Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to regional and national benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Perry-Dowdell has maintained a 28% lifetime approval rate over a docket of 19,797 decisions. This is measured against the latest Pittsburgh office approval rate of 48% and the national average of 58%.
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 Perry-Dowdell'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, Judge Perry-Dowdell has seen a shift in approval patterns. After initial years showing higher approval rates, the data indicates a decline starting around 2020, with the most recent period showing a 22% approval rate. This trend reflects a consistent pattern of decision-making in recent years.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Perry-Dowdell'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 Perry-Dowdell? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Pittsburgh hearing office
The Pittsburgh Hearing Office serves you across Western Pennsylvania and surrounding regions. This office manages a high volume of cases with a bench of 6 judges and a recent office-wide approval rate of 48%. You can expect a formal hearing process focused on the specific medical documentation supporting your disability claim.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Pittsburgh Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 28% to 57%. Because case assignment is outside of your control, focusing on the quality of your medical evidence is the most effective way to prepare.
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.