Gonzaga University. Photo: Farwestern Photo by Gregg M. Erickson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gonzaga_University_360.jpg)
Gonzaga University. Photo: Farwestern Photo by Gregg M. Erickson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gonzaga_University_360.jpg)
Robert Henderson (1943–1995) was an American lawyer who practiced in Spokane, Washington, specializing in civil and criminal trial practice, insurance defense, and business litigation. He served as a deputy Spokane County prosecutor before becoming a partner in local law firms and later forming his own practice. He died in San Diego, California, in July 1995.
Background
Robert Henderson was born on October 30, 1943, in Greenville, South Carolina. A 1995 obituary in The Spokesman-Review described him as the oldest of six children and as a Spokane native who graduated from Gonzaga Preparatory School.
Greenville is a city in the Upstate region of South Carolina, an area with a long history of textile manufacturing and industry. Gonzaga Preparatory School belongs to the Jesuit educational tradition that shaped Gonzaga University in Spokane. Father Joseph Cataldo founded Gonzaga College in 1887 as a Jesuit school for boys in the young city of Spokane, and the preparatory school was then known as Gonzaga High School.
Henderson died in San Diego, California, in July 1995 while being treated for a congenital heart condition. He was 51 years old at the time.
Education
Henderson completed his secondary schooling at Gonzaga Preparatory School before studying at Seattle University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1966. Seattle University traces its origins to 1891, when Jesuit priests founded a school for boys in Seattle, and the institution was reincorporated under its present name in 1948.
He later earned a Juris Doctor from Gonzaga University in 1970. Gonzaga College became Gonzaga University in 1912, the same year its law school opened as a night school for students who worked during the day. The law school remained exclusively a night school until 1970, the year Henderson graduated.
Henderson was also affiliated with Phi Alpha Delta, a professional legal fraternity, through its Justice Connelly Chapter.
Henderson was admitted to the Washington State bar in 1970. He was subsequently admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, and in 1978 he was admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Eastern District covers the eastern portion of Washington State, including Spokane, while the Ninth Circuit hears federal appeals from the western states, including Washington.
His public legal career began in 1970, when he joined the Spokane County Prosecutor's Office as a deputy prosecuting attorney. The office is headed by the county's Prosecuting Attorney, a position filled in that era by appointment and then by election, and its deputies handled the county's criminal prosecutions. Henderson served as a deputy prosecutor through 1972.
In 1974 Henderson became a partner in the Spokane firm of Quackenbush, Dean, Bailey and Henderson. Justin Quackenbush, who had practiced in Spokane since 1959, later served as a United States District Court judge and was also a partner in the firm. In 1980 Henderson formed his own firm, and he served in several positions within the local legal community.
His practice operated as Robert B. Henderson, Professional Corporation, specializing in civil and criminal trial practice, insurance defense, business law and litigation, legal malpractice defense, and the defense of school districts.
Membership
Henderson belonged to the principal bar associations serving Washington lawyers. The Spokane County Bar Association served the local legal community, the Washington State Bar Association is the state body that licenses and regulates Washington lawyers, and the American Bar Association is the national professional association of American lawyers.
He also joined trial-practice organizations that reflected his litigation work. The Washington State Trial Lawyers Association and the Defense Research and Trial Lawyers Association brought together trial attorneys, while the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers focused on the defense of people facing criminal charges.
Henderson was further affiliated with the Washington Association of Defense Counsel, a group of attorneys representing defendants in civil litigation, and with Phi Alpha Delta, a professional legal fraternity.
Spokane County Bar Association
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United States
Washington State Bar Association
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United States
American Bar Association
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United States
Washington State Trial Lawyers Association
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United States
Defense Research and Trial Lawyers Association
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United States
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
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United States
Washington Association of Defense Counsel
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United States
Justice Connelly Chapter
Phi Alpha Delta
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United States
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
Spokane County Superior Court Judge James Murphy described Henderson as a dynamite attorney. Attorney Jeffry Finer remembered him as one of the great baseball fans of all time and as the busiest person he had ever met.
Interests
Baseball. A colleague recalled him as a devoted follower of the sport.
Connections
Henderson was the oldest of six children. His siblings included four sisters, Christy Juel, Kathryn Liebergesell, Rebecca Fix and Cindy Henderson, and a brother, Brian Henderson. At the time of his death, his father, Robert Henderson, was living in Calgary, Alberta, and his mother, Mary Lou Higgins Henderson, had died.
Henderson's former wife, Mary Owen, was named as a family member in his 1995 obituary. His uncle, Judge Ralph Foley, swore him in as a lawyer. Judge Foley was the father of Tom Foley, who later served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Father:
Robert Henderson
Lived in Calgary, Alberta, in 1995.
Mother:
Mary Lou Higgins Henderson
Deceased by 1995.
Sister:
Christy Juel
Lived in Port Angeles, Washington, in 1995.
Sister:
Kathryn Liebergesell
Lived in Seattle in 1995.
Sister:
Rebecca Fix
Lived in Spokane in 1995.
Sister:
Cindy Henderson
Lived in Spokane in 1995.
Brother:
Brian Henderson
Lived in Spokane in 1995.
Wife:
Mary Owen
Former wife at the time of his death.
Uncle:
Ralph Foley
Judge who swore Henderson in; father of former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley.
References
The Spokesman-Review
A July 1995 obituary reporting Henderson's death in San Diego and summarizing his education, prosecutorial service, law partnerships and surviving family.
