Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime approval rate to current office and national benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. With 3,352 lifetime decisions, the data for Jesus Ortis offers a look at his decision-making history. In the most recent reporting period, his approval rate was 67%, which stands 17 points above the current office average of 49%. 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 Ortis'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 10-year tenure, Jesus Ortis has seen fluctuations in his approval patterns. While his lifetime rate is 66%, his yearly performance has varied. The latest reporting period shows a 67% approval rate, suggesting that his recent decisions remain consistent with his long-term average. These trends often reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the quality of medical evidence presented at hearings.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Ortis'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 Ortis? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Nhc Baltimore hearing office
The NHC Baltimore Hearing Office serves you throughout the Maryland region, managing a high volume of disability appeals. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide latest approval rate of 49%. You should be prepared for a formal administrative process where documentation is key. You can see the NHC Baltimore 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 the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the NHC Baltimore Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 46% to 81%. This variance highlights why focusing on the strength of your own medical evidence is the most effective strategy. You can find more information on the office's general operations on the NHC Baltimore Hearing Office page.
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.