Tom Henderson focuses his practice on representing policyholders in suing insurance companies for bad faith and getting insurance companies to pay what the insurance policy promises to pay. Tom spent the first 20 years of his practice representing the insurance companies, answering their questions about whether the policy provided coverage for various claims, and even defending them when they were sued. He has spent the past 12+ years of his practice exclusively representing business insurance policyholders pursuing claims for insurance benefits owed by the insurance industry.
Tom uses his unusual background to his clients’ advantage because he knows where the weak spots are, where the smoking guns are hidden and how best to structure his clients’ cases to maximize the potential of getting the insurance companies to pay. Tom represents both individual consumers and businesses in their pursuit of insurance claims. For consumers, this includes auto, uninsured and underinsured motorists, homeowners, renters, liability, property, health, disability, and life insurance claims. For businesses, this includes auto, liability, property, lost profits, directors and officers, professional liability, and construction insurance claims. These claims can range from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars.
Tom has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in 2013-2020 in the field of Insurance Law. Tom has also been recognized as a People’s Choice Best Insurance Lawyer. and has been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2014. In 2019 and 2020, Tom was selected as a Colorado Top Lawyer in insurance by 5280 Magazine.
Tom has achieved great success in getting insurance companies to pay money on claims that had previously been denied, and in getting insurance companies to pay much more money than they previously offered. Tom has won many jury verdicts for his clients in insurance bad faith cases, including obtaining verdicts that included punitive damages. He is the Chair of the Bad-Faith Insurance division of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Department and in April of 2020, was named as the Co-Chair of the Colorado Trial Lawyer Association’s newly created Business Interruption Task Force. The Task Force is developing strategies for pursuing business interruption insurance claims in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Henderson’s reputation as the premier insurance attorney in Colorado has made him a sought-after expert by the media. He is frequently contacted for comment by local and national news regarding insurance issues, Tom has been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, Fox News, the Denver Post, Law Week Colorado, and the Denver Channel 7-TV News. He was also interviewed by the Jewish Journal about his practice on representing policyholders in suing insurance companies for bad faith and getting insurance companies to pay what the insurance policy promises to pay.
Tom has negotiated agreements between policyholders and injured persons, known in Colorado as Bashor or Nunn Agreements. These agreements allow policyholders who caused injury to another, but whose insurance company has not honored its obligation to defend or financially protect the policyholder, to escape the potential of financial ruin in return for assigning their rights to go after their own insurance company.
Tom was admitted to practice in Colorado in October of 1987. He is a member of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, the Bad Faith sub-committee of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, the American Bar Association, and the Denver and Arapahoe County Bar Associations. Tom is the Chair of the Bad Faith Insurance Division of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Department, the co-chair of the CTLA COVID-19 Insurance Response Task Force, the co-Colorado State Chair of AAJ’s COVID Business Interruption Litigation Task Force, and the newly elected President of the Arapahoe County Bar Association. Mr. Henderson was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion at the Colorado Bar Association regarding Insurance Issues Related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom is frequently asked to comment on insurance issues in local and national media, and lectures on insurance bad faith and insurance coverage to groups of policyholders.
After graduating in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, Tom obtained his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 1987. When not practicing law, Tom enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons by going skiing, camping, climbing Colorado’s 14ers, and playing volleyball and golf. Tom also assists in teaching a law class at Arapahoe High School by helping the students present a mock trial twice during each school year.
Honors & Accolades
Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished Rating
Selected to Best Lawyers in America, 2013 - 2020
Selected to Colorado Super Lawyers, 2014 - 2020
5280 Magazine Top Lawyer, 2017 and 2019-2020 - Insurance
Barrister’s Best People’s Choice, Best Insurance Lawyer, 2013 - Law Week Colorado
American Jurisprudence Award in Criminal Procedure
Phi Alpha Delta
Member, Litigation Section, Colorado Bar Association
Community Involvement
The Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center - Board of Directors
Colorado Bar Association
Colorado Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA)
Co-Chair of the Colorado Trial Lawyer Association’s Business Interruption Task Force
Co-Colorado State Chair of AAJ’s COVID Business Interruption Litigation Task Force.
American Association for Justice (AAJ)
Denver Bar Association
Arapahoe County Bar Association - President-Elect & Board Member
Access to Justice Committee Co-Chair for 18th Judicial District
Publications & Media
Business Interruption Insurance for COVID-19 -Related and Riot - Related Claims, Law Week Colorado, June 16, 2020
Thomas Henderson was interviewed by the Denver Post about insurance issues and business liability due to the COVID-19 pandemic, May 20, 2020.
Thomas Henderson was interviewed by Fox News about Insurance Issues that Businesses Across Colorado May Face Due To The COVID-19 Pandemic, April 1, 2020.
How To Get Your Client's Insurance Claim Paid, Law Week Colorado, February 3, 2020
“Your First Insurance Policy Coverage Dispute,” The Colorado Lawyer, February 2020, co-authored with Ronald M. Sandgrund, Stephen J. Burg, and Joseph F. ( Trip ) Nistico III.
Durango 416 Fire - Interviewed by Law Week Colorado, July 2019
Durango 416 Fire - Interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, July 2019
Durango 416 Fire, Interviewed by KOA News Radio July 9th, 2019
Henderson, Thomas W. Insurance Bad Faith. www.burgsimpson.com, March 18, 2019
Durango 416 Fire: Interviewed by the Jewish Journal.com as an insurance expert regarding the 416 Fires.
2018-2020: Short Information & Promotion Videos
•Addressing Insurance Coverage for Business Liability Arising from the Spread of the Coronavirus
•Addressing Insurance Claims for Loss of Business Income Due to Shutdowns
•Insurance Bad Faith
•Durango 416 Fires - Protect Colorado Citizens
•Bad Faith Insurance - Fight Insurance Coverage Denial or Delay!
Co-Author: “Cannibalizing Limits Policies: Bad Faith Lurks When Defense Costs Devour the Policy Limit” - American Association for Justice: Insurance Law Newsletter, Winter 2015
“Up In Smoke” - Law Week Colorado, April 10, 2013
Lectures & Seminars
Instructor: Seminar with Altitude Law Group regarding bad faith insurance. February, 2020
Instructor: Lunch and Learns, Know Your Insurance Rights. - For Property Management Groups. February, 2020
Instructor: “When is it Really “Bad Faith?” - National Business Institute
Instructor: Nuts and Bolts of Depositions - Arapahoe County Bar Association
Instructor: Bad Faith Litigation from Start to Finish - National Business Institute
Instructor: Is it Bad Faith? - National Business Institute
Instructor: Advising Your Business Clients on Insurance Policies - National Business Institute
Instructor: Insurer, Adjuster, Agent and Broker Liability: A to Z - National Business Institute Video Webcast, July 2016
