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Updated June 2026 · SSA Public

Market opportunity · OK

Strong market

Oklahoma.

Roughly 33,245 new disability claims are filed in Oklahoma each year. At a 20% retention rate and a conservative $6,900 fee per retained case, the addressable fee pool is approximately $46M annually.

Annual DDS intake

33,245

Initial claims / year

DDS approval

33.9%

Nat'l: 39.8%

Avg office wait

253 days

Nat'l hearing: 365 days

Fee pool (est.)

$46M

Annualized · retention × cap

01 · Bench

Top 5 ALJs by approval rate.

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

ALJOfficeApprovalDecisions
Engel, DavidTULSA OHO91.5%165
Harris, Michael LOKLAHOMA CITY87.7%302
Levine, JodiOKLAHOMA CITY84.8%132
Stults, DouglasOKLAHOMA CITY81.7%295
Merchan, SylkeOKLAHOMA CITY80.7%202

02 · Offices

Hearing-office timing.

Fastest

  • TULSA OHO247 days
  • OKLAHOMA CITY258 days

Slowest

  • OKLAHOMA CITY258 days
  • TULSA OHO247 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.