Approval rates
You will find that Judge Bennett maintains a lifetime approval rate of 43% across his 14,702 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, his approval rate was 36%, compared to the Houston West office average of 56% and the national average of 58%. These figures provide a statistical baseline for the volume and outcomes of his docket, though they do not dictate the result of 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 Bennett'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, you can see that Judge Bennett's approval rates have fluctuated. After an initial period of higher approvals in 2016, the rate settled into a range between 39% and 49% for several years. A peak of 55% in 2022 was followed by a decline to 29% in 2024, with a recovery to 35% in the most recent data. This trend reflects the evolving nature of his docket over time.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Bennett'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 scheduled?
About the Houston West hearing office
The Houston West hearing office serves a large population in Texas, managing a high volume of disability claims. With a bench of 6 judges, the office maintains an approval rate that generally tracks with national trends, though individual judge outcomes vary. You can expect a standard hearing process focused on your medical evidence and vocational testimony. You can visit the Houston West Hearing Office page for more information on the office roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning your assignment to a specific judge is essentially random. Within the Houston West hearing office, lifetime approval rates among the 6 judges range from 29% to 55%. Because each judge manages their own docket, you may encounter different procedural preferences during your hearing, though the core requirements for proving your disability remain consistent.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.