Approval rates
Judge Woltering has presided over 21,300 lifetime decisions during his 10 years on the bench. In the latest reporting period, his approval rate reached 55%, which is 8 percentage points below the national average and 10 points below the current office average. This data provides a statistical baseline for understanding how your case may be evaluated. 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 Woltering'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 the past decade, your judge's approval rate has fluctuated, moving from 63% in 2016 to 41% in 2021 before trending upward. The most recent data shows a stabilization in the mid-50% range, indicating that his current decision-making process is distinct from the lower-approval years of the early 2020s. This shift suggests that his approach to evidence and testimony has evolved over his tenure.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Woltering'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 Woltering? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Elkins Park hearing office
The Elkins Park Hearing Office serves a significant volume of applicants throughout Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains a high caseload and a latest-period approval rate of 60%. You can expect a formal hearing process where the quality of your medical evidence and vocational testimony remains the primary driver of the outcome. See the Elkins Park 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 effectively random. Within the Elkins Park Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 50% to 71%. Because you cannot choose your judge, understanding the office-wide environment is as important as reviewing one individual's history. For preparation purposes, the guidance remains consistent 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.