Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance against recent office and national benchmarks provides a clearer picture of their decision-making history. Judge Wexler has issued 15,348 lifetime decisions, a volume that offers significant statistical insight into their approach. While the latest reporting period shows an approval rate of 51%, this sits against a broader lifetime average of 54%. These figures reflect historical trends rather than specific outcomes for your case.
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 Wexler'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 a decade on the bench, Judge Wexler has maintained a consistent pattern of decision-making across 15,348 lifetime decisions. The yearly trend shows fluctuation, with approval rates reaching 67% in 2022 before shifting in more recent periods. This variance is common in high-volume hearing offices and often reflects changes in the complexity of cases or the evidence presented. The latest period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern within the broader context of their career.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Wexler'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.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Across the 6 judges at this office, lifetime approval rates range from 32% to 63%. This variation highlights why understanding the specific tendencies of your assigned judge is a standard part of your case preparation.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.