Approval rates
Judge Chen maintains a lifetime approval rate of 71% based on 12,653 decisions. In the most recent reporting period, your judge reached an 82% approval rate, which is 13 percentage points higher than the national average of 58%. These figures provide a high level of statistical confidence due to the significant volume of cases handled over a decade. 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 Chen'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 10 years on the bench, the decision pattern for Judge Chen has shown a clear upward trend. While your judge's early years saw approval rates in the 58% to 63% range, recent performance has stabilized at a higher level, with the latest period reaching 82%. This shift suggests a consistent application of criteria as your judge has gained experience. The recent uptick reflects a steady pattern of adjudication that remains distinct from the earlier years of this tenure.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Chen'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 Chen? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Tucson hearing office
The Tucson Hearing Office serves a large population across Arizona, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an environment where case outcomes can vary based on the specific evidence you present. You can expect a professional hearing process focused on your medical documentation and vocational testimony. See the Tucson 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 Tucson Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates across the bench range from 50% to 80%. Because of this variance, understanding the general environment of your assigned office is helpful. You can find more information on the office's overall performance on the Tucson 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.