Personal Experience

Thomas A. Gilson is a member of Beus Gilbert McGroder PLLC, a premier boutique law firm concentrating on High Stakes Litigation, Real Estate and Zoning Law, and Plaintiffs Catastrophic Injury & Wrongful Death.  Mr. Gilson is a member of the firm’s Plaintiffs Commercial Litigation practice. Mr. Gilson represents clients in a wide range of commercial disputes. He is an experienced trial attorney, handling multi-million dollar lawsuits involving financial fraud, professional liability claims, insurance coverage disputes and other complex litigation matters. He has extensive experience counseling clients in e-discovery and data management and has litigated and negotiated technical issues regarding the preservation and spoliation of evidence.  He is recognized by his peers as an AV® Preeminent Lawyer, the highest rating in Martindale-Hubbell. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Gilson was a partner in a major Phoenix firm where his practice included class action suits and representation of clients in government agency investigations.  He was also an associate in an international law firm’s Washington, D.C. office and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas A. Flannery of the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (1995 to 1997) and the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (1997 to 1998). Mr. Gilson is an active member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation, serving in the Section’s leadership for more than ten years. He is the recipient of two awards from the ABA: Outstanding Subcommittee Chair and Outstanding Newsletter Editor. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Gilson is an accomplished classical pianist who has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center and throughout the country. 

Representative Matters

• Represented plaintiffs in major accounting fraud litigation in the Southern District of New York
• Represented plaintiffs in multi-million dollar insurance coverage dispute, including jury trial
• Represented plaintiffs in multi-million dollar legal malpractice case
• Litigated and negotiated technical issues regarding the preservation and spoliation of evidence
• Tried six-week jury trial involving competing claims for breach of contract relating to complex engineering project
• Represented a class of plaintiffs in a major legal malpractice class action, overseeing all discovery and class certification issues
• Represented defendants in multiple class action cases, overseeing all issues relating to settlement and claim administration
• Extensive experience with removal of class action cases
• Represented major broker-dealer in SEC insider trading investigation
• Represented broker-dealer in bench trial involving dispute with an employee
• Defended a chain of nursing homes in a grand jury investigation; defeated government’s attempt to invoke the “crime fraud” exception to the attorney­ client privilege
• Managed the preservation, collection, production and review of millions of pages of electronic data in a complex breach of contract case
• Litigated issues relating to the preservation and production of electronic data

Memberships & Activities

• American Bar Association, Section of Litigation
• Co-Chair/Member of Pro Bono Task Force 2017-present
• Member, Regional Meetings Committee (assisting Section of Litigation Committees in providing legal education programming for their members) 2015-2017
• Member, Roundtable Committee (assisting Section of Litigation Committees in providing legal education programming for their members) 2012-2015
• Member, Advanced Planning Leadership Committee (assisting Section of Litigation Committees in sharpening and achieving their goals) 2010-12
• Co-Chair, Criminal Litigation Committee 2007-10
• Editor-in-Chief, Criminal Litigation Newsletter 2005-07
• American Bar Foundation, Fellow
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy
• Faculty, NITA deposition training program
• Board of Directors, Harvard Club of Phoenix
• Interview and evaluate applicants for Harvard College
• Northwestern Law School
• Interview and evaluate applicants to the law school

Recognitions

• Author, “Updating Federal Procedures for Removal and Venue: The Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011,” ABA Commercial Tort Newsletter May 2012
• Co-Author, “Ninth Circuit Approves Preliminary Denial of Class Certification,” ABA Class Actions and Derivative Suits Website March 2010
• Co-Author, “Seek and Ye Shall Find?” American Lawyer (E-Discovery Supplement) December 2008
• Co-Author, “Internal Investigations: Ten Ways to Avoid Inadvertent Disclosure of Confidential Information,” American Bar Association, Criminal Litigation Committee Website October 2008
• Author, “Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(h): R.I.P.,” American Bar Association, Criminal Litigation Committee Website October 2008
• Author, “Unpacking the Act of Production Doctrine,” Criminal Litigation Newsletter Winter 2005
• Author, “Making Sense of Booker/Fanfan,” American Bar Association, Litigation Section Website; Criminal Litigation Newsletter Spring 2005
• Author, “Federal Sentencing Guidelines: The Requirement of Notice for Upward Departure,” published in volume 82 of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 1992
• Board of Directors, Phoenix Symphony 2007-2009