Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance to current office and national benchmarks provides a clearer picture of their historical decision-making. While the national latest approval rate currently stands at 58%, Judge Fields has maintained a lifetime rate of 38% over a significant docket. These figures are based on extensive data, though it is important to remember that 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 Fields'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, the decision pattern for Judge Fields has shown notable shifts. After reaching a peak approval rate of 47% in 2017, the annual approval rate experienced a decline, reaching a low of 24% in 2023. Recent data from 2025 shows an approval rate of 33%. These fluctuations often reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the quality of evidence presented, rather than a fixed personal policy.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Fields'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 utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Across the West Des Moines Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 38% to 70%. Because this variance exists, it is helpful to understand the general environment of your assigned office. You can review the office-wide trends to better understand the local hearing landscape.
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.