Approval rates
When evaluating your potential outcome, it is helpful to look at how Judge Mangus compares to broader benchmarks. While the judge maintains a lifetime approval rate of 46%, recent data shows a 54% approval rate in the latest reporting period. This is 6 percentage points lower than the Middlesboro office average and 12 points below the national average. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for individual hearings.
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 Mangus'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 Mangus has presided over 27,110 lifetime decisions. The yearly trend shows fluctuation, with approval rates moving from 43% in 2016 to 56% in 2025. This recent uptick reflects the evolving nature of the cases heard and the evidence presented during the latest period. Understanding these patterns helps in setting expectations, though your case remains unique.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Mangus'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 Mangus? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Middlesboro hearing office
The Middlesboro Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across the region, managing a high volume of disability cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently reports an approval rate of 52%, which provides a local baseline for comparison. You should be prepared for a formal administrative process focused on medical documentation. You can see the Middlesboro 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 a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Middlesboro Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 46% to 59%. Regardless of which judge is assigned to your hearing, the core requirements for proving disability remain the same. You can find more information on the Middlesboro Hearing Office page.
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.