Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to regional and national benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Fons maintains a lifetime approval rate of 47% based on 17,931 decisions. This figure is compared against the latest office, state, and national averages to help you understand the broader landscape of your claim. 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 Fons'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 a 9-year tenure, your judge's approval rate has fluctuated, moving from 62% in 2017 to 38% in 2025. The latest reporting period reflects a 35% approval rate. These variations often stem from changes in the complexity of cases or the specific medical evidence presented. This trend indicates that recent decision-making has been more conservative than in earlier years on the bench.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Fons'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 Fons? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Atlanta North hearing office
The Atlanta North hearing office serves you throughout the Georgia region. It is staffed by a team of judges who manage a high volume of disability claims annually. The office currently reports an approval rate that reflects the diverse nature of the cases heard in this jurisdiction. You can see the Atlanta North Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
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. At the Atlanta North hearing office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 22% to 65%. This variance highlights why focusing on the strength of your own medical evidence is essential. You can find more information on the Atlanta North hearing office page.
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.