Approval rates
Judge Faust has maintained a lifetime approval rate of 51% over 9,838 decisions. In the latest reporting period, the judge's rate was 5 percentage points above the NHC St Louis office average of 46% and 1 percentage point below the state average of 52%. These figures provide a statistical baseline for understanding the judge's history. 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 Faust'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 5-year tenure, the approval rate for Judge Faust has remained steady. After an initial rate of 47% in 2016, the judge saw a rate of 54% in 2017, followed by 51% in 2018, 52% in 2019, and 51% in 2020. This stability suggests that the judge's approach to evidence and testimony has remained consistent throughout their time on the bench.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Faust'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.
About the NHC St Louis hearing office
The NHC St Louis Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Missouri. With a bench of 6 judges, the office manages a high volume of disability claims. The office currently reports an approval rate of 46%, which serves as a benchmark for the local administrative environment. You can visit the NHC St Louis Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
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 NHC St Louis office, the 6 ALJs range from 41% to 70% in their lifetime approval rates. This variance highlights that the specific judge assigned to your case is a significant variable in the hearing process.
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.