Tom Panoff is a seasoned and highly regarded litigator who focuses on complex commercial litigation and investigations. He has appeared before trial and appellate courts across the country, having litigated matters or handled investigations in over 30 states and nearly 50 U.S. district courts. Tom also advises boards of directors and C-suite executives on enterprise risk and compliance strategy.
With clients in a variety of industries—including financial services, fintech, private equity, hedge funds, healthcare, pharmaceutical, insurance, technology, manufacturing (chemicals, steel and automotive, among others) and consumer goods—Tom advises in several key areas:
Financial Services
Tom represents leading banks, fintechs, mortgage lenders, alternative investment managers and other financial institutions in their most complex and high-profile matters, including class actions, multi-district litigation, mass arbitrations, RICO, fraud, conspiracy, false claims, tax, discrimination, securitization, commercial real estate, Ponzi schemes, kickbacks, corporate veil piercing, anti-money laundering, broker-dealer disputes, bankruptcy, data privacy, mergers and acquisitions, and numerous consumer statutes.
Antitrust & Competition
In addition to advising on antitrust matters including claims involving alleged price fixing, market allocation, boycotts, refusals to deal, attempted monopolization and tying, Tom also represents clients in related litigation and advisory matters that involve parallel investigations before the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign competition authorities.
Class Actions and Complex Commercial Disputes
Tom advises clients in class actions creating enterprise-level risk and other high-stakes commercial disputes on issues such as trade secrets and intellectual property, breach of contract, commercial real estate, indemnification, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and executive-level non-competition.
Private Equity and Hedge Funds
Tom represents private equity firms and hedge funds in various litigation and advisory matters, including post-closing disputes, antitrust, breach of contract, earn-outs, indemnification and fraudulent conveyance claims.
Investigations
Internal investigations that Tom conducts for companies and boards of directors are often global in scope and arise from both governmental inquires and through internal reporting channels. He has extensive experience working with C-suite executives and boards of directors in managing media strategy surrounding investigations and implementing post-investigation remediation plans.
Tom is active in the pro bono legal community, serving as president of the Chicago Bar Foundation, a charitable organization that supports dozens of legal aid organizations annually in the Chicago area.