Approval rates
Judge Best has issued 13,113 lifetime decisions during his tenure. His current approval rate is 13 percentage points lower than the Providence Hearing Office average of 57% and 14 points below the national average. These figures are based on the latest reporting period and offer a snapshot of how his bench compares to broader SSA trends. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your individual hearing.
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 Best'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 his 6 years on the bench, Judge Best has shown a steady decision-making pattern. His approval rate fluctuated from 38% in 2016 to a peak of 48% in 2019, before settling at 42% in the most recent reporting year. This trend indicates a stable approach to evaluating your disability claim. The latest period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern, suggesting that the judge maintains a consistent evidentiary standard for awarding benefits.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Best'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 Best? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Providence hearing office
The Providence Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Rhode Island and surrounding areas, managing a high volume of SSDI cases. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains a latest approval rate of 57%, which is slightly below the national average. You can expect a formal administrative process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can see the Providence 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. At the Providence Hearing Office, the bench consists of 6 judges with lifetime approval rates ranging from 32% to 74%. Because of this variance, the judge you draw matters to your hearing experience. You can find more information on the Providence 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.