Approval rates
Comparing your judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Garrian's 60% lifetime approval rate is measured against the NHC Falls Church office latest rate of 51% and the national average of 58%. With over a decade of experience, her docket size offers a statistically significant look at her decision 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 Garrian'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 her 10 years on the bench, Judge Garrian has presided over 11,069 lifetime decisions. Her approval trend has fluctuated, showing a shift from 63% in 2016 to a recent period of 75%. While yearly volume has varied, the recent uptick in approval rates reflects the evolving nature of disability adjudication and the specific evidence presented in recent dockets.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Garrian'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 Garrian? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Nhc Falls Church hearing office
The NHC Falls Church hearing office serves you and other claimants throughout Virginia and the surrounding region. As one of the busier offices in the area, it manages a high volume of cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently maintains a 51% approval rate, reflecting the complex nature of the claims processed here. You can visit the NHC Falls Church Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. The NHC Falls Church bench consists of 6 judges, with lifetime approval rates ranging from 48% to 69%. Because each judge brings a unique perspective to the courtroom, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful. For your preparation, 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.