Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance against broader benchmarks helps you understand the environment of your upcoming hearing. Judge Winn has maintained a 54% approval rate across her 7-year tenure, a figure derived from 10,975 lifetime decisions. This performance is measured against the latest national average of 58% to provide context for your case. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for individual hearings.
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 Winn'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 7 years on the bench, Judge Winn has maintained a steady decision pattern. Her annual approval rates have fluctuated within a moderate range, showing no extreme shifts in her approach to disability claims. The data indicates a consistent volume of decisions, reflecting a stable judicial practice. These patterns suggest that the judge relies on established evidentiary standards, and the recent period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Winn'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 Winn? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Creve Coeur hearing office
The Creve Coeur Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across the region, managing a high volume of disability cases with a bench of 6 judges. The office maintains a diverse range of outcomes, reflecting the complex nature of the cases heard daily. You can expect a formal process focused on medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can visit the Creve Coeur Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Creve Coeur Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 38% to 84%. This variance highlights that the judge you draw can influence the procedural flow of 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.