Approval rates
Your judge's approval rate is calculated based on 2,479 lifetime decisions rendered during their tenure. When compared to the latest reporting period, your judge's performance shows a distinct relationship with broader office and national benchmarks. These figures provide a statistical snapshot of your judge's history rather than a guarantee of your future outcome. These metrics reflect historical trends rather than specific predictions for your 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 Haber Lamkay'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 2-year tenure, your judge has demonstrated a consistent approach to disability claims. The yearly trend shows an approval rate of 62% in 2016, followed by 65% in 2017. This steady pattern suggests that your judge's decision-making process has remained reliable throughout their time on the bench. The data indicates that your judge's approach is well-established within the current case mix.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Haber Lamkay'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.
Have a hearing with this judge? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Queens hearing office
The Queens Hearing Office serves a significant volume of claimants throughout the New York region. As one of the busier offices in the state, it maintains an office-wide approval rate of 78% among its 6 ALJ judges. You should be prepared for a rigorous review of your medical evidence and vocational history when appearing here. You can see the Queens Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Queens Hearing Office, the bench features a range of approval rates spanning from 63% to 84%. Because each judge brings a unique perspective to the courtroom, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful for your preparation. You can view the Queens Hearing Office page for more information on the local bench.
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.