EDITORIAL REVIEW
From antitrust and securities litigation to white-collar crime and IP cases
- including defending MGA against Mattel’s claims over the Bratz dolls -
Skadden’s top trial lawyer out West can do it all.
—2008 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
There are more than a billion reasons for corporations and their leaders to turn to this courtroom consigliere when trouble comes their way.
— Lawdragon,
January 2008
A
white-collar globe-trotter, he has sued in the UK
and the Caymans and arranged seizure of Swiss Bank records.
— Lawdragon,
October 2006
Skadden Arps scored big in 2004 when it hired Thomas Nolan as co-head of the firm's West Coast litigation team. The Los Angeles trial lawyer had been the much-admired leader of Howrey's West Coast offices, helping engineer much of that Washington, D.C.-based firm's growth and success in California. But more important than Nolan's managerial skills are his abilities as a topflight rainmaker and litigator with a fondness for bet-the-company cases. After joining Skadden, Nolan helped underwriters sued in the massive WorldCom securities-fraud case reach a multibillion-dollar settlement. He is equally comfortable on the plaintiffs' side of the courtroom.
— Lawdragon,
October 2005
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Partner
Litigation
Tom Nolan is co-chair of Skadden’s West Coast Litigation practice. He is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading
trial attorneys and has extensive trial experience representing corporations and individuals in both complex civil and
criminal litigation in state and federal courts. Mr. Nolan is a former federal prosecutor and served as chief of fraud and
special prosecutions in the Los Angeles United States Attorney’s Office. He has been a member of the defense bar since 1979.
Mr. Nolan’s extensive trial experience includes complex civil litigation matters. Mr. Nolan has represented clients, both
plaintiffs and defendants, in matters involving antitrust and intellectual property issues, as well as in class action
lawsuits and litigation involving a wide variety of contract disputes, unfair business practices and consumer fraud. He also
has advised clients in matters involving the subprime mortgage industry. Over the years, he has obtained jury verdicts of
more than one billion dollars for his clients as well as defeating claims exceeding two billion dollars asserted against his
corporate clients.
Mr. Nolan also has represented corporations and individuals, including directors and officers, in criminal and SEC
enforcement matters and in internal investigations involving FCPA allegations, securities fraud, money laundering, RICO,
health care fraud and insider trading violations.
Mr. Nolan is a fellow of the
American College of Trial Lawyers and a
fellow of the
International Academy of Trial Lawyers (admission limited
to 500 trial attorneys in the United States). Mr. Nolan has served as a lawyer representative to the
Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. As a frequent
lecturer on trial advocacy issues, Mr. Nolan has served as an adjunct professor of law teaching trial advocacy at
Loyola University School of Law at Los Angeles. Mr. Nolan has been
recognized as a “leading lawyer” by
Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and he is one of only
22 attorneys listed in the top tier of national trial attorneys by
Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for
Business, which also ranks him in its top band for general commercial litigation. Mr. