James F Prothro, Tupelo , Mississippi Odar Office, Administrative Law Judge
For the 2011 *fiscal year, Judge James F Prothro has disposed 521 cases at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) in GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. Out of those 521 dispostions, 88 were dismissed, 121 were approved and 312 were denied. This means that the percentage of depositions that Judge James F Prothro has approved in GRAND RAPIDS for the 2011 fiscal year is 14%. The information below for Judge James F Prothro was last updated on 12/01/2022.
AVERAGE STATISTICS
| Office | *Fiscal Year | Total Depositions | Total Decisions | Total Denials | Total Awards | Cases Dismissed | Cases Approved | Cases Denied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRAND RAPIDS | 2012 | 614 | 495 | 336 | 159 | 19% | 26% | 55% |
| GRAND RAPIDS | 2015 | 432 | 317 | 246 | 71 | 27% | 16% | 57% |
| GRAND RAPIDS | 2014 | 452 | 344 | 263 | 81 | 24% | 18% | 58% |
| GRAND RAPIDS | 2013 | 489 | 388 | 287 | 101 | 21% | 21% | 59% |
| GRAND RAPIDS | 2011 | 521 | 433 | 312 | 121 | 17% | 23% | 60% |
| GRAND RAPIDS | 2016 | 447 | 344 | 246 | 98 | 23% | 22% | 55% |
| TUPELO | 2017 | 405 | 304 | 241 | 63 | 25% | 16% | 60% |
| TUPELO | 2018 | 179 | 136 | 116 | 20 | 24% | 11% | 65% |
| TUPELO | 2019 | 421 | 362 | 313 | 49 | 14% | 12% | 74% |
AVERAGE TIME
| Dismissed | Approved | Denied | |
|---|---|---|---|
| James F Prothro | No Stats for FY2019 | ||
| All ALJs in GRAND RAPIDS | 16% | 44% | 40% |
| All ALJs in MICHIGAN | 15% | 49% | 36% |
| All ALJs in the Nation | 18% | 45% | 38% |
21 Comments
He is very unfair and twists your words around and I know in my file he said things I never said. I know because I went through my cd of the hearing very carefully. We went to federal court and they remanded my case back to him. My lawyer informed me that most lawyers in Grand Rapids won’t even take a case that was handled by Judge Prothro but this one will because he hates this judge and thinks he should be removed from this job and he is not the only lawyer that I have talked to thst feels this way
I love a Southern gentleman, and that he is. I believe he is just doing what he is paid to do; maybe a little too much. I know better though, he will deny anyone no matter what, I just pray.
This guy knows more than any doctor all he will do is deny you you are wasting your time just have some comfort in the fact that he will be judged one day….I do believe that he thinks it is his own money this man has ruined more lives why cant someone due something about him
Judge Prothro forgets us that have funded SSA all our lives through our paychecks. And forgets who signs his paychecks. I would challenge him to live the life for one year of those lives hee wrecks!
He is by far the worst judge I have ever had a hearing with.
as an attorney who has had a significant amount of experience with prothro, i can be fair and objective. though some aljs are more conservative than others, i have found the decisions from prothro are much more than just conservative. i believe he is one of, if not the only alj in the country who gives about twice as many part favorable decisions as favorable. many of the part favorable decision i have seen are very damaging to claimants. his fully favorable rate is about 10%. what is most alarming is the decisions are very hard to understand when looking at facts. he often gives little credit to treating doctor opinions which can result in a strong case resulting in the claimant and their doctor being called liars for the most part. my personally opinion is he gives all the part favorable decisions to push his allowance rate up to about 30% even though only about 10% get fully favorable decisions even if they have strong support from their own doctors and strong medical evidence. when considering the fact that i have presented cases to at least 100 aljs as an attorney, i would pick prothro last if given a choice. of course the draw is random. i don’t believe a claimant deserves to get there benefits without solid evidence to support their claim. but i do believe everyone deserves to have a fair alj review their case. my opinion is prothro is unfair. my advice to other attorneys is to fight hard for your clients and use the appeal process when appropriate.
Do you want to play a game of whose on first? Since my denial in May, I have been recuperating as result due to the judge’s loose terminology, discriminatory and insulting language plus sexual harassing undertones with the term “exotic.” Prothro has no idea about abuse and abusive language, but that is right he is from Grand Rapids. I am still seething in anger, and this judge is very lucky that my medications have been bumped up because I can be a little anti-social and have been in trouble with the law, which I fear can happen in the workplace when provoked. Yet the judges thinks people with disabilities are stupid hence the way we are treated and hence why many feel they deteriorate over time. I mean if this erupts and I harass, harm or get violent whom sues whom? But I’m sure judges already have the means to dispose of people like us. I might as well say “Hiel Hitler” when it comes to the office of disability and jurisdiction in this country. You have no criterion; it is just the judges own subjective opinion. So riddle me this–whom are you speaking to Mr. Judge Prothro and what is your degree? He doesn’t deserve any rating not even one star.
He is lucky I waited several months to post a comment. I have a lot of doubt this man has every watched the movie “The Patriot” or has a family member whom fought during any war. This judge is an absolute power judge and denies people their rights whom have worked. He is discriminatory, used sexual harassing language in his denial and was most inappropriate. Just because a person has a disability does not mean they are stupid. He treats people as such as well as he is a coward and does not have the gumption to confront in public his doubts and can deny an individual without proof. He knows the thin red line and knows how to cross it. I believe he is a socialist and cares only about lining his own back pocket.
Hello, over the course of 6 years or so, my ex-wife was denied ssdi by James F Prothro. her attorney wasnt much help at all. she has extensive medical records supporting many conditions that anyone it ther right mind would assume that approval for benefits would be in line, and of course her right to the entitlment of such as she worked for many years and paid in to social security. However, he denied her appeals more than three times over the course of about 4 years. So confused and dont know how to fight this any longer, since the latest decision was also denied by the administration, of which her attorney did nothing, he even has tried all angles to not provide her with all her records. In the mean time she had a masive stroke and missed the 60 day dadline for yet another appeal….the ss office said she cannot appeal because of the missed deadline….should her attorney have been responsible to prevent that?….also the ss office said now that she had been out of work for 5 years, the entire time she continued to be denied, that she was not even eleigible to appy for ssdi…. she was aproved for ssi due to her stroke and now recieves 698.00 a month to try and live on. this seems so so so wrong and we just dont know if there is any way to pursue any other feasible ways to get her ssdi which would be more than her ssi, probably not a whloe lot but, never the less there is also principles and right and wrong….she worked hard and by surely no choice of her own has been battling many disabling conditions since year 2000 but yet the huge amounts of medical records, her attorney, and the judge who she seen 3 times on appeals denied her over a period of time that has now made her even ineligble because she has no work credits that are recent enough….but what about all the work she did do in years past and what about the system just doing her so so so wrong….can anyone “REALLY” help. shouldnt someone be held accountable for this improper injustice concerning her rights as a hard working citizen that paid her dues…. sorry to ramble but just so frustrated and so unfair. Please contact me if you have any real suggestions that would help fight this if at all possible….I can provide very extensive details on the entire situaion that began long ago if that would help.
Thank you
Jim
The ex-husband that is taking care of her since her stroke that occoured on 3-13-2011
Very courteous with claimants. Don’t let that fool you. He will use any excuse possible to turn down a claimant.