Approval rates
Judge Engel maintains a lifetime approval rate of 80% based on 24,987 decisions, a significant volume that provides a clear view of his judicial history. In the most recent reporting period, his 84% approval rate stands 16 points above the Tulsa office average and 22 points above the national average. These figures reflect his long-term approach to evaluating disability claims, though aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than 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 Engel'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 Engel has shown a consistent trend of high approval rates. Starting at 73% in 2016, his annual approval rate climbed steadily, peaking at 91% in 2023 before stabilizing at 84% in the most recent periods. This trajectory suggests a judge who has refined his evaluation process over a large volume of cases. The current data reflects a continuation of this stable, high-approval pattern, which remains well above the national baseline.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Engel'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. Within the Tulsa hearing office, lifetime approval rates among the bench vary significantly, ranging from 38% to 81%. Because each judge has different preferences for how evidence is presented, your preparation should be tailored to the specific requirements of the hearing room.
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.