Tom has earned a national reputation for his defense of corporations in product liability, toxic tort and class actions, as well as the representation of plaintiffs and defendants in complex business litigation. He is at the forefront of making new law and testing new legal theories on behalf of his clients. He has been lead trial counsel in cases tried successfully around the country.
His notable accomplishments include the first successful medical monitoring jury trial, one of the first successful stigma property damage trials, and one of the first successful attacks on junk science in toxic tort litigation. Over the years, he has successfully defended manufacturers of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, industrial equipment, household products and motor vehicles in high-stakes complex cases involving serious injury or death. He also has defended corporations in national class actions involving claims brought under consumer protection, insurance and antitrust statutes. His business litigation experience encompasses all forms of disputes, including those related to intellectual property, construction and employment.
Tom has published extensively on many subjects, including mass tort, class action, medical monitoring, Daubert challenges, trial tactics, and he has submitted amicus curiae briefs in a number of landmark cases.
He also has lectured on product liability, toxic tort and trial advocacy before many organizations, including the American Bar Association, DRI (Defense Research Institute), the Georgetown University Mass Tort Institute, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, the Institute for Law and Science and the Pennsylvania Defense Institute.
Representative Matters
Town of Westport v. Monsanto, No. 14-12041 (D. Mass., 2015; aff'd, No. 17-1461 (1st Cir., 2017). Obtained summary judgment for client against a municipality’s claim that trace amounts of industrial chemicals were volatilizing from building products in a school building constructed in 1970. The judgment was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Tuscumbia City Sch. Sys. v. Pharmacia Corp., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182581 (N.D. Ala., September 1, 2015). Chemical exposure putative class action on behalf of all U.S. schools; summary judgment entered for defendants.
Dublin v Monsanto (2015); Multiple-plaintiff cancer case resulting in defense verdicts on all claims.
Smith v Monsanto (2014); Multiple-plaintiff cancer case resulting in defense verdicts on all claims.
Commonwealth v. U.S. Mineral Prods. Co., 956 A.2d 967 (Pa. 2008). Chemical exposure property damage case alleging release of unsafe levels of chemical from building products; after longest jury trial in Pennsylvania history (16 months), $90 million verdict entered, reversed on appeal, and retried to a defense verdict.
In Re: Paoli Railroad Yard PCB Litigation, 113 F. 3d 444 (3d Cir. 1997). Chemical exposure cases resulting in 37 defense verdicts.
Publications
A Hiccup in Federal Common Law Jurisprudence: Sosa, Bestfoods and the Supreme Court’s Restraints on the Development of Federal Rules of Corporate Responsibility, University of Miami Business Law Review, 2006.
Medical Monitoring: How Bad Science Makes Bad Law, National Legal Center for the Public Interest, 2001.
Media Coverage
Claim Aggregation Lawsuits, Smart Business, April 27, 2006.