Approval rates
Comparing a judge's history to broader benchmarks helps you understand the environment of your upcoming hearing. Judge Torres maintains a lifetime approval rate of 39%, which differs from the latest 63% approval rate seen across the St Petersburg FL OHO office. These figures are based on a substantial docket of 15,771 lifetime decisions accumulated over 7 years on the bench. 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 Torres'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 a 7-year tenure, the approval patterns for Judge Torres have shown notable shifts. After reaching a peak approval rate of 47% in 2018, the data indicates a gradual adjustment in recent years, with the latest reporting period showing a 30% approval rate. This trend reflects the judge's evolving approach to case evaluation and evidence standards. These patterns are based on 15,771 lifetime decisions, and the recent data suggests a continuation of a more conservative trend compared to earlier years on the bench.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Torres'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 Torres? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the St Petersburg FL hearing office
The St Petersburg FL OHO serves a large population in Florida, managing a high volume of disability claims through its team of 6 administrative law judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 63%, reflecting the local standards for evidence and testimony. You can expect a formal process where medical documentation and vocational expert testimony play critical roles in the final determination. You can see the St Petersburg FL OHO 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 assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. At the St Petersburg FL OHO, the bench includes 6 judges with lifetime approval rates ranging from 38% to 65%. This variance highlights why your preparation must focus on the strength of your medical evidence rather than the specific judge assigned. You can find more information on the St Petersburg FL OHO 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.