Thomas Thagard

Practice Areas

Class Actions

Business & Commercial Disputes

Consumer & Commercial Finance Litigation

Advertising & Consumer Protection Litigation

Antitrust & Unfair Competition

Intellectual Property Litigation

Experience

Over the past 30 years, Tom Thagard has successfully tried cases, including intellectual property, breach of contract, torts, fraud and other complex commercial matters, in federal and state courts across the country. Regardless of where the case is, Tom is a go-to lawyer for some of the nation’s top companies from California to Texas to the Carolinas.

Notable victories achieved for Tom’s clients include a resounding jury verdict on behalf of Clayton Homes -- one of the nation’s largest homebuilders and a division of Berkshire Hathaway -- in a major trademark infringement suit in North Carolina federal court; a jury verdict in favor of Tyson Foods in a grower lawsuit alleging multiple tort claims; a successful jury verdict in favor of an individual defendant being sued for millions of dollars and punitive damages on allegations of fraud; and successful defense of a jury trial in south Texas alleging violations of RICO against a division of Berkshire Hathaway.

Tom also served as co-counsel defending McWane, Inc., a manufacturer of ductile iron pipe, in an enforcement proceeding before the FTC. The eight-week administrative trial involved over 2,000 exhibits and 53 witnesses, culminating in a 464-page decision - possibly the longest FTC decision in history. Ultimately, Maynard Nexsen’s team convinced the FTC to rule against its own complaint, something the FTC had not done in 20 years.

Tom’s extensive courtroom experience includes leading numerous jury trials, bench trials, and arbitrations in various courts and venues in Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and the District of Columbia. His appellate work includes handling appeals in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits, the Alabama Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, multiple Texas Courts of Appeals and the Florida District Court of Appeals. The geographic breadth of Tom’s experience includes representations of clients in matters pending in Alabama, Arkansas, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

Tom is also actively engaged in managing the Firm as a Member of Maynard Nexsen’s Board of Directors and as a former Co-Chair of the Firm's Litigation Practice. Tom also serves on the Editorial Board and co-authored Chapter 21: "Arbitrations & Class Actions" for the American Bar Association's two-volume treatise A Practitioner's Guide to Class Actions.

Education