Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to regional and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing environment. Foster's lifetime approval rate of 49% is built upon a substantial docket of 24,630 lifetime decisions, offering a stable view of their decision-making history. While the latest period shows a 54% approval rate, it is important to view this against the broader office average of 47% and the national average of 58%. 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 Foster'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 decade on the bench, Foster has navigated a variety of caseloads and evidentiary requirements. The yearly trend shows fluctuations, with approval rates dipping to 37% in 2021 before recovering to 55% in 2025. This recent activity suggests a return to higher approval levels compared to the mid-tenure period. Such patterns are common in long-term judicial careers and often reflect shifts in the complexity of cases assigned to the office.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Foster'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.
Hearing with Judge Foster? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Richmond hearing office
The Richmond Hearing Office serves you across Virginia, managing a high volume of disability cases. With 6 judges on the bench, the office maintains an office-wide latest approval rate of 47%. You should expect a formal hearing process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can visit the Richmond Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The SSA assigns cases to judges using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Within the Richmond Hearing Office, approval rates among the 6 judges vary significantly, ranging from 18% to 57% over their respective careers. This variance highlights that the specific judge you draw can influence your hearing experience. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
SSDI hearing approval rates — represented vs. on your own
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.