Tom became a trial lawyer to represent people, not big corporations or powerful government agencies. Since graduating from law school and becoming an attorney, Tom has been able to fight for individuals by getting successful results in high stakes criminal cases, serious personal injury lawsuits, and civil rights litigation across Georgia and the rest of the country.
Tom has been recognized by several organizations based on his successful advocacy. In 2020, just a few years after graduating law school, Tom was selected as one of the Top 40 Under 40 Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers in Georgia by the National Trial Lawyers. Membership in the Top 40 Under 40 is by invitation only and limited to the top 40 attorneys in the state based on their qualifications, leadership skills, and proven results as a trial lawyer. Since 2021, Tom has been identified by Best Lawyers as “One to Watch,” a recognition awarded to young attorneys by their peers. While most “Ones to Watch” recipients have been in practice for at least five years, Tom received this recognition in only his third year of practicing law. Since 2022, Tom has also been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers, a national organization dedicated to recognizing attorneys for significant achievements in their practice areas.
In his criminal practice, Tom handles a variety of cases at the federal and state level, including drug trafficking and conspiracy charges, white collar crimes, immigration offenses, and sex crimes. Several of these cases have resulted in acquittals, dismissals, or favorable plea deals with the prosecution. In post-conviction proceedings, Tom has obtained successful outcomes in appeals, habeas corpus petitions, and sentencing hearings, including by helping his clients get “time served” sentences, probation, or that help them avoid immigration consequences like deportation.
As part of his criminal practice, Tom has filed several motions for “compassionate release” on behalf of inmates all across the country, including in California, Texas, Virginia, and several other states, and he has been able to get several inmates released from prison early based on their vulnerable medical condition or because they received excessively harsh sentences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tom was able to obtain the release of roughly a dozen inmates based on their risk of severe or fatal illness while incarcerated.
Tom also has significant experience and a successful track record in civil asset forfeiture cases, in which the government tries to keep seized property by alleging the property was somehow involved in a person or business’s criminal activities. Tom has defended dozens of people and businesses in civil asset forfeiture cases and has helped his clients recover over $1 million in seized property, including cash, vehicles, and even real estate. Many of these individuals and businesses were subjected to unlawful seizures and raids based on their sale of legal hemp products.
Since passage of the Federal Farm Bill of 2018 and the related Georgia Hemp Farming Act, Tom has become a leading advocate in Georgia in cases involving hemp retailers and wholesalers who have been unfairly targeted by law enforcement based on a mistaken belief that their hemp products are illegal marijuana or THC products. In addition to helping these businesses recover their wrongfully seized property, including their products and revenue, Tom has sued overreaching government officials and obtained injunctions against District Attorneys and Sheriffs who have unlawfully targeted small businesses that sell hemp products.
