Firm
Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips L.L.P.
Tom Easterly, who was named a Partner at
Taylor Porter in 2011, 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 seminars have 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 and Tennessee. ?
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 has been recognized by Louisiana Super Lawyers as a
"Rising Star" in Business Litigation for six consecutive years
(2014-2019), and, mostly recently, by Best Lawyers in America (2021
edition) in both Commercial Litigation and Insurance.
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 is also a founding member of the Muscular
Dystrophy Association Legal Leaders program and a former Ball Chairman
of Le Circle De Bacchus.
Tom currently serves as President of Baton Rouge Green. He also serves
as General Counsel to the Boy Scouts of America, Istrouma Area Council
where he is a Director, and he serves as a member of the Board of
Directors of Keep Louisiana Beautiful. Tom is a past board member of the
Baton Rouge City Club and the University Acres Civic Association.