Approval rates
Judge Davis maintains a lifetime approval rate of 66%, which is higher than the current 59% approval rate at the Fort Smith Hearing Office and the 58% national average. This data is derived from a career docket of 25,290 lifetime decisions, providing a statistical baseline for understanding his judicial history. Aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting the outcome of 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 his 10 years on the bench, Judge Davis has shown an upward trend in approval rates. After starting in the mid-50% range, his decisions shifted significantly starting in 2019, consistently remaining above 67% in recent years. The latest reporting period shows an approval rate of 76%, which is 7 points higher than the office average. This recent uptick reflects a steady pattern of decision-making that has remained consistent throughout the last several years.
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 Fort Smith hearing office
The Fort Smith Hearing Office serves you throughout the region, managing a volume of disability cases with a team of 6 administrative law judges. The office currently reports an approval rate of 59%, which serves as a benchmark for the local bench. You can expect a professional environment focused on the thorough review of your medical evidence. You can see the Fort Smith Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Across the 6 judges at the Fort Smith Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates vary, ranging from 46% to 66%. Because of this variance, understanding the general environment of the office is helpful for your claim. You can find more information on the Fort Smith Hearing Office page.
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.