Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to office and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Kerber maintains a lifetime approval rate of 46% based on 23,745 decisions. While the latest reporting period shows a 51% approval rate, this remains 7 points below the current office average and 12 points below the national average. These figures offer a statistical look at past outcomes rather than predictions for 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 Kerber'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 Kerber has demonstrated a consistent decision-making pattern across 23,745 lifetime decisions. The yearly trend shows fluctuations, with approval rates dipping to 40% in 2021 before rising to 54% in 2025. This recent uptick reflects a shift in the latest period compared to the lifetime average, illustrating a steady pattern of adjudication that accounts for varying case complexities over time.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Kerber'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 Kerber? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Toledo OH hearing office
The Toledo OH Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Ohio, managing a high volume of cases with a team of 6 administrative law judges. The office currently reports an approval rate of 53%, reflecting the regional landscape of disability claims. You can expect a standard hearing process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your judge is assigned randomly. Within the Toledo OH Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 44% to 51%. Because every judge operates under the same federal regulations, the core requirements for proving your disability remain consistent regardless of which judge is assigned to your hearing.
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.