Talcott Mountain Academy
Tom is an accomplished trial lawyer and business litigator with over two decades of experience handling commercial disputes on behalf of public and private companies in Connecticut and across the nation. He is well known among the Connecticut state and federal judiciary as a result of his experience in the courtroom and his leadership positions within the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations.
Tom's practice includes the full range of complex civil litigation matters -- intellectual property, trade secret, business tort, restrictive covenant, trade regulation and unfair competition claims. His clients have included Fortune 50 retailers, product manufacturers, technology companies, public and quasi-public agencies, professional service firms, financial institutions, construction firms and non-profit organizations. Tom also represents property owners and developers in commercial real estate and leasing disputes. He has extensive experience in state and federal courts and arbitral forums, including numerous jury verdicts, bench decisions and arbitration awards. Tom's recent wins include (i) the successful prosecution of an action for injunction enforcing trade secrets and covenants against competition on behalf of a Connecticut employer; (ii) the successful defense of a California based business in an injunction action seeking to enforce a non-solicitation agreement (Tom was successful in having the non-solicitation agreement declared unenforceable at the temporary injunction stage of the proceedings on the grounds that the plaintiff could not prove a legally protectible interest or irreparable harm); (iii) the successful defense of a claim for breach of a distributorship agreement, resulting in withdrawal for no consideration on the eve of trial of all trademark, trade dress, false advertising, breach of contract, reformation and tortious interference claims; (iv) the successful prosecution on behalf of a quasi public state agency of legal malpractice, aiding and abetting and negligent misrepresentation claims against the agency's lawyers and lenders.
Tom's experience and successes were recently recognized by the Litigation Counsel of America, which elected Tom as a Fellow. He is a founder of the LCA's Complex Commercial Litigation Institute. Tom is also a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation and a Connecticut Super Lawyer 2009-2011/12. He is the immediate past chair of the Connecticut Bar Association's Litigation Section, and serves on the CBA's Mentoring and Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Task Forces. He also presently serves on the Board of Directors for the Hartford County Bar Association.
Tom frequently writes and lectures on intellectual property and business litigation matters. In addition, he has been a regular faculty member at the Connecticut Trial Advocacy Institute, sponsored by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
EDUCATION
J.D., Boston University School of Law, 1988
B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo, cum laude, 1985
ADMISSIONS
Connecticut
U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
U.S. Court of Appeal, Second, Federal and Fifth Circuits
U.S. Supreme Court
MEMBERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Talcott Mountain Science Center for Student Involvement, Inc.
President, Board of Trustees
Manufacturer's Alliance of Connecticut, Board of Directors
Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce
American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Intellectual Property Section; Tort and Insurance Practice Section
Connecticut Bar Association, Litigation Section (Immediate Past Chairman); Federal Practice Section; Intellectual Property Section; Business Torts Committee
Hartford County Bar Association, Board of Directors
Connecticut Bar Foundation, James W. Cooper Fellow
Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
Complex Commercial Litigation Institute, Founder; Vice Chair/Practice Development