Approval rates
Comparing a judge's approval rate to broader benchmarks provides context for your hearing. Judge Toth maintains a 38% lifetime approval rate, which sits below the latest Wichita Hearing Office average of 52% and the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a docket of 18,598 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 Toth'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, Judge Toth has presided over 18,598 decisions. Her approval rate has fluctuated, moving from 57% in 2016 to 38% in the most recent reporting period. This trend reflects her historical approach to case evaluation.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Toth'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 Toth? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Wichita hearing office
The Wichita Hearing Office serves claimants across Kansas. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an average approval rate of 52% in the latest reporting period. You should be prepared for a rigorous review of medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can find more information on the Wichita Hearing Office page.
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 Wichita Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 38% to 66%. Because of this variance, the judge you draw can influence the procedural flow of your hearing.
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.