Florida Social Security Disability Lawyers

If you are thinking about applying for Social Security disability in Florida, 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 Florida reveals that 45% 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.

Florida has 8 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, 36% of Florida disability hearings result in an disability benefits being awarded.

On average, Florida residents wait 559 days for their hearing before an ALJ. Some Hearing Offices are more favorable than others.

Disability Statistics for Florida

Office	Judges	Avg. Hearing Wait Time	Average Processing Time	Avg. Dispositions Per Day Per ALJ	Cases Dismissed	Cases Approved	Cases Denied
Tallahassee	8	13 months	466 days	1.53	27%	25%	48%
St. Petersburg	12	16 months	544 days	2.13	11%	34%	55%
Ft. Myers	6	12 months	451 days	2.01	13%	40%	47%
Tampa	17	18 months	625 days	1.98	17%	51%	32%
Fort Lauderdale	20	18 months	597 days	1.43	44%	27%	29%
Jacksonville	17	20 months	617 days	1.44	16%	30%	54%
Miami	10	17 months	578 days	1.79	9%	38%	53%
Orlando	16	18 months	592 days	1.93	12%	45%	42%
All Florida	0	17 months	559 days	1.78	19%	36%	45%

All Administrative Law Judges in Florida

Judge	City of Operation	Full Favorable	Part Favorable	Total ALJ Dispositions	Total Awards	Total Decisions	Total Denials	Total Dispositions
James P Alderisio	St. Petersburg	90	9	190	99	160	61	190
Sylvia H Alonso	Fort Lauderdale	27	9	185	36	141	105	185
Thurman Anderson	Fort Lauderdale	74	7	133	81	102	21	133
James Andres	Fort Lauderdale	44	2	93	46	75	29	93
Eric Anschuetz	Ft. Myers	36	7	130	43	102	59	130
Clara H Aranda	Miami	13	0	48	13	27	14	48
Charles J Arnold	Ft. Myers	86	6	125	92	105	13	125
Robert Ballieu	Tampa	40	3	91	43	76	33	91
K. Barlow	Jacksonville	25	3	86	28	56	28	86
Mary Brennan	Fort Lauderdale	35	16	141	51	109	58	141
Michael Calabro	Orlando	5	0	18	5	5	0	18
Stephen C Calvarese	Jacksonville	26	5	95	31	83	52	95
Steven L. Carnes	Tallahassee	23	0	39	23	34	11	39
Michael Carr	Fort Lauderdale	0	0	115	0	1	1	1
James C Cartledge	Miami	72	10	185	82	141	59	185
Gracian A Celaya	Miami	47	7	133	54	100	46	133
Yelanda Collins	Jacksonville	45	15	106	60	85	25	106
Arline Colon	St. Petersburg	7	7	71	14	51	37	71
Margaret Craig	Tampa	46	5	103	51	82	31	103
Sarah Cyrus	Fort Lauderdale	42	2	87	44	68	24	87
Rossana L D'Alessio	Fort Lauderdale	76	6	142	82	123	41	142
John Dawkins	Tampa	45	9	145	54	129	75	145
Elizabeth De Gruy	Miami	1	0	48	1	3	2	3
Joseph F Dent	St. Petersburg	24	6	137	30	113	83	137
Kevin J Detherage	Orlando	25	10	106	35	76	41	106
Andrew Dixon III	Tallahassee	59	15	115	74	99	25	115
Amber Downs	Tampa	28	9	104	37	82	45	104
Robert Droker	Jacksonville	24	2	99	26	77	51	99
Kurt G Ehrman	Tampa	38	5	138	43	118	75	138
Kathleen H Eiler	Orlando	13	10	82	23	65	42	82
Jeffrey A Ferguson	Orlando	38	25	135	63	111	48	135
Kelley Fitzgerald	Jacksonville	37	10	118	47	96	49	118
Gregory J Froehlich	Jacksonville	28	3	70	31	60	29	70
Eric S. Fulcher	Orlando	48	15	159	63	122	59	159
Richard P Gartner	St. Petersburg	57	1	132	58	99	41	132
Robert Gill	Fort Lauderdale	41	3	94	44	62	18	94
Laurel J Greene	St. Petersburg	81	4	111	85	98	13	111
William H Greer	Jacksonville	30	1	96	31	68	37	96
M. Hart	Jacksonville	16	11	74	27	63	36	74
