Approval rates
Judge Hibner maintains a lifetime approval rate of 53% based on 7,274 lifetime decisions. Compared to the latest reporting period, her approval rate sits 17 percentage points below the South Jersey Hearing Office average and 5 points below the national average. These figures provide a statistical baseline for understanding the environment of your upcoming 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 Hibner'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 her 4 years on the bench, Judge Hibner has presided over 7,274 lifetime decisions. Her yearly trend shows an approval rate of 70% in 2016, 57% in 2017, 50% in 2018, and 53% in 2019. This pattern reflects a stabilization in her approach to case evaluation over the course of her tenure.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Hibner'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 Hibner? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the South Jersey hearing office
The South Jersey Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across the region, managing a high volume of disability cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 70%, which is higher than both the state and national averages. You should be prepared for a thorough review of your medical records and vocational history. You can see the South Jersey Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. At the South Jersey Hearing Office, the bench consists of 6 judges with lifetime approval rates ranging from 49% to 76%. Because you cannot choose your judge, focus on the strength of your medical documentation.
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.