A social security hearing is typically held in a fairly small room that is not much bigger than a good size office. You will be seated at one end of a long table with your social security disability lawyer. The Judge will be at the other end. Often the Judge is elevated a foot or so above you or he or she may be behind a bench. Frequently, the Judge will be wearing black robes like you might see on TV. On either side will be other personnel-- a person running a tape recorder, a vocational expert and at times a doctor. The hearings will be held either in an Office of Disability and Adjudication Review Office (ODAR) or, if your hearing is being held in a town without an ODAR office, at a hotel.

The hearing will typically last about 45 minutes to an hour, but can last as little as 10 minutes or as long as several hours or more. You will have a chance to fully explain under oath why you feel you cannot work and should be entitled to social security disability benefits. Your lawyer can give an opening statement and ask you questions. The lawyer can cross examine any experts the social security has at the hearing such as the vocational expert and the doctor. You can have a witness or two, typically a close family member or a friend testify as to what problems they see you having that would affect your ability to work. You can submit any new medical records that might not already be in the file. Unlike other courts, you might find that the Judge will break in to ask a question when you or your lawyer are talking or testifying.

At the end of the hearing the Judge and then your lawyer or representative will usually ask the vocational expert a series of hypothetical questions about whether you can do your past work or any other jobs in the national economy that are relevant under the social security guidelines.

The Judge ends the hearing by thanking the witnesses, but will not usually tell you whether you have won or lost. You will have to wait for the decision. Experienced lawyers and representatives can usually tell according to the hypothetical questions and responses from the vocational expert whether the judge will grant your social security disability or supplemental SSI benefits.