Tom Gordon Email & Phone Number

Washington, Dc

Policy• Direct all programs and operations for national organization working to make the legal system more affordable and accessible to ordinary people so they can use it more effectively.• Testified orally and/or in writing to the American Bar Association and over two dozen state legislatures, supreme courts, and bar associations in support of reforms to regulations of the legal industry that would enhance access to legal services.• Promoted improvements to consumer access to legal services in print and broadcast media, including op-eds published in The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.• Led successful opposition to bills in consecutive sessions of California legislature that would have reduced consumer access to licensed legal document preparers.• Organized and facilitated annual policy summit bringing together leaders from government, nonprofits, academia, and the private sector to be briefed on policy developments and map reform strategy.• Led coalition drafting amicus brief in U.S. Supreme Court case North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC.• Invited by the Federal Trade Commission to lead multi-party presentation about anticompetitive aspects of regulation of legal services to its Bureau of Competition.• Presented consumer perspective on access-to-justice panels at events hosted by bar associations, universities, and nonprofit organizations.• Served on multiple committees of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers creating proposed changes to lawyers’ rules of professional conduct.Management• Doubled annual institutional contributions and quadrupled annual operating budget over a ten-year period.• Recruited nationally recognized legal practitioners and entrepreneurs to board of directors and policy advisory board.• Hired, trained, and supervised staff, interns, and volunteers.

Direct legal and policy programs for national organization working to make the legal system more affordable and accessible to ordinary people so they can use it more effectively.

• Directed projects to expand access and accountability in the civil justice system for national legal consumer advocacy organization.• Performed management functions, including supervising junior staff and initiating long-range organizational planning.• Conducted research studies and wrote position papers in support of organization's positions.• Advocated before federal administrative panels, state legislatures and bar associations on organization's key issues.• Called upon as an expert on legal access and accountability issues by broadcast and print media and on panel discussions at legal and consumer conferences.

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• Researched and wrote best practices studies for membership composed of IT Infrastructure directors at Fortune 500 and other companies.• Interviewed executives and other experts to generate insight into leading practices in Infrastructure organizations.• Designed and executed quantitative studies of Infrastructure budget and staffing, including survey construction, data analysis, and drafting of general and custom reports.• Supported sales staff by presenting relevant research to current and prospective members and creating documents for use by sales team in presenting research.• Created internet-based materials to promote program’s research, including Web-based decision support centers and biweekly email newsletter.• Supervised analysts on above projects and provided mentoring to junior staff.

• Directed projects to expand access to the civil justice system for national legal consumer advocacy organization.• Performed management functions, including supervising junior staff and initiating long-range organizational planning.• Testified before federal administrative panels, state legislatures and bar associations on expanding access to the legal system.• Lobbied state legislatures nationwide regarding small claims court reform and non-traditional legal service providers.• Conducted research studies and wrote position papers in support of increasing small claims court jurisdictional limits and providing a continuum of legal services to meet a diverse range of legal needs.• Called upon as an expert on access to the legal system in broadcast and print media and on panel discussions at legal and consumer conferences.

• Conducted daily operations of national advocacy organization dedicated to reform of asset forfeiture laws, including supervision of national volunteers.• Directed fundraising, including grant proposals, membership, and donor solicitation.• Counseled forfeiture victims on recovering confiscated property. Recruited and advised attorneys on representation of forfeiture victims.• Authored Civil Asset Forfeiture: Procedural and Economic Inequities, 55 Guild Prac. 117 (1998).• Led coalition of national groups advocating forfeiture reform. Worked with grassroots activists for reform at state and local levels. • Analyzed state and federal legislation relating to forfeiture.• Appeared as featured guest on national and local radio programs.

• Represented clients in litigation in areas including police misconduct, First Amendment violations, and employment discrimination. • Screened potential cases at monthly meetings of Litigation Screening Committee.• Collaborated with DC Council staff members and wrote testimony presented before DC Council on bills affecting civil liberties. Co-drafted DC initiative on medical marijuana.• Represented ACLU on nationally distributed television program discussing juvenile curfews. Delivered presentations on civil liberties to elementary and secondary students.

J.D.

B.A., Political Science

Activities and Societies: Penn Band