Market opportunity · IL
Strong marketIllinois.
Roughly 63,726 new disability claims are filed in Illinois each year. At a 20% retention rate and a conservative $6,900 fee per retained case, the addressable fee pool is approximately $88M annually.
63,726
Initial claims / year
38.6%
Nat'l: 39.8%
268 days
Nat'l hearing: 365 days
$88M
Annualized · retention × cap
01 · Bench
Top 5 ALJs by approval rate.
Judges currently on the bench in Illinois hearing offices, sorted by favorable decision rate. Use these to prioritize which office a case is assigned to, where permissible.
| ALJ | Office | Approval | Decisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gruenburg, Dawn | OAK PARK | 86.4% | 345 |
| Paige, Melody | OAK PARK | 85.8% | 295 |
| Thrasher, Richard | NHC CHICAGO | 85.7% | 98 |
| Contorer, Beth | OAK PARK | 81.7% | 289 |
| Travis, Claudia | OAK BROOK | 80.8% | 261 |
02 · Offices
Hearing-office timing.
Fastest
- OAK PARK243 days
- PEORIA249 days
- EVANSTON254 days
Slowest
- NHC CHICAGO312 days
- CHICAGO292 days
- OAK BROOK266 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.