Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2020 Tom Easterly, regularly advises local and national clients, including some Fortune 500 companies, with simple and complex business litigation matters, as well as various commercial transactions. Tom concentrates a substantial portion of his practice on the preparation and trial of complex commercial disputes. His work involves construction, real estate, redhibition, insurance, arbitration, toxic tort, workers’ compensation, breach of contract, bankruptcy and regulatory issues, and the matters in which he is engaged frequently have overlapping subject matter concerns. He has significant experience handling complex personal injury matters as both defense and plaintiff counsel. Tom is also experienced in various business transactions, including but not limited to limited liability company transactions, master service agreements, non-competition agreements, secrecy and confidentiality agreements, donations, sales, assignments, forbearance agreements, participant agreements, shareholder agreements, donor advised funds, exchanges, and operating agreements. In the insurance world, Tom regularly represents insurance companies and provides counsel concerning a broad array of coverage and defense issues. Tom is a past lecturer on insurance and other contract matters. His past seminars included topics such as insurance coverage litigation, effective collection strategies, business contract principles, and bad faith insurance and extra-contractual liability claims. Tom is admitted to practice before every Louisiana court, state and federal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Tom was also previously admitted pro hac vice for different cases pending in Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, and Alabama. In 2017, Tom was selected among the "Forty Under 40" by Baton Rouge Business Report for both his professional accomplishments and contributions to the community. Tom was recognized by Louisiana Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star" in Business Litigation for six consecutive years (2014-2019).
During the past ten years, Tom devoted a significant portion of his practice to representing and advising developers, property owners, and other stakeholders in land use and entitlement matters, including zoning changes and development approvals from municipal authorities and litigating disputes arising from municipal regulatory decisions. Tom is familiar with practical and legal issues associated with zoning laws, permitting, variances, conditional use approvals, expropriations, and entitlements.
Tom is extremely active within the Baton Rouge community and is either a present or past member of the Baton Rouge Bar Association, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute (DRI), Ducks Unlimited (DU), Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), Delta Waterfowl, Land Trust Alliance, Keep Louisiana Beautiful, Baton Rouge Green, and the Mississippi Forestry Association. Tom was a founding member of the Muscular Dystrophy Association Legal Leaders program and a former Ball Chairman of Le Circle De Bacchus. Tom is a past president of Baton Rouge Green, previously served as General Counsel and Director for the Boy Scouts of America, Istrouma Area Council, and his past board experience includes serving as a Director for multiple non-profit entities.
