Shammara H. Henderson
Court of Appeals Judge
Statewide
Year: 2024
Evaluation: Judge Shammara Henderson received positive scores from attorneys for treating all courtroom participants with respect, maintaining professional demeanor in the courtroom, and for being prepared for oral arguments and court proceedings. The district court judges gave Judge Henderson generally positive ratings. The appellate court judges rated Judge Henderson positively in most categories. However, the appellate court judges rated Judge Henderson somewhat lower in performing primary authorship responsibilities with diligence, effectively handling ongoing workload, and complying with appellate time standards. Court staff rated Judge Henderson positively for maintaining professional demeanor, treating court employees with respect, and ensuring her personal staff was professional, productive, and knowledgeable, but they did rate Judge Henderson lower when it comes to effectively handling ongoing workload and being timely in making rulings and rendering decisions. Judge Henderson acknowledged the lower scores and discussed the improvements and changes she has already made in these areas. Judge Henderson is committed to continuing to find ways to improve her judicial performance.
Experience & Education: Judge Shammara Henderson was elected to the New Mexico Court of Appeals in 2020. Prior to taking the bench, she was in private practice at Henderson & Grohman and Freedman, Boyd, et al., served as an AUSA with the United States Attorney’s Office, as associate counsel with the Office of the New Mexico Governor, and clerked for Justice Charles Daniels at the NM Supreme Court. Judge Henderson received her undergraduate degree from American University in 2004 and her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2007.
PERCENTAGE THAT AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT THE JUDGE EXHIBITS POSITIVE QUALITIES IN EACH CATEGORY *
| Attorneys (n=30, 11% Response Rate) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 82% | 7% | 11% |
| Fair and Impartial | 77% | 15% | 8% |
| Application/ Knowledge of Law | 62% | 13% | 25% |
| Professional Demeanor | 94% | 0% | 6% |
| Timeliness of Rulings | 61% | 14% | 25% |
| Court Staff (n=13, 13% Response Rate) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Fair and Impartial | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Application/ Knowledge of Law | 85% | 14% | 2% |
| Respects Court Employees | 85% | 15% | 0% |
| Professional Demeanor | 85% | 15% | 0% |
| Timeliness of Rulings | 25% | 25% | 50% |
| Appellate Judges (n=10, 71% Response Rate) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 89% | 11% | 0% |
| Fair and Impartial | 90% | 10% | 0% |
| Application/ Knowledge of Law | 84% | 16% | 0% |
| Respects Court Employees | 80% | 10% | 10% |
| Professional Demeanor | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Timeliness of Rulings | 60% | 30% | 10% |
| District Judges (n=18, 23% Response Rate) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 76% | 6% | 18% |
| Application/ Knowledge of Law | 71% | 13% | 16% |
| Timeliness of Rulings | 65% | 12% | 24% |
*On the tables above, the “Agree” columns are comprised of the strongly agree and agree responses. Similarly, the “Disagree” columns are comprised of the strongly disagree and disagree responses. The combined percentage of “Agree”, “Disagree”, and “Partly Agree/Partly Disagree” for each category may not equal 100% due to rounding error. Some of the percentages that are reported in the above categories are an average of more than one question that appeared on the survey.