Approval rates
Jennifer B. Thomas has maintained a 51% approval rate over her 10-year tenure. In the most recent reporting period, her approval rate was 58%, which is 9 points lower than the Nashville office average and 7 points lower than the national average. These figures are derived from a docket of 20,530 lifetime decisions. Aggregate rates describe past decisions rather than predicting the outcome of your specific 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 Thomas'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 her 10 years on the bench, Jennifer B. Thomas has seen her approval rates fluctuate, starting at 54% in 2016 and reaching a low of 45% in 2020. Since 2021, her approval rate has shown a more consistent trend, generally remaining in the mid-50% range. The latest period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern, suggesting a stable approach to case evaluation.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Thomas'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 Thomas? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Nashville hearing office
The Nashville Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Tennessee and surrounding regions, managing a high volume of disability cases with a team of 6 administrative law judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 60%, reflecting the local environment for SSDI claims. You can expect a formal hearing process where the quality of your evidence is the primary factor in your outcome.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. At the Nashville Hearing Office, approval rates across the bench vary significantly, ranging from 48% to 73% among the office's 6 ALJs. While these differences exist, the fundamental requirements for proving your disability remain the same regardless of which judge you are assigned.
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.