Approval rates
Judge Sheppard's approval rate is measured against the Lexington Hearing Office and national benchmarks to provide context for your upcoming hearing. With a decade of service and over 21,640 lifetime decisions, the data offers a stable view of past trends. While the latest period shows an approval rate of 59%, this is a snapshot of recent activity rather than a guarantee of your future results. 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 Sheppard'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 10 years on the bench, Judge Sheppard has seen his approval rate evolve from 38% in 2016 to 59% in 2025. The trend shows an increase in approvals over the last decade, with a peak of 62% in 2023. This pattern reflects a consistent approach to evaluating evidence as his tenure has progressed. The latest period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern, balancing the requirements of Social Security Administration guidelines with the specific needs of your case.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Sheppard'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 Sheppard? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Lexington hearing office
The Lexington (Kentucky) Hearing Office serves a broad population across the region, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an average approval rate of 52% in the latest reporting period. You can expect a professional environment where your evidence quality and medical documentation are the primary drivers of your success. You can see the Lexington (Kentucky) Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Across the Lexington Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates for the bench range from 46% to 54%. While these differences exist, the fundamental requirements for proving your disability remain consistent regardless of the judge presiding over your hearing. You can find more information on the Lexington (Kentucky) 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.