Who decides cases at this office
Outcomes at this office vary across the panel, with allowance rates ranging from 16% to 75%. Because of this variation, the judge assigned to your case matters as much as the strength of your file. While assignments are random, understanding the panel's range is essential for your preparation.
| Rank | Judge | Approval Rate | Total Decisions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louis Aliberti | 70% | 25,136 | |
| 2 | Peter R. Bronson | 66% | 1,602 | |
| 3 | Traci M. Hixson | 65% | 27,152 | |
| 4 | Cheryl M. Rini | 63% | 1,382 | |
| 5 | Amy Budney | 60% | 25,204 | |
| 6 | Joseph A. Rose | 59% | 29,579 | |
| 7 | Joseph Vallowe | 59% | 13,283 | |
| 8 | Eric Westley | 55% | 27,538 | |
| 9 | Keith J. Kearney | 52% | 25,999 | |
| 10 | Pamela E. Loesel | 49% | 17,889 | |
| 11 | Frederick Andreas | 48% | 25,656 | |
| 12 | Genevieve Adamo | 47% | 22,373 | |
| 13 | William Leland | 44% | 28,450 | |
| 14 | Peter Beekman | 36% | 20,316 | |
| 15 | Martin McClelland | 36% | 4,248 | |
| 16 | Penny Loucas | 35% | 21,382 | |
| 17 | Joseph G. Hajjar | 30% | 24,765 | |
| 18 | Jonathan Eliot | 29% | 2,166 | |
| 19 | George D. Roscoe | 29% | 16,052 | |
| 20 | Scott R. Canfield | 28% | 8,357 | |
| 21 | Susan G. Giuffre | 21% | 11,656 | |
| 22 | Catherine Ma | 18% | 20,412 |
How long you'll wait
At Cleveland, the average wait from hearing request to written decision is 7 months— versus a national average of 8 months. Here's how it's tracked month by month over the past 16 months.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.
Going to your hearing
Hearings in Cleveland move faster than the national average, giving you a shorter window to finalize your evidence. You should bring updated medical records, a detailed log of your daily activities, and a list of medication side effects to your hearing. The proceeding typically involves an ALJ and a vocational expert who testifies about available work. Because the evidence-submission deadline is strict, you must ensure all documentation is filed well before your date. Your testimony under oath is the final piece of the puzzle, and the decision will arrive by mail after your appearance.
When a panel's allowance rates span nearly 60 points, your file must be strong enough to meet the requirements of any judge. Most people spend their 7-month wait simply waiting, but a qualified attorney uses that time to pressure-test your medical evidence against the vocational expert's likely testimony. This preparation helps ensure your case is ready for the specific judge assigned to your hearing.
Field offices that route cases here
If your hearing is at Cleveland, your case originated at one of the SSA field offices below — the local intake counter where you (or a representative) filed the initial application. Field offices don't decide hearings, but they hold your file, issue benefit-payment notices, and field the day-to-day questions during your wait.