Joshua R Heller	Tallahassee	51	18	108	69	90	21	108
Norman Hemming	Miami	49	4	126	53	98	45	126
David Herman	Tallahassee	28	11	109	39	83	44	109
Richard Hlaudy	Jacksonville	0	1	95	1	3	2	3
Mark Hockensmith	Jacksonville	31	2	105	33	67	34	88
Pamela Houston	Orlando	37	8	156	45	119	74	156
Lloyd E Hubler III	St. Petersburg	31	4	147	35	102	67	147
Wendy Hunn	Fort Lauderdale	49	10	131	59	98	39	131
Valencia Jarvis	Fort Lauderdale	3	6	43	9	34	25	43
Ryan Johannes	Ft. Myers	74	10	149	84	129	45	149
Paul L Johnston	Tampa	110	3	146	113	123	10	146
Emily Kirk	Orlando	33	10	111	43	97	54	111
Ryan Kirzner	Tampa	59	1	162	60	127	67	160
Guy Koster	Jacksonville	27	3	84	30	47	17	84
Barry C LaBoda	Orlando	54	5	91	59	67	8	91
Lissette Labrousse	Fort Lauderdale	0	0	10	0	3	3	10
Robert J Labrum	Fort Lauderdale	0	0	74	0	1	1	1
Bruce Landrum	Jacksonville	25	4	80	29	56	27	80
Tracey B Leibowitz	Miami	55	4	183	59	133	74	183
Janet Mahon	Orlando	63	7	159	70	112	42	159
Maria T Mandry	Orlando	61	9	122	70	116	46	122
Lisa B Martin	Fort Lauderdale	0	0	118	0	3	3	3
Shirley A Marzan	Tampa	56	4	103	60	86	26	103
Janet McCamley	Tallahassee	45	6	102	51	79	28	102
Carl C McGhee	Tampa	50	5	105	55	81	26	105
Melissa J McIntosh	Tampa	75	15	151	90	136	46	151
John D McNamee-Alemany	St. Petersburg	98	1	128	99	112	13	128
Jr., John M Meisburg	Jacksonville	66	3	111	69	93	24	111
Scott T Miller	St. Petersburg	9	0	17	9	12	3	17
Angela L Neel	Orlando	45	3	172	48	127	79	172
Maria C Northington	Ft. Myers	49	5	98	54	87	33	98
Julio Ocampo	Orlando	16	0	16	16	16	0	16
Richard J Ortiz-Valero	Fort Lauderdale	50	5	128	55	93	38	128
Stacy Paddack	Tallahassee	40	24	95	64	73	9	95
Robin R Palenske	Fort Lauderdale	0	0	53	0	0	0	1
Denise Pasvantis	Fort Lauderdale	50	3	129	53	105	52	129
Carol J Pennock	Miami	29	1	72	30	41	11	72
Jose Perez-Gonzalez	Fort Lauderdale	50	1	93	51	67	16	93
Jr., Daniel A Piloseno	Tampa	64	3	100	67	83	16	100
Bernard Porter	Jacksonville	19	7	98	26	66	40	98
Lisa Raleigh	Tallahassee	30	8	80	38	67	29	80
Lornette Reynolds	Miami	23	15	114	38	82	44	114
Raymond Rodgers	Ft. Myers	88	5	179	93	150	57	179
Michael A Rodriguez	Tampa	19	5	57	24	49	25	57
E Rodriguez-Quilichini	Orlando	47	3	127	50	87	37	127
R. Dirk Selland	Tampa	26	1	75	27	61	34	75
Steven D Slahta	Tampa	67	9	125	76	101	25	125
Donald G Smith	St. Petersburg	71	11	192	82	166	84	192
Anne V Sprague	St. Petersburg	37	2	128	39	84	45	128
Jonathan Sprague	Fort Lauderdale	62	13	132	75	113	38	132
Emily R Statum	Orlando	55	6	129	61	98	37	129
Alisa M Tapia	Tallahassee	10	13	75	23	52	29	75
Pedro Tejada-Rivera	Orlando	55	2	121	57	95	38	116
Ken B Terry	Jacksonville	32	2	75	34	66	32	75
Jr., John D. Thompson	Jacksonville	27	2	98	29	74	45	98
Michelle Thompson	Fort Lauderdale	2	0	93	2	2	0	2
Elving L Torres	St. Petersburg	36	8	147	44	126	82	147
Brian Turner	Fort Lauderdale	89	5	142	94	114	20	142
Gonzalo Vallecillo	Tampa	32	19	152	51	120	69	152
Douglas A Walker	Orlando	44	6	119	50	86	36	119
Melissa Warner	Jacksonville	21	3	101	24	37	13	63
Glen H. Watkins	Tampa	18	8	156	26	119	93	156
Ena Weathers	Miami	18	7	80	25	51	26	68
Rebecca Wolfe	Miami	46	3	123	49	104	55	123
Duane D Young	Ft. Myers	14	4	32	18	27	9	32
Norman R Zamboni	St. Petersburg	51	2	105	53	74	21	105
Barbara J Zanotti	Tampa	24	6	79	30	64	34	79

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