Entrepreneur. Attorney. Adventurer.
Entrepreneur. Attorney.
Thomas H. Lawrence is the founder and CEO of Benefit Recovery Group, the nation’s leader in subrogation recoveries for self- funded health care plans. Lawrence is also senior partner of Lawrence & Associates. Lawrence devotes his legal practice to representing employers and plan fiduciaries in employment and employee benefits matters throughout the United States. Lawrence has tried employment and benefits cases in federal district courts throughout the country. He has also handled appeals in employee benefits matters before most of the nation’s federal courts of appeals. Lawrence is rated “AV” by Martindale Hubbell.
A frequent author and speaker on employee benefits topics, Lawrence is the lead author of ERISA Subrogation: Enforcing Recoupment Provisions in ERISA-Covered Health and Disability
Plans, which was published by the American Bar Association. Lawrence is also the nation’s leader in subrogation litigation, having handled 61 cases – more than any other attorney – including two of four cases heard by the Supreme Court.
While studying at the South Texas College of Law, Lawrence received the American Jurisprudence Awards in Civil Trial Advocacy, Legal Research and Writing, and Moot Court
Competition. In the spring of 1992, he earned first place in the Advanced Civil Litigation mock trial competition, as well as in the Fisher, Gallagher & Lewis mock trial competition. Lawrence was
also named a finalist and the best speaker in the Spurgeon Bell Moot Court Competition in 1993.
Adventurer.
In the 1990s, Lawrence met another lawyer in San Antonio, Texas who, upon learning of Lawrence’s athletic background and love of challenge, encouraged him to look into mountaineering as a sport. Soon after, he decided he wanted to climb mountains, too, and he set a goal to one day conquer the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. At that time, he was still a young father, so he opted to maintain his physical fitness and delay his Seven Summits quest until his children were older. With that in mind, he trained in CrossFit gyms until 2016, when he began his climbing regimen that included hiring a coach – Scott Johnston with Uphill Athlete - to help his body become more fat-adapted and able to perform more efficiently for longer periods of time.
Lawrence summited the highest peak in North America - Denali - in June 2017 as part of his quest to conquer the Seven Summits. In 2018 and 2019, Lawrence attempted Mount Everest, but did not reach the summit. In 2019, he reached the summit of Kilimanjaro and, while in Africa, visited the village where, together with Waterboys, he funded a deep borehole water well, which will service approximately 7,500 people in the village and surrounding areas. His quest to reach the remaining Seven Summits continues.
Climbing Resume
Mount Sneffels, 2020 – Summit
Grand Teton, 2020 – Summit
Mount Everest, 2019 – Highest point reached was below Camp 3
Mount Kilimanjaro, 2019 – Summit
Grays and Torreys, 2018 – Summit
Mount Harvard, 2018 – Summit
Mount Everest, 2018 – Highest point reached was Camp 2
Mount Baker, 2017 – Summit
Denali, 2017 – Summit
Cotopaxi, 2004 – Summit
Mount Rainier, 2003 – Summit
Mount Rainier, 2002 – Summit
Mount Rainier, 2001 – Summit
