Your ALJ Hearing: What Actually Happens

The ALJ Hearing Is Your Best Shot at Winning SSDI

An ALJ hearing is a formal federal proceeding conducted by an Administrative Law Judge employed by SSA’s Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). Hearings in New York are held at offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Albany, Buffalo, and other locations — or by video. The judge is required to be impartial and independent of the DDS examiners who denied you. Under 20 C.F.R. § 404.944 you have the right to appear in person, present witnesses, and submit evidence. The hearing is recorded and the transcript becomes part of the administrative record for any future appeal.

Every SSDI hearing follows roughly the same sequence. The judge opens the record, swears in witnesses, and reviews the exhibit list with your attorney. You then give sworn testimony about your conditions, daily activities, work history, and why you cannot work. Next, a Vocational Expert (VE) — a labor market specialist hired by SSA — testifies about jobs that exist in the national economy. The VE answers hypothetical questions the judge poses about what a person with your limitations could do. Your attorney cross-examines the VE to challenge hypotheticals that do not accurately reflect your RFC. This cross-examination is often the hinge point of the entire hearing.

Judges issue written decisions that must explain their reasoning under SSR 96-8p and applicable Circuit Court precedent. A decision typically arrives six to eight weeks after the hearing. If approved, SSA calculates your back pay and begins payment within a few months. If denied, you have 60 days to request Appeals Council review. Our attorneys have handled hundreds of ALJ hearings across New York and know the tendencies of the judges, the most common VE challenges, and how to build a record that holds up on review. No fee unless we win — 25 percent of back pay, capped at $7,200.