Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance requires looking at both their long-term history and recent trends. Judge Saindon has maintained a 61% lifetime approval rate over 16,985 decisions, which remains competitive against the 58% national average. While her latest reporting period shows a variance compared to the broader Chattanooga Hearing Office average, these statistics are derived from a significant volume of cases. 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 Saindon'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 her 9 years on the bench, Judge Saindon has seen fluctuations in her annual approval rates. After a period of lower approvals around 2019 and 2020, her trend has shown a steady recovery, with recent years returning to the mid-60% range. This pattern suggests a return to her historical baseline following the volatility of the 2019-2021 period. These shifts often reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the quality of evidence presented during specific years.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Saindon'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 Saindon? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Chattanooga hearing office
The Chattanooga Hearing Office serves a broad population across Tennessee and the surrounding region. With a bench of 6 judges, the office manages a high volume of disability claims, maintaining a recent office-wide approval rate of 70%. You can expect a professional environment focused on the rigorous evaluation of medical and vocational evidence. You can see the Chattanooga 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 your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Chattanooga Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 40% to 75%. This diversity highlights why focusing on the strength of your medical evidence is vital regardless of the judge assigned. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.