Approval rates
Judge Zapf has presided over 14,269 lifetime decisions during her 6-year tenure. Her approval rate is currently 8 percentage points lower than the Peoria Hearing Office average and 10 points below the national average. These statistics provide a broad look at her historical decision-making, though they do not account for the unique medical evidence in your specific file. 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 Zapf'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 6 years on the bench, Judge Zapf has shown a consistent decision-making pattern. Her approval rates remained between 46% and 48% from 2016 through 2019. In the most recent reporting period, her approval rate rose to 51%, indicating a shift in recent caseload outcomes. This trend suggests that while her historical average is 48%, her more recent decisions reflect a slightly higher likelihood of approval compared to her earlier years.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Zapf'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 Zapf? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Peoria hearing office
The Peoria Hearing Office serves you across central Illinois, managing a high volume of disability cases. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an average approval rate of 56%. You should be prepared for a thorough review of your medical records and vocational history. You can see the Peoria 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. Across the Peoria Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 42% to 67%. While you may be assigned to any of these judges, the fundamental requirements for proving your disability remain the same. For preparation purposes, the guidance is consistent 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.