Approval rates
Judge Baldwin's approval rate is evaluated against the latest performance metrics for the Oklahoma City Hearing Office, the state of Oklahoma, and the national average. With a docket spanning 8 years on the bench, the data provides a look at how this judge has historically handled disability claims. These comparisons highlight how the judge's decisions align with broader regional and federal trends. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for individual hearings.
Office- and national-level breakdowns of fully favorable vs denial rates aren't currently published by SSA in the per-office disposition data. The judge's own breakdown is the detail we have today.
Approval rate over time
Year-over-year approval rate across Judge Baldwin's docket. Annual rates fluctuate with the mix of cases SSA assigns; the longer-run pattern is more informative than any single year.
Decision pattern
Over the course of 8 years on the bench, Judge Baldwin has demonstrated an upward trend in approval rates. After starting with an 84% approval rate in 2016, the figures climbed, reaching 100% in the most recent reporting periods. This trajectory reflects a consistent pattern of decision-making over 10,507 lifetime decisions.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Baldwin's bench. Judge-specific preparation guidance requires a corpus of public Appeals Council decisions involving each judge, which we haven't built yet.
- Bring a clean treating-physician record. Longitudinal primary-care or specialist notes spanning the disability period, with consistent symptom documentation, are typically the strongest evidence at hearing. A single month's records usually aren't enough.
- Don't rely on consultative exams alone. If your medical evidence is built primarily around a one-time CE finding, expect detailed questioning. Supplement with treating-source statements where possible.
- Prepare for daily-activity questions. Have honest, specific answers about a typical day. Answers that conflict with the medical record (in either direction) tend to hurt credibility.
- Expect transferable-skills probing. A vocational expert will usually testify about jobs available to someone with your limitations. Your representative should be prepared to cross-examine.
Hearing with Judge Baldwin? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Oklahoma City hearing office
The Oklahoma City Hearing Office serves a large population of claimants, managing a high volume of cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently reports an average approval rate of 73%, reflecting the local administrative environment. You can expect a formal process focused on the medical and vocational evidence presented in your file. You can visit the Oklahoma City Hearing Office page for more information.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases to judges using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Within the Oklahoma City Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench vary, ranging from 43% to 86%. Because of this variance, understanding the general environment of the office is helpful for your preparation.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
SSDI hearing approval rates — represented vs. on your own
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.