Approval rates
Judge Mates has maintained a lifetime approval rate of 50% over his tenure. Compared to the latest reporting period, his approval rate is 1 percentage point below the Omaha Hearing Office average and 8 percentage points below the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a docket of 9,912 lifetime decisions. 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 Mates'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 6 years on the bench, Judge Mates has seen his approval rates fluctuate. Starting at 41% in 2016, the rate trended to 57% in 2018 and 65% in 2021. This pattern reflects a judge who adjusts to evolving case evidence and regulatory standards. The data shows a measured approach to disability adjudication.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Mates'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 Mates? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Omaha hearing office
The Omaha Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Nebraska and surrounding regions, managing a volume of disability appeals. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide latest approval rate of 51%. You can expect a formal hearing process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can view the full ALJ roster on the Omaha Hearing Office page.
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. Within the Omaha Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 30% to 78%. Because of this variance, it is important to understand the specific tendencies of the judge assigned to your case. You can find more information on the Omaha 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.