Choose judges to compare
Search by a judge's name, a hearing office or a state, and add 2 to 4 judges. The address in your browser keeps the comparison, so you can bookmark it or send it to your representative.
- Kathryn Bridges
Add at least one more judge to see Judge Kathryn Bridges side by side.
How to read a judge comparison
A table puts every gap on display, and most gaps between judges are smaller than they look. Four things decide how much a difference tells you.
- The period. Every figure in the table covers the same stretch: the 12 months from July 26, 2025 to July 31, 2026. SSA's own files count from October 1, so in winter they hold only a few months; we add the rest of the previous fiscal year so the window is always a full 12 months. A judge's own page also shows every decision SSA has published for them, but that record starts in a different year for each judge, which is why it isn't used here.
- Caseload size. A rate built on a hundred decisions can land several points away from the judge's usual rate by chance alone. The more cases behind a rate, the less it moves. The table below shows how much.
- Different dockets. Judges don't hear the same cases. Offices differ in the ages, conditions and work histories of the claimants who appear before them, and a judge who hears more cases involving older workers, or more appeals with thin medical records, will show different rates for reasons that have little to do with the judge. That's why the table sets each judge beside their own office in the same period.
- Dismissals. SSA's approval rate counts decisions only. A case closed because the claimant withdrew, missed the hearing or died is a dismissal, and it isn't in the rate. The decisions row counts decisions only, the same number the rate is built on.
| Decisions behind the rate | 95% chance range |
|---|---|
| 50 | ± 14 points |
| 100 | ± 10 points |
| 200 | ± 7 points |
| 400 | ± 5 points |
| 800 | ± 3 points |
For a rate near 58%, the national approval rate in this period, by the normal approximation to the binomial. Two judges whose rates differ by less than their ranges can't be told apart by these numbers alone.
Which judges are included
The tool covers 924 administrative law judges: every judge in SSA's latest disposition file with a full 12 months in SSA's files, July 26, 2025 – July 31, 2026, and at least 100 decisions in that window. Below that bar a few decisions either way move a rate by several points, and a side-by-side would show noise as difference.
Judges who no longer appear in SSA's latest file aren't in the tool. They keep their own pages with every decision SSA has published for them, but a judge missing from the latest file tells you little about hearings happening now. If a shared link names one, this page says so and leaves them out. The same goes for a judge below the bar, and for a judge whose record starts this fiscal year and so has less than 12 months to compare.
| Lowest | 1 in 4 below | Middle | 1 in 4 above | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9% | 48% | 58% | 68% | 98% |
July 26, 2025 – July 31, 2026. Half of these judges approve between 48% and 68% of the cases they decide. Use the spread to place a single number in context, not to rank judges: rates move from year to year as the mix of cases changes.
What each number means
| Row | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Approval rate | SSA's allowance rate: fully plus partially favorable decisions, as a share of all decisions in the period. |
| Fully favorable | Decisions that granted everything claimed, including the date the disability began. |
| Denied | Unfavorable decisions. With the approval rate it adds up to 100%. |
| Their office, same period | The approval rate across every judge at the judge's most recent hearing office on record, over the same period. |
| Decisions | Every case the judge decided in the 12 months: approvals and denials. Dismissals are not decisions and are not counted. |
The gap between the approval rate and the fully favorable rate is the share of partially favorable decisions. A partially favorable decision usually means the judge agreed the claimant is disabled but from a later date than the one claimed, which can mean less back pay. That's why the two rates are worth reading together.
Each judge's office is the most recent hearing office SSA's file lists for them, dated by their last decision there. It's a record of where they decided cases, not a statement of where they sit today.
Judges are assigned, not chosen
SSA assigns each hearing within the office that handles it, and a comparison like this one can't change who hears your case. What it can do is tell you what to expect, and whether your judge's numbers stand apart from the rest of their office.
What it can't do is predict your result. Every hearing is decided on its own record, and the parts you control matter most: complete records from the doctors who treat you, a clear and specific account of how your condition limits an ordinary working day, and preparation for the vocational expert's testimony about jobs you could still do.
Representation is one of the clearest differences in SSA's hearing data. In a government review of hearing decisions, claimants with a representative were approved at nearly three times the rate of those without one (GAO-18-37). That is an average across many cases, not a promise about any one, and individual results vary.
Common questions about comparing judges
No. SSA assigns hearings within each hearing office, generally oldest cases first and in rotation among the judges there. Neither you nor your representative can request a particular judge. You can ask a judge to withdraw only for a real conflict, such as a personal connection to you, and the judge or SSA decides whether it applies.
So that every judge is measured over the same stretch, and a long one. A judge's own page also shows every decision SSA has published for them, but those records start in different years, so two full-record rates are not like for like. SSA's own files count from October 1, so in winter they cover only a few months. The comparison uses the most recent 12 months instead, the same window for every judge in the table. How we calculate it.
The tool includes only judges who appear in SSA's latest disposition file, have a full 12 months in SSA's files, and made at least 100 decisions in that window. Judges who don't appear in SSA's latest file are left out, whatever the reason; so are judges whose record starts this fiscal year, and judges with fewer decisions than the bar. Every judge still has a page of their own, which you can find from the list of all judges.
No. An approval rate describes the cases a judge decided in the past, across claimants with very different medical records, ages and work histories. It doesn't predict the result of any one hearing. Your medical evidence, your work history and how the case is prepared and presented matter far more to your outcome than a judge's average.
We load SSA's hearing data each quarter, and the 12 months shown on this page end with the newest SSA file we have. SSA's own files count from the start of the federal fiscal year on October 1; we add the rest of the previous fiscal year so the window is always a full 12 months, whatever the time of year.
