Approval rates
Comparing approval rates requires looking at consistent timeframes to understand how a judge's decisions align with their peers. While the office-wide bench shows a range of 45% to 85% in approval rates since 2016, Larry D. Shepherd has maintained a 46% approval rate over 4,057 total decisions. In the most recent reporting period, your judge's 51% approval rate sits 20 percentage points below the Oklahoma City office average of 71%.
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 Shepherd'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
Since 2016, the approval rate for Larry D. Shepherd has shown a gradual upward trend, moving from 44% in 2016 to 56% in 2025. The latest fiscal year-to-date data for 2026 shows a rate of 51% across 426 decisions. This pattern reflects a period of increasing approval frequency in recent years compared to the earlier part of the decade.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Shepherd'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.
About the Oklahoma City hearing office
The Oklahoma City hearing office serves you and other claimants across Oklahoma and the surrounding region. With 17 judges whose most recent office on record is this location, the office maintains an office-wide latest-period approval rate of 71%. You can expect a standard administrative hearing process where evidence quality remains the primary factor in your outcome.
Other judges whose most recent office on record is Oklahoma City
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. There are 17 judges whose most recent office on record is the Oklahoma City office, 11 of whom decided cases in the latest SSA file. These judges show a wide range of approval rates, from 45% to 85% since 2016.
Approval rates change 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.
Frequently asked questions
Larry D. Shepherd has an approval rate of 46% since 2016, which sits within the 45% to 85% range observed among the 17 judges whose most recent office on record is the Oklahoma City hearing office. Because approval rates vary significantly, an attorney can help you prepare your case specifically for the standards of this bench.
Yes, the approval rate for Larry D. Shepherd has fluctuated over time, starting at 44% in 2016 and rising to 56% in 2025, before reaching 51% in the partial 2026 data. Understanding these trends can be part of a comprehensive case strategy, and an attorney can help you determine how to best present your medical evidence.
No, you cannot request a specific judge. The Social Security Administration assigns cases using a random workload-balancing algorithm to ensure efficiency. Since you cannot choose your judge, working with an attorney to prepare for any potential outcome is a recommended step.
An SSDI hearing is a non-adversarial proceeding where you, your attorney, and a judge review the evidence of your disability. The judge may ask questions about your work history and physical or mental limitations, and a vocational expert may testify about available jobs. An attorney can help you prepare your testimony and organize your medical records for the hearing.
