Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to office and national averages provides context for your hearing. Judge Morris maintains a 20% lifetime approval rate, which sits below the 58% latest approval rate observed at the Seattle Hearing Office and the 58% national average. These figures are derived from 3,958 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 Morris'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 4-year tenure, Judge Morris has presided over 3,958 lifetime decisions. The yearly trend shows a decline in approval rates, moving from 25% in 2016 to 12% by 2019. This downward trajectory reflects a consistent pattern throughout the judge's time on the bench. The recent period suggests a continuation of this trend, which may be influenced by changes in the types of cases assigned or the quality of evidence presented in those specific dockets.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Morris'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 Morris? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Seattle hearing office
The Seattle Hearing Office serves you and other applicants across Washington and the surrounding region. It is staffed by 6 judges who manage a high volume of SSDI cases, with an office-wide latest approval rate of 58%. You can expect a formal hearing process where your evidence quality is the primary factor in the outcome. You can visit the Seattle 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 the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Seattle Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 20% to 66%. Because of this variance, understanding the landscape of your local office is a standard part of your case preparation. 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.