Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime performance to recent benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Wright has served on the bench for 10 years, and you can measure her current approval rates against the broader Raleigh Hearing Office and national averages. These figures are derived from a significant volume of cases, offering a stable view of 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 Wright'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, Judge Wright has presided over 20,092 decisions. The yearly trend shows a period of decline followed by a notable rise in approval rates in the most recent years, moving from a low of 39% in 2021 to 76% in 2025. This shift suggests that the judge's recent approach to case evaluation has evolved significantly compared to the middle of her tenure. These patterns reflect the judge's current focus on evidence quality and case-specific requirements.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Wright'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 Wright? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Raleigh hearing office
The Raleigh Hearing Office serves a large population of claimants across North Carolina, managing a high volume of disability cases. With a bench of 6 judges, the office operates under the standard SSA guidelines for evaluating medical and vocational evidence. You can expect a professional environment focused on the specific requirements of the Social Security Act. You can visit the Raleigh 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 your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Across the Raleigh Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 40% to 69%. Because you cannot choose your judge, it is important to focus on the strength of your medical documentation. 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.