Practice Expertise

  • Antitrust and Competition
  • Antitrust Counseling-NEW
  • Business Litigation
  • Antitrust and Consumer Protection

Areas of Practice

  • Antitrust and Competition
  • Antitrust and Consumer Protection
  • Antitrust Counseling-NEW
  • Business Litigation
  • Class Action, Multidistrict Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Competition and Consumer Protection
  • Fourth Circuit Practice (US Court of Appeals ...
  • Intellectual Property Litigation
  • Litigation
  • Patent Litigation
  • View More

Profile

Tom’s practice focuses on complex litigation matters, with an emphasis on antitrust and intellectual property.

Tom serves as chair emeritus for the firm’s litigation, labor and competition practices, and has over 30 years' experience handling antitrust and competition trials. His work focuses on complex antitrust, intellectual property, franchise, and unfair trade practice disputes, as well as white-collar criminal defense representations.

Tom has handled more than 70 jury trials in state and federal courts throughout the United States and has been admitted pro hac vice in multiple jurisdictions, including California, Delaware, Alabama, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Indiana and South Dakota.

Tom has served as lead trial counsel for Fortune 100 companies in numerous national and state class-action antitrust and patent infringement cases. Notable recent representations include successful results in major national litigation in the processed meat, electric utility, and mobile telecommunications industries.

A member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference, Tom is admitted to practice before the Fourth, Fifth and District of Columbia US Circuit Courts of Appeal and US Supreme Court. He has been active in bar and community activities and is a past president of the Richmond Bar Association and a former member of the Virginia State Bar Executive Committee.

For more than 10 years, Tom has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for his antitrust and corporate litigation experience.

Relevant Experience

  • Lead trial counsel in antitrust action against electric generator by purchaser of wholesale power resulting in dismissal of all federal and state antitrust claims.
  • Lead trial counsel for Fortune 50 company in patent infringement case which resulted in a dismissal with prejudice on the eve of the scheduled Markman hearing.
  • Lead trial counsel in contempt proceeding on behalf of Fortune 5 company resulting in favorable ruling, which was published as corrective advertising in an industry publication, and the awarding of attorneys’ fees.
  • Lead trial counsel in patent infringement case on behalf of a Fortune 100 company, resulting in a multi-million dollar award to client (2003).
  • Lead trial counsel for nationwide franchisors in two precedent setting cases.
  • Lead trial counsel for Fortune 100 industrial firm in antitrust action against interstate gas pipeline involving novel claims of monopoly leveraging.
  • Lead trial counsel in numerous patent actions involving diverse technology ranging from nuclear reactors to magnetic resonance imaging devices to antiballistic polymers.
  • Lead trial counsel in wide variety of product liability cases ranging from robotic manufacturing equipment to fuel dispensing nozzles.
  • Lead trial counsel in numerous Lanham Act and unfair trade practice cases, including leading case in Fourth Circuit on product disparagement.
  • Lead trial counsel for Fortune 100 firm seeking damages in major fraud, Lanham Act and unfair competition case involving discovery in the US and Europe, resulting in multi-million dollar settlement being paid to client.

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia

Education
BA, Virginia Military Institute, History, 1966

Areas of Practice

  • Antitrust and Competition
  • Antitrust and Consumer Protection
  • Antitrust Counseling-NEW
  • Business Litigation
  • Class Action, Multidistrict Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Competition and Consumer Protection
  • Fourth Circuit Practice (US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit)
  • Intellectual Property Litigation
  • Litigation
  • Patent Litigation

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments
  • Lead trial counsel in antitrust action against electric generator by purchaser of wholesale power resulting in dismissal of all federal and state antitrust claims. 
  • Lead trial counsel for Fortune 50 company in patent infringement case which resulted in a dismissal with prejudice on the eve of the scheduled Markman hearing. 
  • Lead trial counsel in contempt proceeding on behalf of Fortune 5 company resulting in favorable ruling, which was published as corrective advertising in an industry publication, and the awarding of attorneys' fees. 
  • Lead trial counsel in patent infringement case on behalf of a Fortune 100 company, resulting in a multi-million dollar award to client (2003). 
  • Lead trial counsel for nationwide franchisors in two precedent setting cases. 
  • Lead trial counsel for Fortune 100 industrial firm in antitrust action against interstate gas pipeline involving novel claims of monopoly leveraging. 
  • Lead trial counsel in numerous patent actions involving diverse technology ranging from nuclear reactors to magnetic resonance imaging devices to antiballistic polymers. 
  • Lead trial counsel in wide variety of product liability cases ranging from robotic manufacturing equipment to fuel dispensing nozzles. 
  • Lead trial counsel in numerous Lanham Act and unfair trade practice cases, including leading case in Fourth Circuit on product disparagement. 
  • Lead trial counsel for Fortune 100 firm seeking damages in major fraud, Lanham Act and unfair competition case involving discovery in the US and Europe, resulting in multi-million dollar settlement being paid to client.


Professional Associations
  • Co-chair, Inaugural Committee for Governor-Elect Northam
  • Member, Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
  • President, Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors, 2008-2011
  • Member, Virginia Military Institute Foundation Endowment Campaign Committee
  • Chairman, Virginia Historical Society, 2011-2013; Board Member 2016-2022
  • Central Virginia Legal Aid Society Board of Directors
  • Legal Aid Justice Center Board of Directors
  • Member, Board of Trustees of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation
  • Director, John Marshall Foundation
  • Member, American College of Trial Lawyers, Virginia State Committee
  • Vestry Member, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
  • Member, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia

Professional Activities and Experience
  • Listed in Who's Who Legal: Competition, 2017
  • Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, American Bar Foundation and Virginia Law Foundation
  • Listed in Chambers USA, 2007-2014, 2017
  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America - Antitrust Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law, Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, 2014-2016
  • Listed as a “National Litigation Star” in Benchmark: Litigation, 2013- 2016
  • Listed as a “Leading Lawyer” in Benchmark: Litigation, 2007-2014
  • Listed for Antitrust in The Legal 500 United States: Volume III Litigation, 2007-2012
  • Named Law Dragon Top Trial Lawyer USA, 2006
  • Recipient, Distinguished Service Award, Virginia Military Institute Foundation, November 2012
  • Recipient, Randolph Williams Award Pro Bono Service, 2006 and 2014
  • Bar Association of the City of Richmond, Hunter W. Martin Professionalism Award, 2014


Articles

  • Antitrust Advisory February 2005: Federal Circuit Finds Holding Patent Creates Presumption of Market Power, , 02/10/05
  • Communication Methods and Skills chapter, Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, American Corporate Counsel Association, Co-author, 2000
  • Sentence Yourself, article on Federal Sentencing Guidelines, ABA Journal, Author, 01/01/1990
  • With Holmes, Supreme Court Expands Patent Jurisdiction of Regional Circuits and States, with Thomas G. Slater, Jr., Patent Strategy and Management, Co-author, November 1, 2002

Meet our Firms and Professionals

WSG’s member firms include legal, investment banking and accounting experts across industries and on a global scale. We invite you to meet our member firms and professionals.