Approval rates
John R. Martin's approval rate is measured against the latest performance of the NHC CHICAGO office and national benchmarks. In the most recent reporting period, he maintained a 63% approval rate, which sits 18 points above the office average of 51%. With a docket spanning 34,506 lifetime decisions, these figures offer a look at his history. 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 Martin'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 his 10-year tenure, John R. Martin has shown a consistent approach to your disability claim. While his approval rate peaked at 79% in 2016, the trend has stabilized in recent years, hovering near 68% before a slight adjustment to 64% in 2025. This pattern suggests a judge who evaluates evidence based on the specific merits of your file. The latest period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern, indicating that his decision-making process remains anchored in established Social Security Administration guidelines.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Martin'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 Martin? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Nhc Chicago hearing office
The NHC CHICAGO hearing office serves you throughout Illinois and the surrounding region. It is one of the busiest offices in the state, managing a high volume of cases with a dedicated team of administrative law judges. The office currently reports a 51% approval rate, reflecting the complex nature of the claims processed here. To learn more about the local bench, see the NHC CHICAGO Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Across the NHC CHICAGO office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 41% to 69%. Because each judge brings a unique perspective to the hearing room, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful. For your preparation, 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.