Tom Andersen is the son of a Presbyterian minister. His upbringing instilled in him the importance of community, and his work is grounded in the belief that the poor and dispossessed need justice. Tom was born in Chicago, IL and moved to Oregon in 1973 to attend law school. He moved to Vermont to do public interest legal work, including representing the interest of low-income groups. In 1979, he returned to Eugene, where he became a partner and litigator in a firm representing businesses and people in civil and criminal trials. In 1986, he began working as a trial lawyer for the State Accident Insurance Fund Corporation (SAIF), where he worked for 19 years in its critical claims unit. In 2007, he opened his own practice, working independently to argue complex cases concerning workers compensation. Tom has been an active member of his community, serving as a neighborhood leader in Eugene and in Salem. He served two terms as a Salem City Councilor, where he worked on initiatives related to homelessness, housing, police services, and climate policy. He has a long-standing commitment to equity and inclusion, and in 2019, he was presented with the Salem-Keizer NAACP's “Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major For Justice Award” for his leadership in racial and social justice efforts.
