Approval rates
When evaluating your claim, it is helpful to look at how Judge Burkes compares to broader benchmarks. Her latest approval rate of 32% is measured against the Hattiesburg Hearing Office average of 48% and the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a significant docket of 22,524 lifetime decisions accumulated over a decade of service. These metrics provide a snapshot of historical trends rather than a guarantee of your specific 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 Burkes'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 10 years on the bench, Judge Burkes has maintained a consistent approach to disability adjudication. Her yearly approval trends show fluctuations, ranging from a low of 15% in 2016 to 35% in 2025. While the latest period shows a 32% approval rate, this remains a continuation of her long-term decision-making pattern. These variations often reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the specific medical evidence presented during a given year.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Burkes'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 Burkes? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Hattiesburg hearing office
The Hattiesburg Hearing Office serves a wide region in Mississippi, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office handles cases that require careful coordination between medical experts and vocational specialists. The office-wide latest approval rate is 48%, reflecting the local standard for evaluating disability claims. You can see the Hattiesburg Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Hattiesburg Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges on the bench vary significantly, ranging from 25% to 63%. This variance highlights why focusing on your own medical documentation is more important than the specific judge assigned. You can find more information on the office's general operations on the Hattiesburg 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.