Approval rates
Comparing a judge's history to broader trends provides context for your upcoming hearing. While the national average approval rate currently sits at 58%, your judge's lifetime performance is 46%. These figures are derived from a docket of 6,522 lifetime decisions accumulated over a decade of service. 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 Yerian'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 10 years on the bench, your judge has presided over 6,522 lifetime decisions with a yearly approval trend that has fluctuated. After starting with a 47% approval rate in 2016, the rate saw a low of 40% in 2017 before trending to 58% in 2025. This recent uptick suggests a shift in the nature of cases or evidence presented in the latest period. Understanding these trends helps you prepare for the evidentiary requirements of your hearing.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Yerian'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 Yerian? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Columbus hearing office
The Columbus Hearing Office serves a significant population across Ohio, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates under the broader Social Security Administration guidelines for case processing and adjudication. You can expect a formal hearing environment where medical documentation is the primary focus of the record. You can find more information on the Columbus Hearing Office page.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your judge is typically assigned at random. At the Columbus Hearing Office, the bench consists of 6 judges with lifetime approval rates ranging from 46% to 68%. Because case assignment is outside of your control, focusing on the strength of your medical evidence remains the most effective strategy.
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.