Approval rates
The approval rate for Judge Waters is calculated based on 23,365 lifetime decisions made during her 10-year tenure. In the most recent reporting period, your 49% approval rate trailed the Phoenix Downtown office average of 56% and the national average of 58%. These figures provide a statistical baseline for understanding how cases have been decided in this courtroom. 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 Waters'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 Waters has seen approval rates fluctuate, starting at 36% in 2016 and reaching 51% in 2025. This trend shows a gradual increase in approvals over the last decade, with the most recent period showing a steady performance compared to her lifetime average. The recent uptick in approvals may reflect changes in case mix or evidence quality presented in her courtroom. This pattern suggests a judge whose approach has evolved over her extensive career.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Waters'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 Waters? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Phoenix Downtown hearing office
The Phoenix Downtown Hearing Office serves you across Arizona and is one of the primary venues for SSDI hearings in the region. The office manages a high volume of cases with a bench of 5 judges, maintaining an office-wide latest approval rate of 56%. You can expect a professional environment focused on the rigorous evaluation of medical and vocational evidence. See the Phoenix Downtown 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 your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Phoenix Downtown office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 30% to 53%. Because each judge manages their own docket, you may encounter different procedural preferences depending on who is assigned to your hearing. For preparation purposes, the guidance is 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.