Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to broader benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Eiler has issued 14,318 lifetime decisions, a volume that offers a clear view of her historical decision-making. While her latest approval rate of 52% sits below the current office average of 66% and the national average of 58%, these figures represent a snapshot of past activity. 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 Eiler'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 10-year tenure, Judge Eiler has maintained a consistent approach to disability claims. Her approval rate has fluctuated, showing a rise in recent years, with 53% approval in 2025 compared to 41% in 2023. This trend reflects changes in the cases heard or the evidence presented during those periods. Understanding these patterns helps you and your representative focus on the medical documentation most likely to meet the judge's standards for a fully favorable decision.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Eiler'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 uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Across the 6 judges at the Special Review Cadre, lifetime approval rates vary significantly, ranging from 32% to 63%. Because you cannot choose your judge, your focus should remain on building a robust medical record. The guidance for your preparation remains consistent regardless of which judge is assigned to your case.
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.