FAQs

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The job of an ALJ (Administrative Law Judge) is to apply the law to the facts of your case and determine whether or not you qualify for Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits. The law is pretty developed, and Social Security has procedures on top of procedures to ensure that a consistent decision-making process is employed. In theory, it should not affect you in any way which disability judge is assigned to your case.

However, the numbers paint a different picture. I have compiled and analyzed statistics of the ALJs at Louisiana’s ODAR offices. These statistics were compiled by Social Security itself for September 26, 2015, through December 25, 2015. I used that information to take a look at all of the ALJs determining disability benefit decisions for Louisiana SSDI claims. I separated the information by ODAR office and sorted by award percentage (lowest to highest). The award numbers are then broken down into fully favorable and partially favorable awards. The national average award percentage was 54.6%. Approval rates for three of Louisiana’s four ODAR offices came in below the national average. Alexandra at 49.2%, Metairie at 49.4%, and Shreveport at 50.7. The New Orleans ODAR office had approval rates above the national average at 63.5%. The Louisiana average was just below the national average of 53.4%. However, approval rates for ALJs in Louisiana range from 86.5% to just 28% and everywhere in between.

Judge	Office	Decisions	Awards	Denials
Wahlder, Michael M	ALEXANDRIA	26	19 (73.1%)	7 (26.9%)
DeLoach, Rowena E	ALEXANDRIA	94	61 (64.9%)	33 (35.1%)
Allen, Matthew	ALEXANDRIA	109	67 (61.5%)	42 (38.5%)
Grant, Robert	ALEXANDRIA	97	54 (55.7%)	43 (44.3%)
Cravens, Steven L	ALEXANDRIA	118	65 (55.1%)	53 (44.9%)
Molinar, Kathleen S	ALEXANDRIA	88	43 (48.9%)	45 (51.1%)
Graalmann, Steven C	ALEXANDRIA	70	30 (42.9%)	40 (57.1%)
Smilie, Carolyn	ALEXANDRIA	44	17 (38.6%)	27 (61.4%)
Ragona, Lawrence T	ALEXANDRIA	104	38 (36.5%)	66 (63.5%)
Fields, Kim A	ALEXANDRIA	113	41 (36.3%)	72 (63.7%)
Latham, Carol L	ALEXANDRIA	50	14 (28.0%)	36 (72.0%)
Judge	Office	Decisions	Awards	Denials
Juge, Christopher H	METAIRIE	110	68 (61.8%)	42 (38.2%)
Hertzig, Michael S	METAIRIE	82	43 (52.4%)	39 (47.6%)
Wiedemann, Karen	METAIRIE	103	53 (51.5%)	50 (48.5%)
Perez, Gerardo	METAIRIE	45	23 (51.1%)	22 (48.9%)
Deans, Joan H	METAIRIE	69	32 (46.4%)	37 (53.6%)
Lobo, Benita A	METAIRIE	93	40 (43.0%)	53 (57.0%)
Stewart, Timothy G	METAIRIE	85	31 (36.5%)	54 (63.5%)
Judge	Office	Decisions	Awards	Denials
White, Charlotte N	NEW ORLEANS	52	45 (86.5%)	7 (13.5%)
Anzalone, Kerry J	NEW ORLEANS	72	60 (83.3%)	12 (16.7%)
Voisin, Glynn F	NEW ORLEANS	84	69 (82.1%)	15 (17.9%)
Burgess, John R	NEW ORLEANS	63	51 (81.0%)	12 (19.0%)
Volz, III, Louis J	NEW ORLEANS	147	93 (63.3%)	54 (36.7%)
Pizzo, Nancy M	NEW ORLEANS	98	60 (61.2%)	38 (38.8%)
Gattuso, Mary	NEW ORLEANS	51	29 (56.9%)	22 (43.1%)
Hilleren, Christine	NEW ORLEANS	77	30 (39.0%)	47 (61.0%)
Henderson, Thomas G	NEW ORLEANS	101	36 (35.6%)	65 (64.4%)
Donaldson, Angela	NEW ORLEANS	0	0 (N/A)	0 (N/A)
Judge	Office	Decisions	Awards	Denials
Abbondondelo, Mary	SHREVEPORT	131	93 (71.0%)	38 (29.0%)
Antonowicz, John	SHREVEPORT	90	48 (53.3%)	42 (46.7%)
Lindsay, Charles R.	SHREVEPORT	108	50 (46.3%)	58 (53.7%)
Bundy, W. Thomas	SHREVEPORT	76	30 (39.5%)	46 (60.5%)
Wright, Charlotte A	SHREVEPORT	92	31 (33.7%)	61 (66.3%)

 

While there is not much you can do about the ALJ that gets assigned to your case, this information is important to know because it can impact how you prepare your claim and yourself for the hearing in front of the ALJ. For example, if your ALJ denies a large percentage of the cases heard, you may want to move for an on-the-record decision (which can be granted by ODAR staff attorneys). Or you may want to know what information will be most helpful on an appeal and focus on that issue to make sure the record is fully developed for later proceedings.

While this information provides a statistical representation of how ALJs have decided the cases before them during the reporting period, I will note that an ALJ can only make a decision based on the facts of the case in front them. What this means is that each case is different and you should not rely on the statistics provided above to determine whether or not your specific case will be decided one way or another.

A local, experienced attorney who specializes in Social Security and is familiar with the different ALJs, their personalities and their expectations can best advise you on how to proceed. If you need help with your Louisiana Social Security Disability hearing or appeal, contact SSDI attorney Loyd Bourgeois at 985-240-9773 or submit an online case evaluation

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