Approval rates
When evaluating your claim, it is helpful to look at how Judge Frost-Wolf's approval rate compares to broader benchmarks. Her latest approval rate of 41% is 9 points below the office average and 17 points below the national average. These figures are derived from a significant docket of 21,060 lifetime decisions, providing a stable view of her historical decision-making. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your individual hearing.
Office- and national-level breakdowns of fully favorable vs denial rates aren't currently published by SSA in the per-office disposition data. The judge's own breakdown is the detail we have today.
Approval rate over time
Year-over-year approval rate across Judge Frost-Wolf's docket. Annual rates fluctuate with the mix of cases SSA assigns; the longer-run pattern is more informative than any single year.
Decision pattern
Over her 9-year tenure, Judge Frost-Wolf has seen fluctuations in her approval rate, including a notable dip in 2020 followed by a steady recovery in recent years. Her latest reporting period shows a 41% approval rate, which aligns closely with her long-term lifetime average. This trend suggests a return to a consistent pattern after the volatility of the pandemic years. The recent data reflects a continuation of this stable, long-term approach to case evaluation.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Frost-Wolf's bench. Judge-specific preparation guidance requires a corpus of public Appeals Council decisions involving each judge, which we haven't built yet.
- Bring a clean treating-physician record. Longitudinal primary-care or specialist notes spanning the disability period, with consistent symptom documentation, are typically the strongest evidence at hearing. A single month's records usually aren't enough.
- Don't rely on consultative exams alone. If your medical evidence is built primarily around a one-time CE finding, expect detailed questioning. Supplement with treating-source statements where possible.
- Prepare for daily-activity questions. Have honest, specific answers about a typical day. Answers that conflict with the medical record (in either direction) tend to hurt credibility.
- Expect transferable-skills probing. A vocational expert will usually testify about jobs available to someone with your limitations. Your representative should be prepared to cross-examine.
Hearing with Judge Frost-Wolf? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Nhc Albuquerque hearing office
The NHC Albuquerque Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across New Mexico and the surrounding region. It is staffed by 6 administrative law judges who manage a high volume of disability claims. The office currently maintains an office-wide approval rate of 50%, reflecting the local landscape of SSDI adjudication. You can see the NHC Albuquerque Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the NHC Albuquerque office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 41% to 61%. Because each judge brings a unique perspective to the hearing room, understanding the office-wide environment is useful. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same regardless of which judge you are assigned.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
SSDI hearing approval rates — represented vs. on your own
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.