Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime approval rate to current office and national benchmarks provides perspective on the local hearing environment. Judge DE Monbreum has maintained a consistent record over his 7 years on the bench, with his latest approval rate trailing the Eugene Hearing Office average by 15 percentage points. These figures are derived from 12,684 lifetime decisions, offering a stable data set for review. 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 De Monbreum'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-year tenure, your judge has seen his annual approval rate shift from 59% in 2016 to 44% in 2022. This trend reflects a steady pattern of adjudication that has stabilized after the initial years of his appointment. While the recent figures show a departure from his early career highs, they remain consistent with his established approach in the Eugene office.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge De Monbreum'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 DE Monbreum? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Eugene hearing office
The Eugene Hearing Office serves you throughout Oregon, managing a high volume of disability cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 64%, which serves as a local benchmark for the region. You can expect a formal process focused on the specific medical documentation supporting your claim. You can see the Eugene Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The SSA utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your specific judge is selected randomly. Within the Eugene Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 44% to 81%. This variance highlights why you should focus on the strength of your medical evidence regardless of which judge is assigned to your case. You can find more information on the Eugene 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.