TOM counsels publicly and closely-held companies on employee benefits and executive compensation issues.  He counsels them on developing executive compensation plans, qualified and nonqualified employee benefit plans, health benefit and incentive plans, and employment and related agreements.  He also assists companies with tax and employee benefits issues related to retirement planning, employee stock ownership plans, stock option and restricted stock plans.

Tom served as the first president of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Board of Governors, an organization of 250 attorneys who have focused on employee benefits for at least 20 years and have written or spoken extensively on employee benefit issues.  He has been extremely active in the American Bar Association (ABA), including serving as the chairman of the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, chair of the Tax Section’s employee benefits committee, past member of the Councils of the Tax Section and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section, as chair of the committee on plan terminations and mergers, as chair of the Technology Committee of both Sections, as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education and as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems. 

Tom is currently serving as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association (IPEBLA) having previously served as its Treasurer.  Tom has also served as chair of the United States Chamber of Commerce Task Force on Qualified Plan Regulations, chair and executive committee member of the Midwest Pension Conference, and member of the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Group for two different IRS Commissioners. He has been listed as one of America’s Leading Lawyers by Chambers USA, has been listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America for over 10 years, and has been listed as one of Ohio’s Super Lawyers.

Tom has lectured at organizations such as the ABA, AICPA, ASPA, NYU Federal Tax Institute, IPEBLA, ALI ABA, the International Bar Association and the Midwest Pension Conference.  He has written on topics such as “Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions,” “Employee Stock Ownership Plans,” “Executive Compensation,” and “Flexible Compensation.”  Tom has testified to the U.S. Congress Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Tom began his tenure with Calfee in 1968.  He became a partner in 1974 and has served as a member of the firm’s executive committee. In 2008, Tom became Of Counsel with the firm.