Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance against current office and national benchmarks provides a clearer picture of the local hearing environment. Judge Bond maintains a 54% lifetime approval rate, which is evaluated against the Washington office's latest 61% rate and the 58% national average. These figures are derived from 3,815 lifetime decisions. 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 Bond'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 a two-year tenure, your judge has shown a shift in approval patterns. Starting with a 51% approval rate in 2016, the data indicates an increase to 60% in 2017. This trend suggests that recent decisions have become more aligned with the broader office environment. You can learn more about the Washington (District of Columbia) Hearing Office here.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Bond'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 Bond? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Washington hearing office
The Washington (District of Columbia) Hearing Office serves a diverse population, managing a high volume of disability claims with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently reports a 61% approval rate, reflecting local standards for evidence and testimony. If you are scheduled here, you should be prepared for a rigorous review of your medical documentation. You can see the Washington (District of Columbia) Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Washington office, lifetime approval rates among the bench vary, ranging from 33% to 54%. Because each judge manages their courtroom differently, understanding the office-wide landscape is helpful. You can view the full roster on the Washington (District of Columbia) 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.