Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to the broader office and national averages provides helpful context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Nordby maintains a lifetime approval rate of 63% across 1,321 lifetime decisions. This performance is 11 points higher than the Wichita office average and 5 points above the national average. These figures reflect historical trends rather than a guarantee of your outcome.
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 Nordby'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
Judge Nordby has maintained a consistent presence on the bench over his 3-year tenure. His approval rate was 57% in 2016, 68% in 2017, and 59% in 2018. This trend reflects a stable decision-making approach as he has processed his caseload. You can find more information on the Wichita Hearing Office page.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Nordby'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 Nordby? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Wichita hearing office
The Wichita Hearing Office serves you and other applicants across Kansas and parts of the surrounding region. This office manages a high volume of cases with a bench of 6 judges and a recent office-wide approval rate of 52%. You can expect a professional environment focused on the specific medical and vocational evidence presented in your file. You can see the Wichita 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 your specific judge assignment is essentially random. Across the 6 judges at the Wichita office, lifetime approval rates range from 38% to 66%. Because of this variance, understanding the local bench is a standard part of your hearing preparation. You can learn more about the office's operations on the Wichita 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.