Approval rates
Comparing a judge's performance to broader benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Van Vleck has a lifetime approval rate of 41% based on 20,905 decisions. In the most recent reporting period, this rate is 41%, which is 9 percentage points below the current NHC Albuquerque office average and 17 points below the national average. 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 Van Vleck'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 decade on the bench, the judge's approval patterns have shown notable shifts. After a period of lower approval rates between 2019 and 2022, the data indicates a recent upward trend in approvals. The latest reporting period shows a 41% approval rate, reflecting a stabilization after the fluctuations observed in previous years. This pattern suggests that the judge's current approach is consistent with their long-term career average.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Van Vleck'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 Van Vleck? See if a free benefits review fits your case.
Check My BenefitsAbout the Nhc Albuquerque hearing office
The NHC Albuquerque Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across New Mexico and surrounding areas. This office manages a high volume of cases with a bench of 6 judges who handle complex disability claims. The office currently maintains an approval rate of 50%, reflecting the regional standards for disability 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 assigns cases to judges using a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment is essentially random. Within the NHC Albuquerque office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 41% to 61%. Because every judge has a unique approach to evaluating evidence, understanding the office-wide environment is helpful. You can find more information on the office's general operations on the hearing office page.
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.