Tom was born in Rochester, New York and practiced law with Hickey, McHugh and Garlick, primarily in civil litigation, before relocating to Naples Florida in 1981 to open an office for the 100 plus Regional upstate New York Law Firm of Harter, Secrest & Emery. He remained as Partner-In-Charge of that office through 1996 when he became a partner in the Tampa Firm of Annis, Mitchell, opened their Naples Office and recruited a Ft. Myers office for the firm. During early 2001 many of the Annis Mitchell partners merged into the national Law Firm of Foley & Lardner.Tom did not wish to continue with a large national firm and in March, 2001 opened his own office in Naples known as Garlick, Stetler & Peeples. The current firm of Garlick, Hilfiker & Swift is a successor of that firm.Today the firm has five attorneys working in different specialized practice areas. The practice of the firm includes Trust and Estates, Real Estate, Business, Corporate and Banking Law, Civil Litigation and Mediation. Tom is Florida Bar Board Certified in Real Estate Law and also engages in Business Law, civil litigation and mediation.He is Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator.