Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance against recent office and national benchmarks provides a clearer picture of their decision-making history. While the national average approval rate currently sits at 58%, your judge's latest reporting period shows an approval rate of 38%. With 21,165 lifetime decisions, this data offers a statistically significant look at her tenure. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your 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 Dula'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 her 10 years on the bench, your judge has seen her approval rates fluctuate, moving from a high of 58% in 2018 to 41% in the most recent reporting period. While her lifetime average remains at 51%, the latest period reflects a more conservative approach compared to her earlier years. You can review the Middlesboro Hearing Office page for more information on local trends.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Dula'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 Dula? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Middlesboro hearing office
The Middlesboro Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across the region, managing a high volume of disability cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently maintains an office-wide approval rate of 52%, which is slightly lower than the national average. You should be prepared for a thorough review of your medical records and vocational history. You can see the Middlesboro Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Across the Middlesboro Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 46% to 59%. Because you cannot choose your judge, focusing on the strength of your medical evidence remains the most effective way to prepare. You can view the full ALJ roster on the Middlesboro 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.