Approval rates
Judge Reamon has presided over 25,747 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, your judge's approval rate was 43%, which is 13 percentage points lower than the national average of 58%. These figures highlight the variance in outcomes across different courtrooms. 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 Reamon'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 10-year tenure, Judge Reamon's approval rates have shown fluctuations, peaking at 52% in 2017 before settling into a range between 39% and 46% in recent years. The latest period shows a 43% approval rate, which remains consistent with his established career trajectory. This pattern suggests a stable approach to evidence evaluation.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Reamon'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 Reamon? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Grand Rapids hearing office
The Grand Rapids hearing office serves you throughout Michigan and is part of a regional network dedicated to processing disability appeals. The office manages a high volume of cases with a bench of 6 judges, maintaining an office-wide approval rate of 58%. You can expect a standard administrative process focused on medical evidence and vocational testimony.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Grand Rapids office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 43% to 66%. Because of this variance, it is helpful to understand the general environment of your assigned office.
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.