Approval rates
Judge Evans has issued 2,417 lifetime decisions with an approval rate of 32%. This performance is 16 percentage points below the Ft Lauderdale office average of 48% and 26 points below the national average of 58%. These figures provide a statistical baseline for understanding the judge's historical decision-making. 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 Evans'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
The approval rate for Judge Evans has fluctuated over their 3-year tenure. Starting at 25% in 2016, the rate increased to 40% in 2017 before settling at 32% in 2018. This trend reflects the judge's early career adjustments and subsequent stabilization of decision-making patterns.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Evans'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 Evans? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Ft Lauderdale hearing office
The Ft Lauderdale Hearing Office serves a significant volume of applicants across Florida. With a bench of 6 judges, the office manages a high caseload typical of major metropolitan areas. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 48%, which serves as a benchmark for the local judicial environment.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases to judges using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Within the Ft Lauderdale office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 32% to 68%. This variance highlights why knowing the tendencies of your assigned judge is a standard part of hearing preparation.
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.