SSDI Administrative Law Judge

Hon. Rossana L. D'Alessio

SSDI Administrative Law Judge at the Ft Lauderdale Hearing Office · 10 years on the bench · 21,823 lifetime decisions

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Approval rates

Rossana L. D'Alessio has presided over 21,823 lifetime decisions during a 10-year tenure. In the latest reporting period, your judge maintained a 71% approval rate. This data is derived from a substantial docket, providing a stable view of historical trends.

Metric Judge D'Alessio Ft Lauderdale National
Approval rate 64% 48% 58%
Fully favorable 63%
Denials 29%

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 D'Alessio's docket. Annual rates fluctuate with the mix of cases SSA assigns; the longer-run pattern is more informative than any single year.

Judge D'Alessio
0%20%40%60%80%100%FY16FY25
Source: SSA OHO disposition data. Approval rate = fully favorable + partially favorable decisions divided by total dispositions excluding dismissals.

Decision pattern

Over the past decade, your judge's approval rate has fluctuated, reaching 76% in 2024 and 69% in 2025. These annual variations reflect the changing nature of the cases heard. The judge currently approves cases at a rate higher than the local office average.

Preparing for an SSDI hearing

The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge D'Alessio'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.

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About the Ft Lauderdale hearing office

The Ft Lauderdale Hearing Office manages a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates under a complex caseload. The office-wide latest approval rate is 48%, which provides a baseline for the region.

Other judges at this hearing office

The Social Security Administration assigns cases using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Ft Lauderdale Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 36% to 68%. Understanding the broader office environment is as important as knowing your assigned judge.

Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer

SSDI hearing approval rates — represented vs. on your own

WITHOUT A LAWYER
baseline approval rate
Unrepresented claimants
WITH A LAWYER
~3×
higher approval rate
Represented claimants
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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