Tribute

Canadian born, Tom received his B.Sc. from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and served for seven years in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police before immigrating to the United States in 1978.

Tom received his J.D., summa cum laude, in May 1981 from the University of San Diego, graduating first in a class of 272 students, with what was then the highest grade point average in the thirty year history of the law school.

Tom also served as Executive Editor of the San Diego Law Review. Following graduation, Tom clerked for Presiding Justice Gerald Brown of the California Court of Appeal and then spent a year doing post-graduate work at Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard International Law Journal.

Tom returned to Canada for one year to serve as law clerk to the Right Honorable Brian Dickson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. On returning to the United States, Tom joined the litigation department of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he spent three and one-half years before leaving to start his own firm.

Tom successfully tried several major commercial cases, earning both plaintiff’s and defendant’s verdicts in a variety of business disputes. Tom also served as a judge pro tem for the superior court.

In addition to contributing to the leading California treatise on trial practice, Tom published several articles covering an eclectic range of legal and scientific topics in a variety of scholarly journals. He also taught courses in law and philosophy at the University of California, Riverside.

Tom’s community activities included serving on the Board of Directors of the New West Symphony, annually judging the county and state science fairs, and coaching high school and university mock trial teams.