Thomas J. Gallitano

Practice Areas

Employment Litigation & Counseling

Professional Liability

Business Litigation

Career

Tom is a civil trial lawyer with over 30 years of courtroom experience. His practice focuses on representing employers in civil litigation and federal and state investigations.

Tom advises his clients on compliance with the myriad of statutes and regulations relating to the workforce, as he understands the importance of keeping clients out of harm’s way whenever possible. Tom’s employment practice also includes negotiating employment, separation, and equity agreements for executives. He served as Conn Kavanaugh’s Managing Partner for 9 years, overseeing all operations and managing the growth of the Firm’s practice areas and professionals. This period included the first two years of COVID with the constantly changing requirements for employers.

In addition to being an employment lawyer, throughout his career, Tom has represented lawyers and other professionals in defending against errors and omissions claims and in disciplinary matters before state licensing boards, including the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers.

Finally, Tom handles a wide array of business litigation matters, mainly concerning disputes among owners of closely-held or family-owned businesses. He is often engaged to represent employers and executives in connection with the enforcement of restrictive covenant and confidentiality agreements and the protection of trade secrets.

For the past 13 years, Tom has served as the Chair of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination Advisory Board, which advises both the Governor and the MCAD on policy matters.

Professional Memberships

Boston Bar Association, Member

Massachusetts Bar Association, Member

American Bar Association, Member

Tufts Lawyers Association, Member

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, Hearing Officer (2002-2007)

MCAD Advisory Board, Chair

MBA Labor and Employment Law Section Council, Member

Annual MBA Labor and Employment Conference, Co-Chair (2008, 2009)

Honorable Walter Jay Skinner, United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts., Law Clerk

Publications

Co-author, “A Guide for Massachusetts Employers Concerning Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”,” March 2025

Personal

Tom lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife, also a lawyer. In his “spare time,” Tom serves on the boards of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health, and he trains for and rides in the Pan-Mass Challenge, raising funds for cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Work Highlights

Employment Litigation / Counseling:

Successfully defended a Fortune 500 company during a one-week jury trial in Suffolk Superior Court, where the plaintiff alleged that her employer had engaged in race discrimination and retaliation.

Represented a senior manager of another Fortune 500 company in connection with sexual harassment claims, and succeeded in obtaining the dismissal of all claims prior to trial without payment.

Represented numerous senior executives in the negotiation of employment and separation agreements.

Conducted numerous investigations into allegations of workplace misconduct.

Business Litigation:

Represented a company when two senior executives left to join a direct competitor, in violation of non-competition agreements, and succeeded in obtaining a preliminary injunction preventing the executives from working for the competitor for one year. This matter settled shortly after receipt of the court order, and the client recovered substantially all of its attorneys’ fees.

Defended a start-up manufacturer and its founder against claims of trade secret violations, and succeeded in obtaining dismissal of all claims prior to trial without payment.

Obtained substantial arbitration award for venture capital firm against a prime brokerage firm for unauthorized sale of shares held in a margin account.

Successfully represented software company in connection with breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and related claims, where one of the company’s customers had refused to reimburse the company for strategic business planning advice and services.

Professional Liability:

Obtained summary judgment for an attorney who had been sued for legal malpractice and related claims after bringing suit against his former clients to recover his fees.

Represented an attorney who had been sued for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty arising from legal and business advice provided over a span of twenty years to a closely held business, and succeeded in obtaining a dismissal of all claims prior to trial without payment.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Bar Admissions:

Massachusetts

Court Admissions:

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Education

Awards