Most judges do not announce their decisions at the end of a hearing for disability benefits. However, there are telltale signs that you may have won.
1) The vocational expert was present but was not asked to testify. This doesn't always mean that you won, but it may indicate that the judge didn't need the vocational witnesses' input to pay your claim.
2) The vocational witness testified and every time the judge asked if there would be any work available, the witness replied, "No work would be available," or "That would preclude all work."
3) The judge tells you or your attorney that a grid rule applies. The judge says something like, "Counselor, it appears that grid rule 201.01 applies." This means that based on a claimant's age, education, past work experience and residual functional capacity, a finding of disabled is directed by the rules.
4) The judge or a medical expert present at the hearing states that the claimant "meets or equals a Listing." Meeting a Listing means approval at Step 3 of the sequential process. When this occurs, the hearing may be very short and end abruptly; in this case, a good thing.
5) The judge says something like, "I don't think this will take very long, I just need to ask a few questions and we'll be finished." This indicates that the judge has his/her mind made up, pretty much. A good thing unless the judge has made up his/her mind to deny the claim. However, they are not likely to say this, even if that's the case.
6) The judge says, "I am going to review you in about 2 or 3 years to see how you're doing." There would be no need for a review if you were not receiving benefits.
Of course, nothing is final until you get a written decision in the mail. No one has a working crystal ball and any guess we make about the outcome of a hearing could be wrong. Written decisions are mailed about 90 days following the hearing.
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