One of the “dirty little secrets” well known to Social Security lawyers relates to the importance of which judge is assigned to hear your case.   The tendencies of the judge assigned to your case is perhaps the most important factor as to whether you will win or lose.

I have no doubt that I could present the same client and the same arguments to two different judges in the same hearing office and win an approval on one case but a denial in the other.   Social Security actually publishes statistics setting out the number of approvals and denials by judge – some judges approve as few as 30% of the cases they hear, while others approve 65% to 70%.

While some variation in approval rates would be expected, I think that a system where your odds go from 30% to 70% depending on the judge suggests a significant problem.  In my view, judges whose approval or denial rate exceeds the national or regional average by a certain percentage should be reviewed by their superiors. Continue reading →