Approval rates
Judge Brownfield's 70% lifetime approval rate provides a baseline for understanding his decision history over the last 10 years. In the most recent reporting period, his approval rate reached 100%, aligning with the Chattanooga Hearing Office average and outperforming the national average by 12 percentage points. These statistics are derived from a significant docket of 11,914 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 Brownfield'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 decade on the bench, Judge Brownfield has seen his approval patterns evolve. While his early years showed approval rates in the 60% to 70% range, the data indicates a steady upward trend in recent years, particularly from 2023 through 2025. This shift reflects a move toward higher approval frequencies compared to his earlier career decisions.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Brownfield'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 Brownfield? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Chattanooga hearing office
The Chattanooga Hearing Office serves a broad population across Tennessee, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide approval rate of 70% in the latest reporting period. You can expect a formal administrative process focused on the medical and vocational evidence supporting your disability claim. You can see 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. Across the Chattanooga Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 40% to 75%. This variance highlights why the specific judge assigned to your case is a meaningful factor in the hearing process.
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.