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Updated June 2026 · SSA Public

Market opportunity · WA

Strong market

Washington.

Roughly 37,726 new disability claims are filed in Washington each year. At a 20% retention rate and a conservative $6,900 fee per retained case, the addressable fee pool is approximately $52M annually.

Annual DDS intake

37,726

Initial claims / year

DDS approval

38.8%

Nat'l: 39.8%

Avg office wait

296 days

Nat'l hearing: 365 days

Fee pool (est.)

$52M

Annualized · retention × cap

01 · Bench

Top 5 ALJs by approval rate.

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

ALJOfficeApprovalDecisions
Sullivan, Margaret MTACOMA94.2%326
Mangrum, TimothySEATTLE84.8%237
Walker, DonnaSPOKANE82.8%244
Stallings, StewartSPOKANE71.2%226
Freund, Lori LSPOKANE70.1%234

02 · Offices

Hearing-office timing.

Fastest

  • TACOMA253 days
  • SPOKANE294 days
  • SEATTLE340 days

Slowest

  • SEATTLE340 days
  • SPOKANE294 days
  • TACOMA253 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.