Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance requires looking at both their long-term history and recent trends. Judge Perez-Gonzalez maintains a lifetime approval rate of 77%, based on 13,128 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, his approval rate stood 29 percentage points above the Ft Lauderdale office average and 19 points above the national average. These aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting the outcome of your specific 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 Perez-Gonzalez'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
The career trajectory of Judge Perez-Gonzalez shows a consistent approach to disability adjudication over his 9 years on the bench. While his approval rate saw a gradual adjustment from the early years of his tenure, the data indicates a stable pattern of decision-making. Recent trends show that his approval rate remains well above the local and national benchmarks. This consistency suggests that your evidence will be evaluated against a well-established judicial framework.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Perez-Gonzalez'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 Perez-Gonzalez? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Ft Lauderdale hearing office
The Ft Lauderdale Hearing Office serves a large population in Florida and manages a high volume of SSDI claims. With 6 judges currently on the bench, the office handles a diverse range of medical and vocational evidence. The office-wide latest approval rate is 48%, which serves as a baseline for local proceedings. You can visit the Ft Lauderdale 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 your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Across the Ft Lauderdale bench, lifetime approval rates vary significantly, ranging from 36% to 77%. Because each judge operates with their own judicial philosophy, understanding the broader office environment is helpful. You can find more information on the office's general operations on the Ft Lauderdale 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.