He was a trial attorney of the Assistant State Solicitor General's Office of the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit from 1949 to 1952.
[1] On September 25, 1968, Henderson was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia vacated by Judge Lewis Render Morgan.
[1] On April 18, 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated Henderson to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit created by 92 Stat.
On October 1, 1981, Henderson was reassigned by operation of law to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
He assumed senior status on January 31, 1986, serving in that capacity until his death, in Marietta.