Minnesota.

Roughly 29,081 new disability claims are filed in Minnesota each year. At a 20% retention rate and a conservative $6,900 fee per retained case, the addressable fee pool is approximately $40M annually.

Annual DDS intake

29,081

Initial claims / year

DDS approval

43.0%

Nat'l: 39.8%

Avg office wait

263 days

Nat'l hearing: 365 days

Fee pool (est.)

$40M

Annualized · retention × cap

01 · Bench

Top 5 ALJs by approval rate.

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

ALJ	Office	Approval	Decisions
Thrasher, Richard	NHC CHICAGO	85.7%	98
Contorer, Beth	OAK PARK	81.7%	289
Hart, Jeffrey W.	MINNEAPOLIS	60.9%	294
Lough, Sarah	MINNEAPOLIS	57.9%	273
Ayling, Corey	MINNEAPOLIS	56.4%	335

02 · Offices

Hearing-office timing.

Fastest

MINNEAPOLIS263 days

Slowest

MINNEAPOLIS263 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.