Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. While the national average approval rate currently sits at 58%, your judge's latest period shows an approval rate of 42%. This data is drawn from a significant docket of 25,295 lifetime decisions, providing a stable view of his decision-making history. 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 Thompson'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, your judge has seen his approval rates fluctuate, ranging from a low of 31% in 2023 to a recent high of 45% in 2025. This trend indicates that while his lifetime average is 36%, his recent decision-making has shifted compared to his earlier years on the bench. The latest period reflects a departure from his long-term average, which may be influenced by changes in the types of cases or the quality of evidence presented. These patterns help you understand the consistency of his approach over time.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Thompson'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 Thompson? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Salt Lake City hearing office
The Salt Lake City Hearing Office serves claimants across Utah and surrounding regions, managing a high volume of disability cases. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an office-wide latest approval rate of 54%. You can expect a professional environment where the focus remains on the medical and vocational evidence presented during your hearing. You can visit the Salt Lake City Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Salt Lake City Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench vary significantly, ranging from 28% to 72%. Because of this variance, understanding that your judge is assigned by chance is important. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent 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.