California Social Security Disability Lawyers

If you are thinking about applying for Social Security disability in California, then you should weigh the benefits of hiring an attorney. An experienced Social Security disability lawyer can significantly improve the odds that your case will be approved.

Social Security data from California reveals that 38% of the Social Security disability claims are denied on average. Of course, most applicants that have been denied on their first attempt appeal the decision. However, the chances of approval are even worse in the first phase of the appeals process, which is formally known as reconsideration.

The vast majority of claimants will have to wait until their hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ) to have a significant chance of approval.

California has 17 Hearing Offices where you can go to have your case heard by an ALJ. They are listed in the above table.

Most successful Social Security disability claims are approved during the hearing, largely because the ALJs have more leeway in the way they handle claims and can actually see and hear you while you present evidence of your disability.

Overall, 40% of California disability hearings result in an disability benefits being awarded.

On average, California residents wait 579 days for their hearing before an ALJ. Some Hearing Offices are more favorable than others.

Disability Statistics for California

Office	Judges	Avg. Hearing Wait Time	Average Processing Time	Avg. Dispositions Per Day Per ALJ	Cases Dismissed	Cases Approved	Cases Denied
Stockton	7	9 months	409 days	2.23	22%	25%	52%
San Bernardino	8	20 months	600 days	1.74	21%	9%	70%
Los Angeles	6	18 months	575 days	1.88	16%	47%	36%
Los Angeles	8	23 months	660 days	1.97	17%	39%	44%
Moreno Valley	9	20 months	624 days	1.50	17%	48%	36%
Fresno	7	19 months	682 days	1.89	17%	35%	49%
San Diego	14	17 months	588 days	1.72	21%	60%	20%
Pasadena	7	17 months	557 days	2.08	19%	36%	45%
Long Beach	10	23 months	741 days	0.84	19%	15%	66%
Sacramento	12	16 months	580 days	1.88	19%	76%	5%
San Francisco	5	19 months	580 days	1.33	20%	39%	41%
San Rafael	6	21 months	647 days	1.71	50%	50%	0%
Oakland	10	13 months	461 days	1.46	47%	30%	23%
Orange	10	19 months	630 days	1.84	16%	46%	38%
Norwalk	5	19 months	570 days	2.05	15%	39%	46%
San Jose	6	16 months	433 days	1.83	18%	34%	48%
Santa Barbara	4	15 months	506 days	1.92	27%	49%	24%
All California	0	18 months	579 days	1.76	22%	40%	38%

