Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to broader benchmarks helps you understand the landscape of your hearing. While the San Antonio Hearing Office maintains an approval rate of 52%, Judge Powell's lifetime rate stands at 23% across 10,253 lifetime decisions. This data provides a statistical baseline for your case preparation. 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 Powell'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 your 5 years on the bench, Judge Powell has maintained a consistent decision pattern. Her annual approval rates hovered between 20% and 25% throughout your tenure. This stability suggests a predictable approach to evaluating evidence and medical documentation. The recent data reflects a continuation of this steady pattern, which is a vital consideration when you are preparing your medical evidence for the hearing.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Powell'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 Powell? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Check My BenefitsAbout the San Antonio hearing office
The San Antonio Hearing Office serves a large population across Texas, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, this office handles thousands of hearings annually to address the needs of local workers. The office-wide latest approval rate is 52%, which serves as a helpful reference point for the region. You can see the San Antonio Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Across the San Antonio Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 23% to 51%. Because you cannot choose your judge, it is important to focus on the strength of your own medical records. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.