Approval rates
Judge Naggi has maintained a 75% lifetime approval rate across 18,185 decisions. In the most recent reporting period, your approval rate reached 88%, which is 17 percentage points higher than the national average and 21 points above the Kansas City office average. These figures are based on a significant volume of cases, providing a stable view of his historical decision-making. 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 Naggi'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, Judge Naggi has shown a consistent pattern of approvals, with recent years reflecting an upward trend in favorable outcomes. While your approval rate dipped to 67% in 2020, it has since climbed, reaching 86% in the most recent 2025 reporting period. This shift suggests that his recent decision-making has been more favorable than his long-term average. The latest period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern of high approval rates.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Naggi'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 Naggi? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Kansas City hearing office
The Kansas City (Missouri) Hearing Office serves a broad population across the region, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates under standard SSA procedures to ensure timely processing of hearings. The office-wide approval rate currently sits at 54%, which provides a baseline for understanding the local environment. You can see the Kansas City (Missouri) Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Kansas City office, lifetime approval rates among the bench vary significantly, ranging from 28% to 75%. Because of this variance, the specific judge assigned to your case can be a factor in your hearing experience. The office's 6 ALJs provide a range of outcomes that reflect the diversity of cases heard in this location.
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.