Special Master scorecard
Outcome, award and timing statistics for every special master in the registry, computed directly from the decisions in this database. Use the condition filter to compare like with like: a docket heavy in SIRVA settlements will always show a higher win rate than one heavy in contested encephalopathy claims, so the headline win rate mostly reflects case mix. The contested win rate column counts only reasoned decisions, where a Special Master actually ruled on entitlement.
Special Master scorecard
| Special Master | Cases | Win rate | Contested win rate (n) | Settled share | Median award | Median time | Most common condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian H. Corcoran | 840 | 19% | 16% (109) | 84% | $55K | 9 mo | Other / multiple |
| Nora Beth Dorsey | 280 | 62% | 31% (68) | 87% | $90K | 23 mo | Other / multiple |
| Christian J. Moran | 260 | 40% | 8% (106) | 82% | $50K | 28 mo | Other / multiple |
| Thomas L. Gowen | 196 | 56% | 34% (38) | 83% | $98K | 23 mo | Other / multiple |
| Mindy Michaels Roth | 127 | 51% | 29% (28) | 85% | $75K | 30 mo | Other / multiple |
| Laura D. Millman | 126 | 55% | 13% (31) | 85% | $130K | 14 mo | Other / multiple |
| Herbrina Sanders Young | 105 | 35% | 16% (31) | 86% | $75K | 33 mo | Other / multiple |
| Katherine E. Oler | 104 | 35% | 30% (20) | 83% | $51K | 30 mo | Other / multiple |
| Lisa D. Hamilton-Fieldman | 97 | 47% | 18% (22) | 82% | $95K | 20 mo | Other / multiple |
| Daniel T. Horner | 85 | 38% | 14% (37) | 84% | $100K | 47 mo | Other / multiple |
| George L. Hastings Jr. | 35 | 9% | n=4 | 0% | $209K | 21 mo | Other / multiple |
| Denise K. Vowell | 33 | 77% | n=3 | 54% | $105K | 11 mo | Other / multiple |
| Gary J. Golkiewicz | 14 | 7% | 0% (8) | 0% | — | 58 mo | Other / multiple |
| Jennifer A. Shah | 11 | 27% | n=3 | 100% | $175K | 62 mo | Other / multiple |
What a Special Master's numbers do and do not tell you
Special Masters in the Office of Special Masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims decide Vaccine Injury Compensation Program petitions without a jury and under a relaxed evidentiary standard. Cases are assigned administratively, and since 2017 most shoulder-injury (SIRVA) petitions have been routed to a dedicated docket, which is why one Chief Special Master appears on roughly half of all decisions in this registry and why raw win rates differ so sharply between judges. A high overall win rate mostly means a docket full of Table claims that the government concedes or settles.
The measure that actually compares judges is the contested win rate: the share of reasoned entitlement decisions in which the petitioner prevailed. Even that is confounded by which conditions and which theories reach a hearing in front of each Special Master. Read the two columns together, use the condition filter, and open the individual hub page for the decisions themselves before drawing a conclusion about any one adjudicator.