as soon as you appeal to ss they set you up for the judge. you will get a verification letter that the appeals process is started and they will notify you 20 days befor court date. ONE THING TO REMEMBER AS SOON AS YOU RECIEVE VERIFICATION LETTER CONTACT OFFICE NOTED IN LETTER TO SEE AND GET A COPY OF ALL ITEMS SOCIAL SECURITY HAS ON YOUR CASE (DOCTORS REPORTS ECT) i did and only thing that they had after six 6 months into appeal time was letter of appeal i sent and thier doctors report, nothing else i then obtained reports from all six of my doctors and hand carried back to the appeals office.
then obtained another copy with all inclosed on cd rom.

update
on my case ss sent electronic file cd with all of thier records on case when setting up appeal date
in front of ss judge. (my case was granted )the judge goes over your condition and why you cannot hold a job then talks with a vocational expert discusing wither you can obtain and maintain a job
as the saying goes if you can be a wallmart greeter you can work in my case hand disabilities along with back problems and pain modification with pain killers
it finally came down what sitting standing jobs i could do with very limited use of hands
vacationalist stated security watching vedio camera feeds, i interjected that on pain meds vicadin that i could not be counted on to maintain awareness. then vocational veryfied that was true.
ssdi aproved.