Approval rates
Comparing a judge's lifetime approval rate to recent office and national benchmarks provides context for your upcoming hearing. Judge Henry has maintained a consistent docket over 9 years, resulting in 19,654 lifetime decisions that offer a clear view of his historical decision-making. While his latest approval rate of 50% sits near the office average, it remains lower than the national average of 58%. 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 Henry'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 his 9-year tenure, your judge's approval rates have fluctuated, moving from 49% in 2017 to a low of 32% in 2021 before trending upward. The most recent data shows a steady increase, with approval rates reaching 53% in 2025. This recent uptick reflects a shift in the cases presented or the evidence provided during hearings.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Henry'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 Henry? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Colorado Springs hearing office
The Colorado Springs Hearing Office serves a wide population across Colorado, managing a high volume of disability claims with a bench of 6 judges. The office currently maintains an average approval rate of 44%, reflecting the complex nature of the cases heard in this region. You can expect a formal, evidence-focused environment designed to evaluate your medical and vocational eligibility. You can visit the Colorado Springs Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Approval rates across the Colorado Springs bench vary significantly, ranging from 23% to 51% among the 6 judges currently serving. Because of this variance, understanding the landscape of your local office is a standard part of hearing preparation.
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.