Approval rates
The approval rate for Hallie E. Larsen is calculated based on 21,170 lifetime decisions rendered over 8 years on the bench. When comparing recent performance, the judge's approval rate is 16 percentage points lower than the Fargo office average and 12 points below the national average. These figures provide a statistical baseline for understanding the judge's history, though aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than 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 Larsen'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 an 8-year tenure, the decision pattern for Hallie E. Larsen has remained relatively steady. With 21,170 lifetime decisions, the data shows a consistent approach to case evaluation. While the approval rate saw a peak of 51% in 2017, it has trended toward a more moderate range in recent years, suggesting a stable judicial philosophy throughout the judge's time at the Fargo office.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Larsen'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 Larsen? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Fargo hearing office
The Fargo Hearing Office serves you if you are located across North Dakota and parts of the surrounding region. As one of the primary hubs for disability adjudication in the area, the office manages a significant volume of cases with a bench of 6 administrative law judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 62%, reflecting the broader regional trends in disability claims processing.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Fargo Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 46% to 64%. Because of this variance, it is common to research your assigned judge to understand the local bench.
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.