Approval rates
Judge Schwalbach maintains a 53% lifetime approval rate, which is 3 percentage points higher than the Milwaukee Hearing Office average of 50%. These figures are based on a docket of 6,411 lifetime decisions. Aggregate rates describe past trends rather than predicting the outcome of your specific 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 Schwalbach'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 3-year tenure, your judge's approval patterns have shifted from 57% in 2023 to 52% in 2025. This movement reflects a stable approach to case evaluation. The latest period shows a 48% fully-favorable rate, indicating that current decision-making remains consistent with established career history.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Schwalbach'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 scheduled?
About the Milwaukee hearing office
The Milwaukee Hearing Office serves a broad population across Wisconsin. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an average approval rate of 50% in the latest reporting period. You can expect a professional environment focused on the evaluation of your medical and vocational evidence. You can visit the Milwaukee Hearing Office page for more information on the local roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses an automated algorithm to assign cases, meaning your judge is assigned randomly. Within the Milwaukee Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 42% to 53%. Because each judge brings a unique perspective to the hearing room, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful for your preparation.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.