Memorials, 0716 ALBJ, 77 The Alabama Lawyer 302 (2016)
Thomas H. Henderson
On the first day of law school Tom Henderson sat down across from me in the law library and said, “Hello. I am Tom Henderson.” I said, “Hello, I am Bob McCurley,” and thus began a 50+-year friendship. We studied together, went to Washington together, were roommates and celebrated the joys of our families together.
Tom Henderson passed away on February 12, 2016, surrounded by his loving family, after a long battle with lymphoma.
Tom was born in Birmingham and attended Auburn University, where he played basketball for the Auburn Tigers, graduating in 1961 with a BS in business administration. After college, he worked for the American Pipe Company, saving money to attend the University of Alabama School of Law, where he obtained his law degree in 1966. Later he attended George Washington University where he received an L.L.M. in legal ethics in 1987.
Tom went to Washington, DC where he began his 17-year career with the United States Justice Department. He took out time to be counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee but returned to the Justice Department, where he held several senior positions. During his tenure, he served as the chief of the Public Integrity Section, where he was responsible for corruption prosecutions in the United States. After leaving the Justice Department, Tom served for four years as the bar counsel of the District of Columbia, where he prosecuted any of the 60,000 members of the District of Columbia Bar for misconduct.
In 1988, Tom became the chief executive of the American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA), now named the American Association for Justice (AAJ). During his 18-year tenure with ATLA/AAJ, Tom was a fearless and passionate advocate to safeguard victims’ rights and strengthen the civil justice system. Immediately following the events of 2001, Tom helped ATLA create Trial Lawyers Care, the largest legal pro bono effort in the history of the United States, providing free legal services to victims of the September 11 disaster seeking assistance from the Victim Compensation Fund. Tom retired from ATLA in 2005 and was called back to AAJ in 2009, where he served as the CEO for a nother year retiring again in 2010. Tom was a member of the District of Columbia and Alabama State bars.
In 2004, he served as a Distinguished Practitioner in Resident at the University of...
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