Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance requires looking at both their long-term history and recent trends. Stephen M. Hanekamp has a lifetime approval rate of 57% across 20,011 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, his approval rate was 52%, compared to the St Louis office average of 54% 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 Hanekamp'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, Stephen M. Hanekamp has shown a varied approval trend. While his early years saw rates near 60%, recent periods have fluctuated, including a dip to 48% in 2023 followed by a return to 56% in 2024. These shifts often reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the specific evidence presented in the St Louis docket. The latest period reflects a continuation of this variable pattern.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Hanekamp'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 Hanekamp? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the St Louis hearing office
The St Louis Hearing Office serves a large population across Missouri, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains a consistent focus on the Office of Hearings Operations guidelines. You can expect a professional environment where medical documentation and vocational testimony are central to the hearing process. You can see the St Louis Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Within the St Louis office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 ALJs range from 41% to 70%. Because every judge interprets evidence differently, understanding the range of outcomes at your specific office is a standard part of case preparation.
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.