Approval rates
Judge Carter maintains a lifetime approval rate of 60%, which compares favorably to the 52% office average and the 58% national average. These figures are derived from a significant docket of 14,661 lifetime decisions, providing a robust data set for understanding historical decision-making tendencies. 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 Carter'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
Over 7 years on the bench, Judge Carter has demonstrated a consistent approach to disability adjudication. Yearly approval trends show a steady trajectory, moving from 50% in 2016 to a peak of 65% in 2020, before stabilizing in recent years. This pattern reflects a judge who has refined an evaluation process over a high volume of cases. The latest reporting period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Carter'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.
Hearing with Judge Carter? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Savannah hearing office
The Savannah Hearing Office serves a broad population across Georgia, managing a high volume of disability claims with a bench of 6 judges. You can expect a formal process focused on the medical evidence presented in your file. The office maintains a latest approval rate of 52%, reflecting the regional complexity of cases. You can see the Savannah Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Savannah Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 37% to 73%. Because of this variance, understanding the local environment is helpful, but for preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.