Approval rates
Judge Kelly maintains a lifetime approval rate of 69% across 9,085 decisions. His approval rate is higher than the Boston office average of 53%, the state average of 56%, and the national average of 58%. This data is drawn from his career volume, providing a view of his decision-making history. Aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting your specific outcome.
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 4 years on the bench, Judge Kelly has maintained a consistent approach to disability claims. His yearly approval rates were 74% in 2016, 66% in 2017, 66% in 2018, and 68% in 2019. This pattern indicates a stable decision-making process throughout his tenure.
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.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Boston hearing office
The Boston Hearing Office serves a large population across Massachusetts and the surrounding region. It is staffed by 6 judges who manage a high volume of disability claims annually. The office currently reports an average approval rate of 53%, reflecting the nature of the cases heard in this jurisdiction. You can visit the Boston Hearing Office page for more information on the local roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assigned judge is selected randomly. Within the Boston Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 37% to 69%. Because of this variance, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful for your preparation.
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.