All Administrative Law Judges in California

Judge	City of Operation	Full Favorable	Part Favorable	Total ALJ Dispositions	Total Awards	Total Decisions	Total Denials	Total Dispositions
David J Agatstein	Los Angeles	49	11	126	60	100	40	126
E. Alis	Oakland	14	8	66	22	44	22	66
Josephine Arno	Moreno Valley	29	26	129	55	114	59	129
Kenneth E Ball	Orange	21	20	101	41	80	39	101
Edward T Bauer	Pasadena	77	10	154	87	133	46	154
Peter F Belli	Sacramento	13	2	33	15	29	14	33
Eric V Benham	San Diego	36	6	98	42	69	27	98
Daniel Benjamin	San Bernardino	42	4	116	46	90	44	116
David M Blume	Sacramento	106	3	183	109	145	36	183
Shiva Bozarth	Fresno	40	22	106	62	95	33	106
Richard T Breen	Los Angeles	28	12	195	40	151	111	195
Carol L Buck	Sacramento	57	5	112	62	95	33	112
Thomas D Businger	Moreno Valley	30	8	97	38	77	39	97
Michael A Cabotaje	San Rafael	58	11	143	69	133	64	143
James Carberry	Norwalk	57	7	163	64	137	73	163
Ken H Chau	Pasadena	33	8	128	41	105	64	128
Susanne M Cichanowicz	Orange	14	13	122	27	92	65	122
Diana Coburn	Long Beach	23	8	108	31	85	54	108
Carolyn Cohn-Morros	Orange	53	5	115	58	90	32	115
Donald P Cole	San Diego	21	12	90	33	83	50	90
Bruce T Cooper	Pasadena	36	6	115	42	96	54	115
Paul Coulter	Norwalk	61	7	132	68	102	34	132
James Delphey	San Diego	14	1	81	15	59	44	81
Keith Dietterle	San Diego	28	10	80	38	71	33	79
Barbara Dunn	Los Angeles	39	11	116	50	73	23	116
Lawrence J Duran	Sacramento	38	4	85	42	62	20	85
Carol A Eckersen	Sacramento	44	6	109	50	93	43	109
Robert M Erickson	San Francisco	49	5	108	54	87	33	108
Mary L Everstine	Santa Barbara	48	5	107	53	86	33	107
Laura Fernandez	Santa Barbara	22	10	107	32	94	62	107
John J Flanagan	Oakland	61	1	89	62	74	12	89
Cynthia Floyd	Long Beach	26	6	104	32	89	57	104
Mary M French	Sacramento	14	0	31	14	22	8	31
Joyce Frost-Wolf	Fresno	30	23	137	53	117	64	137
Thomas J Gaye	San Jose	48	3	101	51	91	40	101
Kevin Gill	Oakland	36	11	109	47	80	33	109
Sara A Gillis	Sacramento	72	20	168	92	146	54	168
James D Goodman	Pasadena	27	9	117	36	97	61	117
Edward C Graham	Long Beach	65	4	127	69	100	31	127
Mark B Greenberg	San Diego	42	8	85	50	71	21	85
Odell Grooms	Long Beach	0	0	56	0	1	1	1
Odell Grooms	Sacramento	26	0	56	26	38	12	55
Evelyn M Gunn	Los Angeles	23	7	69	30	48	18	69
T. Patrick Hannon	San Jose	71	7	143	78	122	44	143
Jr., Mason D Harrell	San Bernardino	47	6	115	53	87	34	115
Daniel G Heely	Stockton	172	8	321	180	305	125	321
Evangelina P Hernandez	Oakland	50	5	95	55	80	25	95
Sanya Hill-Maxion	Stockton	24	8	45	32	39	7	45
Mark Hockensmith	Long Beach	0	1	105	1	4	3	4
Susan Hoffman	Los Angeles	12	10	58	22	50	28	58
Serena S Hong	San Rafael	45	21	122	66	105	39	122
Sharilyn Hopson	Orange	34	12	122	46	90	44	122
Robert Iafe	San Diego	22	3	57	25	46	21	57
Paul Isherwood	San Bernardino	32	5	91	37	70	33	91
Derek Johnson	Moreno Valley	27	7	97	34	76	42	97
John Kays	Orange	50	11	114	61	93	32	114
Jean R Kerins	Long Beach	15	9	61	24	32	8	35
Marti Kirby	Moreno Valley	26	8	86	34	66	32	86
Christopher C Knowdell	Sacramento	55	9	152	64	119	55	152
Henry Koltys	Santa Barbara	53	3	137	56	119	63	137
Judith A Kopec	Stockton	48	10	109	58	98	40	109
K. Kwon	San Rafael	73	15	135	88	115	27	135
David LaBarre	Oakland	20	20	106	40	86	46	106
Robert J Labrum	Long Beach	29	3	74	32	54	22	66
Robert Lenzini	San Bernardino	37	13	111	50	87	37	111
Jay E Levine	San Diego	42	11	111	53	95	42	111
