Approval rates
Judge Mamelka maintains a lifetime approval rate of 40% based on 16,835 decisions. In the most recent reporting period, your approval rate was 45%, which compares to the 56% office average and the 58% national average. These figures provide a statistical look at historical trends within your 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 Mamelka'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 your 9 years on the bench, your approval rates have fluctuated. After a period of lower approvals around 2021, the data shows an increase in 2024 before settling to 41% in 2025. This suggests that while your lifetime average is 40%, your recent decision-making has shown variability. This pattern may reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the quality of evidence presented in recent years.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Mamelka'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 Mamelka? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Detroit hearing office
The Detroit Hearing Office serves a significant population of claimants across Michigan. With a bench of 6 judges, this office manages a high volume of cases to ensure timely hearings. The office-wide latest approval rate is 56%, reflecting the regional trends in disability adjudication. You can see the Detroit Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to Judge Mamelka is essentially random. Across the Detroit Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates for judges range from 40% to 75%. Because of this variance, understanding the bench as a whole is important for your claim. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same 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.