Approval rates
Comparing a judge's historical approval rate to the broader office and national averages provides context for your hearing. Judge Bower has maintained a 32% lifetime approval rate across 11,998 lifetime decisions. This data is measured against the latest Providence Hearing Office approval rate of 57% and the national average of 58%. 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 Bower'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
Judge Bower's approval rate has fluctuated over her 5 years on the bench. After starting at 30% in 2016, the rate reached a peak of 36% in 2018 before shifting to 26% in 2020. These yearly trends illustrate how case outcomes vary over time based on the evidence presented in each docket. The latest period reflects a continuation of this established pattern of decision-making.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Bower'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 Bower? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Providence hearing office
The Providence Hearing Office serves you and other claimants throughout Rhode Island and surrounding areas. It is staffed by 6 administrative law judges who manage a high volume of disability cases. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 57%, which is consistent with the state average. You can visit the Providence 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 the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Across the Providence Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 ALJs range from 32% to 74%. Because each judge has a unique approach to evaluating evidence, understanding the office-wide landscape is helpful. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.