Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Edgell's lifetime approval rate of 47% is currently 11 percentage points below the national average and 20 points below the latest White Plains office average. These figures are derived from 8,841 lifetime decisions, offering a stable view of her judicial history. 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 Edgell'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 4 years on the bench, Judge Edgell has maintained a consistent pattern of decision-making. Her approval rate fluctuated between 44% and 51% throughout her tenure, showing a steady approach to the evidence presented in disability claims. The most recent data reflects a continuation of this stable pattern rather than a significant shift in outcome trends. This consistency allows for clearer preparation, as the judge's expectations remain predictable based on her established history.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Edgell'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.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the White Plains hearing office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 47% to 74%. Because you cannot choose your judge, it is important to focus on the strength of your medical evidence and testimony. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same regardless of which judge you are assigned.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.