Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance to current office and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. While the national approval rate currently sits at 58%, Judge Justice has navigated a varied docket over 10 years on the bench. Reviewing these figures helps you understand the statistical landscape of your upcoming hearing. 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 Justice'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, Judge Justice has seen significant shifts in approval patterns. After a period of lower approval rates between 2018 and 2019, the trend line moved upward, stabilizing near 60% in recent years. This latest period reflects a continuation of a more consistent pattern compared to the earlier years of their tenure. These fluctuations often mirror changes in case complexity or the specific medical evidence presented in the courtroom.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Justice'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 Justice? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Denver hearing office
The Denver Hearing Office serves you throughout Colorado, managing a high volume of disability appeals. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an environment where procedural adherence is critical to a successful outcome. You should expect a formal hearing process focused on the documentation of your impairments under 20 CFR Part 404. You can see the Denver 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. Within the Denver Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 45% to 62%. Because you cannot choose your judge, focusing on the strength of your medical evidence remains the most effective strategy. 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.