Approval rates
When evaluating your claim, it is helpful to look at how a judge's approval rate compares to broader benchmarks. Judge Plunkett has maintained a 47% lifetime approval rate across 17,761 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, his approval rate trailed the Oakland Hearing Office average by 18 percentage points and the national average by 11 percentage points. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your individual hearing.
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 Plunkett'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 8 years on the bench, Judge Plunkett has presided over a significant volume of cases, showing a trend that has fluctuated between 42% and 54% annually. His career history includes service across 9 different hearing offices, providing him with a broad perspective on disability claims. While his approval rate in 2023 reached 54%, this follows years of varied activity. These patterns reflect the complex nature of the cases he reviews, and the recent data suggests a trend that remains sensitive to the specific evidence you present in your file.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Plunkett'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 Plunkett? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Oakland hearing office
The Oakland Hearing Office serves a diverse population across California, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a recent office-wide approval rate of 65%, it functions as a critical hub for the region's SSDI process. You can expect a formal proceeding where the quality of your medical documentation is the primary factor in the judge's decision. You can see the Oakland Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. At the Oakland Hearing Office, the bench consists of 6 judges with lifetime approval rates ranging from 47% to 72%. Because each judge brings a unique approach to the hearing room, understanding the office-wide environment is as important as looking at an individual judge's history. You can review the office-wide trends to better understand the local bench.
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.