Tom has spent his career representing the underdog as a civil rights, criminal defense, and family law attorney. He has focused on wrongful conviction cases since 2004, when he received a chance letter from Kareem Bellamy, who was in prison for a murder he did not commit. Tom worked successfully to overturn Bellamy’s conviction, along with the law firm Cravath, Swain & Moore. Since then, Tom has secured or assisted with the exonerations of six men who served over 20 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, including Robert Majors, Jaythan Kendrick, Emmanuel Cooper, George Bell, Rohan Bolt, and Gary Johnson. 

Tom receives many letters from people in prison, thoroughly reviews each claim of innocence, and takes only a small number of cases. He develops close relationships with his clients, and often their families, and devotes whatever resources are required to win their freedom. A seasoned trial and appellate lawyer, Tom has extensive experience handling reinvestigations of wrongful convictions, post-conviction hearings, and civil lawsuits. In recognition of Tom’s work, in 2021 the wrongful conviction organization It Could Happen To You honored him with its Servant of Justice Award.

Tom is deeply involved in the innocence community–a network of exonerees, individuals who are wrongfully incarcerated, members of their families, activists, and non-profits like the Innocence Project. Tom is often a featured speaker at wrongful conviction rallies and lobby days and has helped to shape proposals to reform New York’s post-conviction statute, CPL § 440.10, to remove procedural bars to innocence claims.

Tom was born in hiding in Budapest during the Holocaust and immigrated to the US as a child. He graduated from City College and New York Law School. He started out as a Vista lawyer in Altus, Oklahoma, where he worked to desegregate schools and strike down a state anti-loitering statute. Prior to specializing in exonerations, he handled myriad civil rights cases as well as family law cases on behalf of children and families unjustly separated by the foster care system.

Tom’s work has been made possible by his wife and paralegal, Kathleen Butler, and his longtime Secretary, Arlene Rodrigurez.

ADMISSIONS

• New York

• U.S. Court of Appeals

• Second Circuit

• U.S. District Court

• Eastern District of New York

• U.S. District Court

• Southern District of New York

• U.S. Supreme Court