Rebecca D WestfallOdar Office, Administrative Law Judge
For the 2010 *fiscal year, Judge Rebecca D Westfall has disposed 506 cases at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) in DALLAS DOWNTOWN, TEXAS. Out of those 506 dispostions, 67 were dismissed, 347 were approved and 92 were denied. This means that the percentage of depositions that Judge Rebecca D Westfall has approved in DALLAS DOWNTOWN for the 2010 fiscal year is 17%. The information below for Judge Rebecca D Westfall 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DALLAS DOWNTOWN | 2010 | 506 | 439 | 92 | 347 | 13% | 69% | 18% |
| DALLAS DOWNTOWN | 2012 | 502 | 413 | 139 | 274 | 18% | 55% | 28% |
| DALLAS DOWNTOWN | 2015 | 421 | 349 | 122 | 227 | 17% | 54% | 29% |
| DALLAS DOWNTOWN | 2014 | 369 | 289 | 108 | 181 | 22% | 49% | 29% |
| DALLAS DOWNTOWN | 2013 | 404 | 326 | 121 | 205 | 19% | 51% | 30% |
| DALLAS DOWNTOWN | 2016 | 418 | 349 | 88 | 261 | 17% | 62% | 21% |
AVERAGE TIME
| Dismissed | Approved | Denied | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rebecca D Westfall | No Stats for FY2016 | ||
| All ALJs in DALLAS DOWNTOWN | 18% | 45% | 37% |
| All ALJs in TEXAS | 18% | 41% | 40% |
| All ALJs in the Nation | 18% | 45% | 38% |
5 Comments
My experience with this judge was positive. She did have some respiratory issues, but it was more in the way of asthma and did not interfere with her asking questions or following the case. I had the opportunity to see her without the robe later in the hallway, and she was neither obese nor using oxygen. Judge Westfall was extremely well prepared for my client’s case and conducted about 30 minutes of direct examination herself. Our hearing went almost an hour and I sat directly below her. I did not see her sleeping, and she followed the flow of the hearing very well. When you consider that most Texas judges are far outside the standard deviation in denials, it is a great thing to have an ALJ that will actually pay a case. And to be sure, I don’t know if we have won or lost yet.
The 6/18/14 5-star rating/comment is total nonsense and obviously posted by a either a friend of hers or someone who has never argued a case before her in their life. Notice the commenter did not deny the specific criticism of sleeping during hearings, delayed cases. Ask ANY atty. who has ever appeared before her. They all laugh and roll their eyes when you mention her name.
She DOES fall asleep during her hearings. She IS disorganized and DOES take an unreasonably long time to move cases. Complaint after complaint over the years, yet she still will not budge. Anyone with “health issues” so severe that they result in this kind of consistent weird behavior is clearly not up to the job. It is grossly unfair to claimants to make them wait so long and see them upset in her hearings when she takes a little nappy. Ethical rules require an incapacitated atty. to step down when incapacitated, unable to function. Same goes for a judge. This woman is all about ego, not the rights of claimants. And it’s a crying shame.
Judge Westfall has never used an Oxygen tank and has the best record in this Dallas ODAR office. She does have some health issues, but the previous comments blow them out of proportion and are obviously exaggerated by a Lawyer who didn’t get the outcome they wanted. You would be lucky to have Judge Westfall handle your case.
I must agree with the 6-26-12 comment. She was very confused during the hearing. I dont think she ever actually opened her eyes while she was talking. I have no idea what to expect out of her. She did a lot of hacking also…all in all a very odd ALJ.
This woman should have gracefully retired A LONG TIME AGO!!! She’s disorganized and falls asleep during hearings! Unreasonably long waits for hearings and post-hearing decisions.
I had a hearing with her during in which she actually fell asleep mid-sentence. Unfortunately, she nodded off during the MD expert’s testimony that my client met 2 listings, so the ME had to repeat the testimony after waiting for her to wake up again. Then she took ANOTHER 6 months POST-HRG to get around to issuing her decision AND reprimanded me for inquiring about the case status months after the hearing. My poor client was furious and despondent and felt he didn’t even get a fair hearing!!
While I am sorry that she struggles with obviously severe health issues (she’s elderly, morbidly obese with respiratory issues, and uses an oxygen tank), her ego should defer to the best interests of SSA claimants. Her inexplicable, stubborn insistence on remaining on the bench is doing a disservice to SSA claimants.