Approval rates
Comparing a judge's history to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. While Judge Syrjanen has a lifetime approval rate of 42%, his most recent reporting period shows a rate of 47%. This is currently 8 percentage points below the Milwaukee Hearing Office average and 16 percentage points below the national average. These figures are derived from a significant docket of 14,325 lifetime decisions. 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 Syrjanen'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 9 years on the bench, Judge Syrjanen has seen his approval rates fluctuate. After an initial period, the data shows a trend with a notable uptick in 2022 and 2023, where approval rates reached 50% and 53% respectively. The most recent data from 2025 shows a moderation to 46%. This pattern suggests that while individual years vary, the judge maintains a consistent approach to evaluating evidence.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Syrjanen'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 Milwaukee hearing office
The Milwaukee Hearing Office serves you throughout Wisconsin, managing a high volume of cases within the region. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide approval rate that reflects the diverse nature of the claims processed here. You can expect a formal hearing process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can visit the Milwaukee Hearing Office page for more information.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning you cannot choose your judge. At the Milwaukee Hearing Office, the bench consists of 6 judges whose lifetime approval rates range from 27% to 52%. Because assignment is essentially random, you may be scheduled before any of these individuals. You can review the full office roster on the Milwaukee 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.