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Updated June 2026 · SSA Public

Market opportunity · HI

Strong market

Hawaii.

Roughly 6,086 new disability claims are filed in Hawaii each year. At a 20% retention rate and a conservative $6,900 fee per retained case, the addressable fee pool is approximately $8M annually.

Annual DDS intake

6,086

Initial claims / year

DDS approval

37.2%

Nat'l: 39.8%

Avg office wait

286 days

Nat'l hearing: 365 days

Fee pool (est.)

$8M

Annualized · retention × cap

01 · Bench

Top 5 ALJs by approval rate.

Judges currently on the bench in Hawaii hearing offices, sorted by favorable decision rate. Use these to prioritize which office a case is assigned to, where permissible.

ALJOfficeApprovalDecisions
Cabotaje, MichaelSPECIAL REVIEW CADRE81.7%60
Cooper, Bruce TPASADENA75.7%243
Meyer, RuxanaHONOLULU75.2%310
Yasutomi, MarkHONOLULU71.8%124
Inouye, JessicaEVANSTON44.4%196

02 · Offices

Hearing-office timing.

Fastest

  • HONOLULU286 days

Slowest

  • HONOLULU286 days

Methodology · Figures reflect SSA public data through the latest release. Fee pool estimates annualize DDS intake at a conservative 20% retention rate with a 75% cap hit on retained backpay — not a performance guarantee. Approval rates describe historical decisions, not likelihoods on individual cases.