Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to broader averages provides context for your hearing. Judge Guard maintains a lifetime approval rate of 57%, which aligns closely with the 58% national average. In the most recent reporting period, her approval rate reached 62%, placing her 9 percentage points above the current Macon office average of 48%. These figures are derived from a docket of 10,879 lifetime decisions.
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 Guard'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 Guard has navigated a varied caseload across three different hearing offices. Her annual approval rates have fluctuated, showing a rise to 68% in 2025 following a period of lower activity in 2023. This recent trend reflects a return to higher approval levels compared to her mid-career baseline. The latest period indicates that her approach to evidence evaluation remains consistent with her long-term tenure.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Guard'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 Guard? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Macon hearing office
The Macon Hearing Office serves a broad population across Georgia, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a current office-wide approval rate of 48%, it functions as a critical hub for regional SSDI determinations. You can expect a formal hearing environment where the quality of your medical evidence is the primary driver of the outcome. You can see the Macon 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 the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Macon Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 30% to 65%. Because of this variance, understanding the office-wide environment is as important as looking at a single judge's history.
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.