Approval rates
Comparing a judge's history to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. While the national average approval rate currently sits at 58%, Judge O'Melinn's recent reporting period shows a 51% approval rate. This is 2 percentage points below the NHC Albuquerque office average and 10 points below the national mark. These figures are derived from a significant docket of 20,136 lifetime decisions. 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 O'Melinn'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 his 10-year tenure, Judge O'Melinn has seen his approval rates fluctuate, moving from 54% in 2016 to 41% in 2019. Recent years indicate a shift, with the approval rate climbing to 53% in 2025. This upward trend in the latest reporting period suggests a departure from the mid-tenure dip. These patterns reflect the judge's evolving approach to the evidence presented in your Social Security disability claim.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge O'Melinn'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 O'Melinn? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Nhc Albuquerque hearing office
The NHC Albuquerque hearing office serves you throughout New Mexico and the surrounding region. As a National Hearing Center, it manages a high volume of cases with a dedicated team of administrative law judges. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 50%, reflecting the regional standards for disability benefits adjudication. You can visit the NHC Albuquerque Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration utilizes a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning you cannot choose your judge. At the NHC Albuquerque office, the bench includes 6 judges with lifetime approval rates ranging from 41% to 61%. Because this variation exists across the office, your specific case outcome depends more on the medical evidence you provide than the judge assigned. You can review the office-wide performance metrics to understand the broader adjudication environment.
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.