Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime approval rate to current office and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Greisler has maintained a consistent record over her 10-year tenure, presiding over a significant volume of cases that allows for a stable statistical view. While her latest approval rate of 46% differs from the Syracuse office average of 56%, these figures reflect the broader landscape of disability adjudication. 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 Greisler'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 Greisler has seen her approval rates fluctuate within a defined range. After an initial period, the data shows a steady pattern of decision-making that has persisted through her 18,398 lifetime decisions. While recent years show a slight variance from her long-term average, the overall trend remains stable. This consistency suggests a predictable approach to case evaluation, where the latest period reflects a continuation of her established judicial style.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Greisler'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 Greisler? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Syracuse hearing office
The Syracuse Hearing Office serves a broad region in New York, managing a high volume of disability claims with a team of 6 ALJs. The office currently reports an approval rate of 56%, which provides a baseline for the local adjudication environment. You can expect a standard hearing process focused on the medical and vocational evidence of your claim. You can see the Syracuse 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. Across the Syracuse Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 43% to 60%. Because each judge brings a unique perspective to the evidence, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful. You can find more information on the office's general trends on the hearing office page.
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.