Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance requires looking at both their long-term history and recent trends. Over 10 years on the bench, Judge Stolls has issued 22,224 decisions. While the lifetime approval rate is 59%, the most recent reporting period shows a 48% approval rate, which is 13 points above the current Wilkes Barre office average. These aggregate rates reflect past decisions and do not serve as a prediction 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 Stolls'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
The career of Judge Stolls shows a steady pattern of decision-making that has evolved over a decade of service. After reaching a peak approval rate of 69% in 2017 and 2018, annual rates have fluctuated, settling into a more moderate range in recent years. The latest period reflects a continuation of this stable pattern, showing a measured approach to evidence evaluation. This trend suggests that the judge maintains consistent standards for disability qualification regardless of shifting caseloads.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Stolls'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 Wilkes Barre hearing office
The Wilkes Barre Hearing Office serves you throughout Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. With a bench of 6 judges, this office manages a high volume of disability claims, with an office-wide latest approval rate of 46%. You can expect a formal hearing process focused on your medical documentation and vocational testimony. You can see the Wilkes Barre Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases to judges using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Within the Wilkes Barre office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 29% to 59%. Because every judge interprets medical evidence through their own lens, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful. You can find more information on the Wilkes Barre Hearing Office page.
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.