Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime approval rate to current office and national averages provides context for your hearing. Judge Cusker has maintained a 42% lifetime approval rate across 11,406 decisions. While this sits below the current national average of 58%, every case is unique and depends on the specific medical evidence you provide.
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 Cusker'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 7 years on the bench, Judge Cusker has seen his approval rate fluctuate, moving from 42% in 2016 to 36% in 2022. These 11,406 lifetime decisions reflect a career that has spanned two different hearing offices. These shifts often reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the quality of evidence presented, rather than a change in judicial philosophy.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Cusker'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 Cusker? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Las Vegas hearing office
The Las Vegas Hearing Office serves a large population of claimants across Nevada. With a team of 6 judges, the office maintains a latest approval rate of 60%, which serves as a benchmark for the region. You can visit the Las Vegas Hearing Office page for more information on the local 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. At the Las Vegas Hearing Office, the bench includes 6 judges with lifetime approval rates ranging from 35% to 68%. Because case assignment is outside of your control, the best strategy is to 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.