period reflects a shift in his decision-making pattern, diverging slightly from the overall average as case mix or evidence quality fluctuates.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Capece's bench. Judge-specific preparation guidance requires a corpus of public Appeals Council decisions involving each judge, which we haven't built yet.
- Bring a clean treating-physician record. Longitudinal primary-care or specialist notes spanning the disability period, with consistent symptom documentation, are typically the strongest evidence at hearing. A single month's records usually aren't enough.
- Don't rely on consultative exams alone. If your medical evidence is built primarily around a one-time CE finding, expect detailed questioning. Supplement with treating-source statements where possible.
- Prepare for daily-activity questions. Have honest, specific answers about a typical day. Answers that conflict with the medical record (in either direction) tend to hurt credibility.
- Expect transferable-skills probing. A vocational expert will usually testify about jobs available to someone with your limitations. Your representative should be prepared to cross-examine.
About the Greenville hearing office
Anthony Capece's most recent office on record is the Greenville hearing office, which serves you across South Carolina. This office maintains a bench of 13 judges who have recorded decisions there since 2016. With an office-wide latest-period approval rate of 66%, you can expect a rigorous review of your medical and vocational evidence.
Other judges whose most recent office on record is Greenville
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. There are 13 judges whose most recent office on record is this one, 7 of whom decided cases here in the latest file through July 2026. These judges have approval rates ranging from 35% to 72% on their records. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same regardless of which judge you are assigned.
Approval rates change with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.
Frequently asked questions
Judge Capece's approval rate of 54% since 2023 sits within the 35% to 72% range observed among the 13 judges whose most recent office on record is Greenville. Because case assignment is random, an attorney can help you prepare your case to meet the specific standards of this office.
The approval rate has remained relatively steady, with yearly figures of 53% in 2023 and 2024, 51% in 2025, and 58% in the partial 2026 fiscal year. Understanding these trends is part of how an attorney can help you prepare for your hearing.
No, you cannot request a specific judge. The Social Security Administration assigns cases using a workload-balancing algorithm to ensure efficiency, making the assignment process random. An attorney can help you prepare regardless of your assigned judge.
An SSDI hearing is a non-adversarial proceeding where a judge reviews your medical records and testimony to determine if you meet the criteria for disability. An attorney can help you organize your evidence and prepare your testimony to ensure your case is presented clearly.
An approval rate is a statistical reflection of past decisions and is not a prediction of your specific outcome. Because every case is unique, an attorney can help you evaluate how your specific medical evidence aligns with the requirements for disability benefits.
