Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your hearing. While the national approval rate is 58%, Judge Cima's recent approval rate is 54%. These figures are derived from 23,356 lifetime decisions. Aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting your individual 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 Cima'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 his 10 years on the bench, Judge Cima has seen his approval rates fluctuate, moving from 51% in 2016 to 57% in 2025. This trend shows a period of lower approval rates between 2018 and 2019, followed by a recovery in recent years. These shifts often correlate with changes in case complexity or the medical evidence presented in a given year.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Cima'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 Cima? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Fort Worth hearing office
The Fort Worth Hearing Office manages a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an approval rate that reflects the diverse nature of the cases heard in this region. You can expect a professional environment focused on the review of medical records and testimony. You can visit the Fort Worth 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. Within the Fort Worth Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 30% to 51%. Because assignment is outside of your control, you should focus on the strength of your medical evidence.
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.