Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Haaversen has maintained a 62% lifetime approval rate over a decade of service. This is evaluated against the current San Juan Hearing Office average of 68% and the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from 26,481 lifetime decisions, offering a robust sample size for analysis. 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 Haaversen'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 10 years on the bench, Judge Haaversen has shown a dynamic trend in approval patterns. While the lifetime rate stands at 62%, recent years have seen a marked increase in favorable outcomes, with the 2025 period reaching 81%. This shift represents a departure from the lower approval rates observed between 2018 and 2021. The recent uptick may reflect changes in case mix or evidence quality presented at the San Juan Hearing Office.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Haaversen'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 Haaversen? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the San Juan hearing office
The San Juan Hearing Office serves claimants across Puerto Rico, managing a high volume of disability cases. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates within a complex regional framework. You can expect a formal proceeding where evidence quality remains the primary driver of the outcome. You can visit the San Juan 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, making your specific judge assignment essentially random. Within the San Juan office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 43% to 83%. This variance highlights why understanding the general environment of your hearing office is useful. 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.