Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Cumbie maintains a lifetime approval rate of 51% based on 17,245 decisions, a significant sample size that reflects nearly a decade of service. While his latest reporting period shows a 77% approval rate, this should be viewed against the Greenville office average of 65% and the national average of 58%. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for individual hearings.
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 Cumbie'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 9 years on the bench, your judge's approval rates have fluctuated, moving from 63% in 2017 to a low of 37% in 2019, before trending to 80% in 2025. This pattern suggests that the approach to evidence and case requirements has evolved over time. The recent uptick in approvals represents a notable shift from earlier career averages. These variations often reflect changes in the complexity of cases assigned or shifts in the evidentiary standards applied to specific medical conditions.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Cumbie'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.
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Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Greenville hearing office
The Greenville Hearing Office serves a large population across South Carolina, managing a high volume of SSDI claims with a team of 6 administrative law judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 65%, reflecting the regional landscape of disability adjudication. You can expect a formal process focused on the objective medical evidence supporting your claim. You can visit the Greenville 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 judge is selected randomly rather than by request. Within the Greenville office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 44% to 65%. This variance highlights why understanding the general environment of your hearing office is more important than focusing on a single judge's historical data. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains 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.