Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to office and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Neary maintains a lifetime approval rate of 55%, which aligns with the state average and sits within a few points of the national standard. These figures are derived from a substantial docket of 17,262 lifetime decisions, offering a clear view of historical trends.
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 Neary'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 7 years on the bench, Judge Neary has shown a consistent approach to SSDI cases. While his annual approval rates have fluctuated—ranging from a low of 47% in 2018 to a high of 61% in 2022—the overall trend reflects a steady commitment to evaluating evidence. The most recent reporting period shows an approval rate 12 points higher than the office average, suggesting a recent shift in case outcomes.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Neary'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 Neary? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Harrisburg hearing office
The Harrisburg Hearing Office serves a significant portion of Pennsylvania, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide latest approval rate of 43%. You can expect a formal proceeding where your evidence quality is the primary driver of the outcome.
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 Harrisburg Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates for the bench range from 29% to 65%. Because of this variance, understanding the general environment of your hearing office is helpful.
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.