Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime approval rate to recent office and national performance provides context for your upcoming hearing. While the national average sits at 58%, Judge Leppala's lifetime rate is 44% across 21,476 lifetime decisions. These figures reflect a decade of judicial activity, offering a broad view of how cases have been decided in this courtroom.
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 Leppala'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 a 10-year tenure, Judge Leppala has maintained a consistent pattern of decision-making. While the approval rate fluctuated in the early years, the trend has shown stability in recent periods, with a 53% approval rate in the most recent reporting cycle. This latest period reflects a continuation of a steady pattern, suggesting that the judge's approach to evidence and testimony remains predictable.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Leppala'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 Leppala? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Albuquerque hearing office
The Albuquerque Hearing Office serves you throughout New Mexico, managing a high volume of disability appeals. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an environment where your case evidence is evaluated against standard regulations. The office's latest approval rate of 55% provides a baseline for the region's current hearing outcomes.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases to judges using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Across the Albuquerque bench, lifetime approval rates for the 6 judges range from 41% to 61%. Because every judge brings a unique perspective to the courtroom, understanding the office-wide environment is as important as looking at a single judge's history.
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.