Approval rates
Judge Nagle has issued 14,148 lifetime decisions over a 10-year career. In the most recent reporting period, you would find an approval rate of 57%, which compares to the Special Review Cadre office average of 66% and the national average of 58%. These figures offer a view into historical trends rather than a guarantee of future results.
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 Nagle'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 Nagle has seen fluctuating approval rates, ranging from a low of 38% in 2020 to a high of 69% in 2024. The data indicates that your judge's approval rate has trended upward in recent years compared to earlier career periods. While the latest period shows a 57% approval rate, this reflects a continuation of a more active recent pattern in decision-making.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Nagle'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.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Special Review Cadre, lifetime approval rates among the bench vary significantly, ranging from 32% to 63%. This variance highlights why focusing on the quality and completeness of your medical documentation is essential for your success.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.