Approval rates
Judge Jacobson maintains a lifetime approval rate of 71%, which outperforms the 58% national average for Social Security disability hearings. In the most recent reporting period, the judge recorded a 77% approval rate, trending 2 percentage points above the Madison office average. With over a decade of experience, this volume of 26,302 lifetime decisions provides a foundation for understanding the judge's historical approach. 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 Jacobson'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 10-year tenure, Judge Jacobson has demonstrated a dynamic decision pattern. While the approval rate saw a dip in 2021 and 2022 to 62%, recent years show an upward trajectory, reaching 78% in 2025. This shift suggests that the judge's current approach is more favorable than the mid-tenure period. The latest reporting period reflects a continuation of this recent uptick, which may be influenced by changes in case evidence or the specific mix of claims presented to the court.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Jacobson'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 Jacobson? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Madison hearing office
The Madison Hearing Office serves you throughout Wisconsin, managing a volume of disability cases with a bench of 6 ALJs. The office currently maintains an average approval rate of 69%, which remains higher than the 58% state and national averages. You can expect a professional environment focused on the specific medical and vocational evidence of your claim. See the Madison Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases to judges using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Within the Madison Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 49% to 78%. Because this range is significant, understanding that your judge is selected by chance is an important part of managing your expectations. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same 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.