Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Shea maintains a lifetime approval rate of 57%, which you can measure against the current Raleigh office average of 62% and the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a substantial docket of 14,936 lifetime decisions, offering a stable view of historical trends.
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 Shea'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 9 years on the bench, Judge Shea has demonstrated a clear upward trend in approval rates. After starting at 42% in 2018, the annual approval rate has climbed steadily, reaching 73% in 2025. This latest period shows a rate of 74%, which is higher than the lifetime average. Such shifts often reflect changes in the types of cases assigned or evolving standards for evidence, indicating a pattern that has become more favorable in recent years.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Shea'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 Shea? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Raleigh hearing office
The Raleigh Hearing Office serves you and other applicants across North Carolina and the surrounding region. With a bench of 6 judges, the office manages a high volume of disability claims, maintaining a latest-period approval rate of 62%. You can expect a formal administrative process focused on the objective medical evidence supporting your disability claim. You can visit the Raleigh 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. Across the Raleigh office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 40% to 69%. Because each judge brings a unique perspective to the courtroom, the variance in these rates highlights why thorough preparation is essential.
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.