Kelly B Lind	Orange	52	11	111	63	86	23	110
Elizabeth R Lishner	Los Angeles	32	10	106	42	74	32	106
Joseph P Lisiecki III	Orange	47	4	139	51	100	49	139
Katherine Loo	San Bernardino	23	3	83	26	55	29	70
Katherine Loo	San Francisco	4	0	83	4	7	3	13
Lisa Lunsford	San Francisco	61	13	119	74	101	27	119
Phillip C Lyman	San Jose	52	3	93	55	65	10	93
Jane M Maccione	Stockton	26	5	100	31	79	48	100
Sharon L Madsen	Fresno	14	33	160	47	138	91	160
David G Marcus	Los Angeles	18	10	96	28	66	38	96
Julia Mariani	San Rafael	76	6	108	82	99	17	108
Alan J Markiewicz	Orange	23	3	72	26	53	27	72
Paula M Martin	Moreno Valley	35	18	110	53	95	42	110
David R Mazzi	Oakland	32	2	74	34	40	6	74
Kevin W Messer	San Diego	41	20	163	61	142	81	163
Ruxana Meyer	Fresno	8	2	127	10	20	10	30
Ruxana Meyer	San Jose	26	19	127	45	95	50	97
Cynthia A Minter	Norwalk	52	10	84	62	80	18	84
Vincent A. Misenti	Stockton	21	4	108	25	95	70	108
Donna M Montano	Pasadena	70	5	117	75	99	24	117
James L Moser	Los Angeles	68	2	134	70	93	23	134
William K Mueller	San Diego	70	15	138	85	109	24	138
Daniel Myers	Sacramento	57	6	148	63	124	61	148
James P Nguyen	Norwalk	38	1	88	39	74	35	88
Wynne O'Brien-Persons	San Rafael	23	13	72	36	56	20	72
Mary Beth O'Connor	San Rafael	11	2	27	13	19	6	27
Sung Park	Los Angeles	23	7	112	30	68	38	89
Mary P Parnow	San Francisco	55	8	138	63	108	45	138
Michael D Radensky	Norwalk	44	10	139	54	110	56	139
Sally C Reason	Los Angeles	41	3	126	44	90	46	126
Gail Reich	Los Angeles	68	10	182	78	140	62	182
Michael B Richardson	San Diego	49	7	138	56	105	49	138
Brenton L Rogozen	San Jose	31	44	172	75	147	72	172
Robin Rosenbluth	Los Angeles	41	13	137	54	101	47	137
Joseph D Schloss	Moreno Valley	32	5	75	37	64	27	75
Randolph E Schum	San Diego	17	17	126	34	106	72	126
Scot Septer	Fresno	37	14	123	51	105	54	123
Troy Silva	San Bernardino	35	3	64	38	49	11	64
Clary Simmonds	Moreno Valley	37	5	107	42	94	52	107
Philip J Simon	Pasadena	48	5	97	53	76	23	97
Trevor Skarda	Stockton	47	16	135	63	118	55	135
Regina L Sleater	San Jose	27	2	43	29	37	8	43
Timothy S Snelling	Fresno	40	16	113	56	102	46	113
Elizab Stevens Bentley	San Bernardino	48	20	131	68	98	30	118
Elizab Stevens Bentley	San Francisco	6	1	131	7	13	6	13
Nancy M Stewart	Fresno	49	13	110	62	96	34	110
Matilda Surh	Stockton	23	6	101	29	81	52	101
Michelle Thompson	Los Angeles	9	0	93	9	10	1	10
Michelle Thompson	Sacramento	3	0	93	3	3	0	3
John C Tobin	Long Beach	19	2	38	21	27	6	38
Cheryl Tompkin	Oakland	15	10	71	25	63	38	71
Joel Tracy	San Bernardino	40	16	137	56	109	53	137
Howard K Treblin	San Diego	50	7	110	57	90	33	110
Lesley Troope	Pasadena	62	9	131	71	101	30	131
John Trunick	Moreno Valley	50	13	95	63	83	20	95
Debra M Underwood	Oakland	42	6	86	48	70	22	86
Peter J Valentino	San Diego	16	1	44	17	34	17	44
Andrew Verne	San Diego	21	3	97	24	74	50	97
Plauche F Villere Jr.	Sacramento	132	13	253	145	232	87	253
Melissa Warner	Long Beach	0	0	101	0	1	1	2
Ena Weathers	Long Beach	3	1	80	4	10	6	12
Alexander Weir III	Los Angeles	49	3	153	52	97	45	151
Alexander Weir III	Moreno Valley	1	0	153	1	1	0	2
Jr., Major Williams	Oakland	35	1	67	36	45	9	67
Roger E Winkelman	Santa Barbara	46	3	101	49	95	46	101
John W Wojciechowski	Orange	33	0	85	33	53	20	62
Arthur Zeidman	Oakland	42	7	100	49	85	36	100
Stacy Zimmerman	Orange	27	20	127	47	107	60	127

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