Approval rates
The approval rate for Dennis G. Katz is based on 13,913 lifetime decisions. While his lifetime rate is 59%, recent reporting shows a variance compared to the broader White Plains Hearing Office average of 67%. Understanding these metrics helps you contextualize your hearing, though aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting the outcome of your specific case.
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 Katz'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 his 8 years on the bench, Dennis G. Katz has maintained a consistent pattern of adjudication. His approval rates showed a steady trend from 51% in 2016 to a peak of 63% in 2021, followed by a recent rate of 61% in 2023. This trajectory reflects his experience across 13,913 lifetime decisions.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Katz'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.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Across the White Plains Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 53% to 74%. Because of this variance, it is important to focus on the strength of your medical evidence regardless of which judge is assigned.
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.