Approval rates
Judge Reap maintains a lifetime approval rate of 60%, calculated from a docket of 22,221 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, the judge recorded a 70% approval rate, which is 7 points above the office average and 2 points above the national average. These figures provide a statistical baseline for your hearing preparation.
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 Reap'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 Reap has shown a clear evolution in decision patterns. While the rate was 54% during the 2018-2020 period, recent years show an upward trend, reaching 72% in 2024 and 2025. This shift reflects the current adjudication environment at the Franklin TN office.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Reap'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 Reap? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Franklin TN hearing office
The Franklin TN Hearing Office serves a broad population across Tennessee. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates under standard SSA guidelines for evaluating your medical and vocational evidence. The office-wide latest approval rate is 53%, which serves as a regional benchmark.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your judge is selected randomly. Within the Franklin TN Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 42% to 63%. The core requirements for proving your disability remain consistent regardless of which judge is assigned to your case.
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.