Spencer, Frederick S.

Henry Spalding is a shareholder of the firm and a member of the Risk Management and Business and Professional Litigation practice groups. He has been a lawyer at Sands Anderson since 1992.

Over the course of his sixteen years in practice, he has acquired a broad civil litigation experience, helping clients in liability disputes, employment issues, business contract matters and construction agreements. Henry has been listed by Virginia Business magazine among the Commonwealth's "Legal Elite."

Included in his skills are the following areas:

Construction Law. Henry has successfully represented homeowners, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers in a wide variety of construction matters.  His work benefits clients many times by identifying issues early in the proceedings, allowing the parties to assess the strengths and weaknesses in their positions in order to see if early resolution is feasible.  When aggressive litigation is necessary, he has the skills and work ethic to fully advocate his clients' positions and represent their best interests.

Some of the issues he has litigated have included construction defects, water intrusion resulting in mold exposure, warranty claims, major fire losses, electrical, plumbing and HVAC claims, builders' risk claims, matters before licensing and regulatory bodies and contract interpretation.

Employment Law. Henry has a great deal of experience working on behalf of employers in addressing their employment law needs.  Underlying his representation is a strong principle of finding the right approach to achieve the employer's goals.  He has successfully represented employers in cases with issues  involving Family and Medical Leave Act, Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act, discrimination on the basis of sex, race and  ethnicity, wrongful termination, retaliatory discharge, defamation, assault and battery and others.

Henry has represented employers in state and federal courts across Virginia and in front of the Virginia Employment Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.   He has also lectured on many occasions on FMLA, Title VII, and EEOC topics.

Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance.  In the past few years, ADA activists have sued dozens of business owners in the Richmond area, alleging that their places of business do not comply with ADA's requirements regarding architectural barriers.  Henry has expertise in this highly technical area of the law, representing twenty or so owners and operators of  retail stores, restaurants, motels and other businesses in these claims.  He has focused on saving his clients money by trying for early resolution of these claims, thereby bringing clients into ADA compliance while keeping litigation expenses to a minimum.

Risk Management and Insurance Law. Henry has represented dozens of businesses, individuals, insurance companies and their policy holders in a wide variety of general liability claims, including all manner of property and casualty insurance first- and third-party claims.  He has tried dozens of these types of cases throughout Virginia in both state and federal courts.  Examples include defending personal injury actions arising out of automobile accidents, premises liability cases stemming from accidents on business owners' properties, products liability, on-the-job injuries, fire and arson matters, trespass, wrongful death, defamation and many others.

Henry has also represented a number of  insurance companies in cases in which fraud and other coverage issues are at stake.  He has taken examinations under oath of dozens of policy holders, advising insurance companies on whether a particular claim should be paid or denied.