From my initial filing to appealing the denial and to my court hearing and being approved took 3.5 years !! Yes I received a lump some from the day I first filed minus that pesky 5 months they withhold.

My husband when he had to file due to physical reasons of course denied, we used the same lawyer I had. My husband had further medical testing and our Doctor immediately sent it in and we got a letter maybe 3 weeks later he was approved. We lucked out he didn’t have to go hearing as they were booked out almost 2 years.

Each state has a backlog and it really varies. Tennessee has an enormous back log

We have a friend that lives in Alabama he got his first denial as expected , he got denied his appeal and he had a court date for his hearing approx 12 months after his initial filing. He was lucky.

Hopefully when your lawyer appeals the denial you will be awarded SSDI