Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance to recent office and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. While Judge Davis maintains a 68% lifetime approval rate, his most recent reporting period shows a 74% approval rate, which is 10 percentage points higher than the national average of 58%. These figures are drawn from a significant docket of 23,450 lifetime decisions. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your individual 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 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 a decade on the bench, Judge Davis has demonstrated a consistent approach to disability claims. His approval rate has shown an upward trend in recent years, moving from 62% in 2021 to 76% in 2025. With 23,450 lifetime decisions, this data reflects a well-established judicial style. The recent uptick in approvals suggests a shift in the types of cases presented or the quality of evidence provided in recent hearings.
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.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Tucson hearing office
The Tucson Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Arizona, managing a high volume of cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 71%, which provides a baseline for the region. You can expect a standard administrative process focused on the documentation of your impairments. You can visit the Tucson 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 the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Tucson Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges vary significantly, ranging from 50% to 80%. Because you cannot choose your judge, you should focus on the strength of your medical evidence. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent regardless of which judge is assigned to your case.
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.