Tom graduated from the University of Michigan with Honors, Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1971. He was the author of numerous law review articles and was a speaker at national attorney conferences as a law student at the University of Virginia, graduating in 1975. While he attended the University of Virginia, he developed the university’s patent policy, which related to projects completed by scientists at the university. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Federal Judge John T. Copenhaver in Charleston, West Virginia.

Tom worked briefly for a corporate and defense law firm in Louisville, Kentucky but then decided to devote his career to working for the “underdog”.

Tom moved to Wilmington, Delaware in 1978 and in 1981 co-founded Jacobs & Crumplar with Bob Jacobs. Tom is currently the Managing Director of the firm. He is a member of the Delaware and New Jersey bars and bar associations. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice and the National Crime Victim’s Bar Association.

In 1988 Tom obtained the second highest injury verdict – $ 75 million dollars – in United States history for an asbestos case. In 2010, he obtained the largest award – over $ 30 million dollars – against an individual church in United States history for a sex abuse case. This was one of the ten highest verdicts in the United States for 2010.

Tom is an Elder at Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wilmington and has been extensively involved in local community groups.