Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks helps you understand the environment of your upcoming hearing. Judge Davis maintains a lifetime approval rate of 33%, which contrasts with the latest national average of 58% and the current Little Rock office average of 41%. With over a decade of experience and 22,566 lifetime decisions, the data provides a stable view of past outcomes. 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 Davis'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 10 years on the bench, your judge has seen approval rates fluctuate within a consistent range. After an initial period in 2016, the rate peaked in 2017 before settling into a pattern that has remained largely steady through the most recent reporting period. The latest approval rate of 28% represents a deviation from the long-term average, often reflecting shifts in the complexity of cases or the specific evidence presented. This trend suggests a stable approach to evaluating disability claims over time.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Davis'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 Davis? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Little Rock hearing office
The Little Rock Hearing Office serves you and other claimants throughout Arkansas and the surrounding region. It is staffed by 6 judges who manage a high volume of disability claims annually. The office currently reports a latest approval rate of 41%, reflecting the regional standards for evidence and disability determination. You can see the Little Rock 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 your judge is selected randomly. At the Little Rock Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 27% to 52%. Because of this variance, the specific judge you draw can influence the procedural flow of your hearing. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same 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.