Approval rates
Evaluating a judge's history requires looking at the broader context of their career. Judge Cooke has presided over 19,136 lifetime decisions, providing a substantial data set for review. In the most recent reporting period, her 60% approval rate aligns with the Kansas City office average of 54% and remains near the 58% national benchmark. These aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting outcomes for your specific 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 Cooke'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 Cooke's approval patterns have shown periodic fluctuations. While her approval rate dipped to 49% in 2018, recent data shows a return to higher levels, reaching 60% in 2025. This latest period reflects a continuation of the evidence-focused approach observed throughout her 19,136 lifetime decisions. Shifts in approval percentages often correspond to changes in the complexity of cases or the quality of medical evidence presented.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Cooke'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 Cooke? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Kansas City hearing office
The Kansas City (Missouri) Hearing Office serves a broad population across the region, managing 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 jurisdiction. You can expect a professional environment focused on the thorough review of medical and vocational evidence. You can visit the Kansas City (Missouri) 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 Kansas City Hearing Office, individual lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 28% to 61%. Because of this variance, understanding the office environment is helpful, but the core requirements for proving your disability remain consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.