Approval rates
When evaluating your hearing, it is helpful to look at how a judge's lifetime approval rate compares to current office and national benchmarks. Judge Shepherd has maintained a consistent presence over 10 years on the bench, providing a significant volume of data for analysis. While his lifetime rate is 43%, recent reporting periods indicate a shift in his decision-making. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your individual 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 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
Over his 10-year tenure, Judge Shepherd has issued 22,658 decisions. His yearly trend shows a period of stability between 2016 and 2021, with approval rates generally hovering near the 39% mark. Since 2022, there has been a noticeable upward trend in approvals, reaching 57% in the most recent reporting period. This recent shift suggests a departure from his earlier decision-making pattern.
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.
Hearing with Judge Shepherd? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Oklahoma City hearing office
The Oklahoma City Hearing Office serves a broad population across Oklahoma, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an active docket and handles cases with varying levels of complexity. The office currently reports an approval rate of 73%, reflecting the diverse nature of the claims processed in this region. You can see the Oklahoma City Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The SSA assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Oklahoma City Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 43% to 79%. This variance highlights why it is important to focus on the strength of your medical evidence regardless of which judge is assigned to your case. You can find more information on the Oklahoma City 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.