Approval rates
Comparing Judge Mason's performance to broader benchmarks offers insight into the local hearing environment. His 65% lifetime approval rate remains consistently higher than the 52% latest approval rate seen across the Savannah Hearing Office. These figures are derived from a substantial docket of 14,358 lifetime decisions, providing a stable statistical foundation. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for individual hearings.
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 Mason'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 his 6 years on the bench, Judge Mason has demonstrated a generally stable decision pattern with a notable increase in approvals during the 2020 period. While the rate fluctuated between 61% and 65% in his early years, the recent trend shows a sustained level of activity above the office average. This pattern suggests a consistent approach to evaluating your disability claim, though the latest period reflects a continuation of this steady, higher-than-average approval tendency.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Mason'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 Mason? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Savannah hearing office
The Savannah Hearing Office serves a large population across Georgia, managing a high volume of disability claims with a team of 6 administrative law judges. The office maintains a latest approval rate of 52%, reflecting the complex nature of the cases heard in this region. You can expect a formal, evidence-based process designed to evaluate your work capacity and medical limitations. You can visit the Savannah Hearing Office page for more information on the local hearing environment.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. The Savannah Hearing Office bench features a wide range of approval rates, spanning from 37% to 73% across the office's 6 ALJs. Because you cannot choose your judge, understanding the office-wide environment is essential. You can view the full office roster to see how these trends compare across the local bench.
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.