Approval rates
When evaluating your claim, it is helpful to look at how a judge's history compares to broader trends. Judge Kelly maintains a lifetime approval rate of 28% across 19,895 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, your judge's approval rate was 22%, which differs from the Kansas City office average of 54% and the national average of 58%. These figures provide a statistical baseline for your expectations, though they do not predict 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 Kelly'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 Kelly has maintained a consistent decision-making profile. His yearly approval rates have fluctuated, showing a peak of 33% in 2020 and a recent period rate of 22%. With 19,895 lifetime decisions, the data reflects a stable approach to evaluating your disability claim. While the most recent period shows a lower approval rate compared to his long-term average, this is often influenced by the specific mix of cases assigned to his docket.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Kelly'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 Kelly? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Kansas City hearing office
The Kansas City (Missouri) hearing office serves a wide population across the region, managing a high volume of SSDI cases. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates under the standard SSA procedures for administrative hearings. You can expect a formal process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can visit the Kansas City (Missouri) Hearing Office page for more information on the office.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. At the Kansas City hearing office, the bench's 6 ALJs range from 28% to 61% in their lifetime approval rates. While you may be concerned about how your assigned judge compares to others, the fundamental requirements for proving your disability remain consistent.
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.