Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance against recent office and national benchmarks provides helpful context for your hearing. Judge Houston maintains a 57% lifetime approval rate, which is measured against the latest Orlando Hearing Office average of 62% and the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a significant docket of 26,057 lifetime decisions. 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 Houston'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 10-year tenure, Judge Houston has presided over 26,057 decisions. The yearly trend shows a period of lower approval rates around 2019, followed by a steady upward trajectory in recent years, reaching 66% in 2025. This recent activity reflects a long-term evolution in decision-making patterns.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Houston'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 Houston? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Orlando hearing office
The Orlando Hearing Office serves a large population across central Florida, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of six judges, the office maintains an active docket and adheres to standard Office of Hearings Operations procedures. You can see the Orlando Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning you cannot choose your judge. Within the Orlando Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 53% to 63%. Because assignment is random, you may find yourself before any of the six judges serving this location.
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.