Approval rates
Judge Sartor maintains a lifetime approval rate of 58%, a figure derived from 17,484 decisions over her 10-year tenure. In the most recent reporting period, your approval rate reached 56%, which is 2 percentage points below the Dallas Downtown office average but matches the national average of 58%. These statistics provide a broad view of her judicial history, though they do not guarantee a specific outcome for your case.
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 Sartor'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 10 years on the bench, Judge Sartor has seen her approval rates fluctuate, peaking at 65% in 2019 before settling into a more moderate range in recent years. Her decision pattern shows a consistent volume of activity, with 17,484 lifetime decisions shaping her current profile. While the most recent data shows a 56% approval rate, this reflects a continuation of the steady, middle-ground pattern observed throughout her career.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Sartor'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 Sartor? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Dallas Downtown hearing office
The Dallas Downtown Hearing Office serves a significant volume of claimants throughout the Texas region. With a bench of 6 judges, the office manages a complex caseload that reflects the diverse needs of the local population. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 60%, providing a baseline for the local administrative environment.
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. Within the Dallas Downtown Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 ALJs range from 49% to 69%. Because of this variance, understanding the office-wide landscape is helpful, but your focus should remain on the strength of your own medical documentation.
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.