Approval rates
Judge Barr maintains a lifetime approval rate of 78%, which stands in contrast to the 65% approval rate currently seen across the Jersey City Hearing Office and the 58% national average. These figures are derived from a docket of 17,576 lifetime decisions accumulated over a decade of service. Comparing these metrics helps you understand the broader environment of your upcoming hearing. 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 Barr'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 her 10 years on the bench, Judge Barr has demonstrated an upward trend in approval rates. While her early tenure saw rates in the low 70s, recent data shows a rise, reaching 92% in the most recent reporting period. This shift suggests a pattern of increased allowances in recent years compared to her career-long average. This trend may reflect changes in case mix or the quality of evidence presented in recent filings.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Barr'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 Barr? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Jersey City hearing office
The Jersey City Hearing Office serves a population across New Jersey, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains a latest-period approval rate of 65%. You often face complex medical-vocational profiles that require thorough documentation. You can see the Jersey City Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to Judge Barr is essentially random. Across the Jersey City Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 47% to 81%. Because every judge operates with different preferences, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful. You can find more information on the Jersey City Hearing Office page.
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.