Approval rates
When evaluating your claim, it is helpful to look at how a judge's history compares to broader benchmarks. Judge Bartlett’s lifetime approval rate of 46% is 12 percentage points lower than the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a docket of 2,620 lifetime decisions, providing a statistical baseline. Aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting your individual hearing outcome.
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 Bartlett'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 1 year on the bench, Judge Bartlett has maintained a consistent decision-making pattern. Her approval rate of 46% reflects a steady approach to the evidence presented in your disability claim. This consistency suggests that the judge applies a uniform standard across her docket, reflecting her established approach to evaluating medical and vocational evidence.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Bartlett'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 Bartlett? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Chattanooga hearing office
The Chattanooga Hearing Office serves a wide population across Tennessee, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide latest approval rate of 70%. You can expect a formal process focused on the specific medical documentation of your impairment. You can visit the Chattanooga Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
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 Chattanooga Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 40% to 75%. Because of this variance, understanding the local landscape is a standard part of your hearing 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.