Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to office and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge O'Grady has issued 19,904 lifetime decisions, a volume that offers a stable look at her historical approach to disability claims. While her latest approval rate of 50% tracks with the Milwaukee office, it sits 15 percentage points below the national average. These figures reflect historical trends rather than specific outcomes for your case.
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 O'Grady'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 10-year tenure, your judge's approval rate has shown fluctuations, ranging from a low of 38% in 2019 to 49% in 2025. This trend suggests a period of adjustment in decision-making, with recent data reflecting a shift toward higher approval rates compared to mid-career years. These variations are common as judges adapt to evolving Social Security Administration policy and changes in the types of evidence presented. The recent uptick indicates a departure from the lower approval rates observed between 2018 and 2023.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge O'Grady'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 scheduled?
About the Milwaukee hearing office
The Milwaukee Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Wisconsin as part of a regional network managing a high volume of disability appeals. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains a latest approval rate of 50%, reflecting the complex nature of the cases handled in this jurisdiction. You should expect a thorough review of your medical records and vocational history during your appearance.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to Judge O'Grady is essentially random. Within the Milwaukee office, the 6 ALJs range from 27% to 52% in their lifetime approval rates. This variance highlights why focusing on the strength of your medical evidence is more important than the specific judge assigned. Guidance remains consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.