Born in Vineland, New Jersey,[2] Wolfson graduated from Douglass College in Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 and later from Rutgers Law School in Newark with a Juris Doctor in 1979.
A daughter of Holocaust survivors, she credited the experiences of her parents as leading her to pursue a career in law.
[3] Following law school graduation, Wolfson worked in private practice in New Jersey from 1979 to 1986 at the firms Lowenstein, Sandler, Kohl, Fisher & Boylan and Clapp & Eisenberg.
[4] Wolfson began her federal judicial career as a United States magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Wolfson was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey by President George W. Bush on August 1, 2002, to a seat vacated by Judge Nicholas H. Politan.