Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to regional and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Johnson's lifetime rate of 40% is evaluated against the latest office average of 57% and the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a docket of 13,539 lifetime decisions, providing a statistical baseline. 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 Johnson'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 an 8-year tenure, your judge's approval rate has fluctuated. Starting at 50% in 2017, the rate shifted through a period of lower approvals before seeing a moderate recovery in 2020 and 2022. The most recent data from 2024 shows an approval rate of 41%, which remains consistent with the previous year. This pattern reflects a stable approach to case evaluation, though the latest period indicates a divergence from the higher averages seen in earlier years.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Johnson'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 Johnson? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Philadelphia East hearing office
The Philadelphia East Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Pennsylvania, managing a high volume of disability appeals. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide latest approval rate of 57%. You can expect a review process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can visit the Philadelphia East 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 judge is assigned randomly. Within the Philadelphia East Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 ALJs range from 40% to 71%. While these variations exist, the fundamental requirements for proving your disability remain constant. The guidance for your preparation is the same regardless of which judge is assigned to your case.
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.