Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance against current office and national benchmarks provides a clearer picture of the local hearing environment. Judge Katich has presided over 17,740 lifetime decisions, a volume that offers a stable view of her decision-making history. While her lifetime approval rate sits at 45%, recent data shows a shift in her approval patterns compared to the 60% average at the Fort Wayne office. 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 Katich'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 Katich has shown a distinct evolution in her approval patterns. Her early years saw approval rates in the mid-30% range, but the data indicates a steady upward trend beginning around 2023, where she reached a 63% approval rate. This recent period reflects a departure from her historical lifetime average, potentially signaling changes in case evidence or legal standards applied in her courtroom. The latest period suggests a continuation of this more recent, higher-approval pattern.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Katich'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 scheduled?
About the Fort Wayne hearing office
The Fort Wayne Hearing Office serves a significant population of claimants across Indiana, managing a high volume of cases with a team of 4 administrative law judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 60%, reflecting the local standards for disability eligibility. You should be prepared for a thorough review of your medical evidence and vocational history. You can see the Fort Wayne 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 the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Across the Fort Wayne bench, lifetime approval rates among judges range from 45% to 67%. Because every judge brings a unique perspective to the courtroom, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful. You can review the office-wide trends to see how the bench operates as a whole.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.