Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to regional and national benchmarks provides necessary context for your upcoming hearing. While the national average approval rate sits at 58%, Judge Maiben's lifetime rate is 49% across 22,370 decisions. These statistics are derived from a decade of service and offer a broad view of how cases have been decided in her courtroom. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not 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 Maiben'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 her 10 years on the bench, Judge Maiben has seen her approval rates shift. After a period of lower approval rates between 2017 and 2019, the data shows a steady upward trend starting in 2020. Her most recent reporting period shows a 66% approval rate, which marks a notable departure from her lifetime average. This recent uptick may reflect changes in case mix or the quality of evidence presented in recent dockets.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Maiben'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 Maiben? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Dallas Downtown hearing office
The Dallas Downtown Hearing Office serves a large population across Texas, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide approval rate that fluctuates based on the complexity of the cases heard. You can expect a professional environment where medical documentation is the primary driver of the decision-making process. You can visit the Dallas Downtown Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your specific judge is determined by random selection. Within the Dallas Downtown office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 49% to 69%. This variance highlights why you should focus on the strength of your own medical evidence regardless of the assigned judge. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.