Approval rates
Judge Scallen maintains a lifetime approval rate of 52% based on 16,729 lifetime decisions. When compared to the most recent reporting period, his approval rate sits 6 points below the national average of 58% and 15 points below the Oak Park office average of 67%. These figures represent a large volume of cases, providing a stable look at his judicial history. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for individual hearings.
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 Scallen'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 7 years on the bench, Judge Scallen has maintained a consistent approach to disability claims. His yearly approval rates have fluctuated within a narrow band, reaching a high of 58% in 2019 and stabilizing near 50% in 2022. This trend suggests a steady decision-making pattern that has remained largely unchanged throughout his tenure.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Scallen'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 Scallen? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Oak Park hearing office
The Oak Park Hearing Office serves a significant population in Illinois, managing a high volume of disability claims through a team of 6 administrative law judges. The office currently reports an approval rate of 67%, reflecting local trends in evidence evaluation and case management. You can see the Oak Park Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Oak Park office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 50% to 80%. Because of this variance, the judge you draw can influence the procedural flow of your hearing. You can view the full ALJ roster on the Oak Park Hearing Office page.
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.