Approval rates
When reviewing your case, it is helpful to look at how Judge Traver’s approval rate compares to broader benchmarks. His latest approval rate stands higher than the Louisville Hearing Office average of 54% and the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a docket of 7,160 lifetime decisions, providing a 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 Traver'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 3 years on the bench, Judge Traver has maintained a consistent approval pattern. His annual approval rates moved from 75% in 2016 to 79% in 2018. This trend suggests a stable approach to evaluating your disability claim throughout his tenure. The data reflects a continuation of this steady pattern, indicating that his decision-making process remains consistent for those appearing before him.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Traver'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 Traver? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Louisville hearing office
The Louisville Hearing Office serves a large population across Kentucky, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates under the standard SSA procedures for administrative hearings. The office-wide latest approval rate is 54%, reflecting the nature of the cases heard in this region. You can see the Louisville Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Louisville Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 45% to 76%. Because of this variance, understanding the general environment of the office is useful, but the specific judge you draw matters. You can find more information on the Louisville Hearing Office page.
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.