Tom was born in Fresno, California and practiced public accounting with an international accounting firm before attending law school. Tom’s tax experience as an accountant was the primary motivation for his focus on business, corporate and tax law issues while attending Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. After Hastings, Tom attended New York University for an additional year of intensive study and received an LLM in Taxation.

Prior to moving to Bend in 1987, Tom practiced law in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in taxation, estate planning and business transactions. Tom has continued providing expertise in those areas of law since his move to Bend, and has expanded his practice to include real estate transactions, including residential and commercial leasing.

Tom served as the chairperson of the St. Charles Health System from 2012 to 2014 and is a current board member. He has also been a long-time member of the Business, Estate Planning and Taxation Sections of the Oregon State Bar, serving as various officers and as the chair of both of the Business Section and Taxation Section Executive Committees. Tom is a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and is a frequent author and lecturer on various business and estate planning topics.

• New York University, LLM (Taxation) (1983)
• University of California Hastings College of Law, JD (1982)
• University of Santa Clara, BSC (Accounting) (1978)

• Oregon
• California
• U.S. Tax Court