Approval rates
Judge Walls has issued 18,687 lifetime decisions over a 10-year tenure. In the most recent reporting period, the approval rate was 44%, which is 4 percentage points below the Phoenix North office average and 7 points below the national average. These figures provide a statistical baseline for understanding the judge's 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 Walls'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 the past decade, your judge's approval rate has fluctuated, moving from 60% in 2016 to 43% in 2025. The data shows a varied yearly trend, with periods of higher approval followed by shifts toward lower rates. This pattern suggests that while the judge has a consistent history, recent outcomes have diverged from the lifetime average. These shifts often reflect changes in the complexity of cases or the specific medical evidence presented in court.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Walls'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 Walls? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Phoenix North hearing office
The Phoenix North Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Arizona and parts of the surrounding region. It is staffed by 6 administrative law judges who manage a high volume of disability claims. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 55%, reflecting the local environment for SSDI hearings. You can see the Phoenix North 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. At the Phoenix North hearing office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 28% to 60%. Because of this variance, understanding the landscape of your local office is a helpful step in your preparation. You can find more information on the Phoenix North 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.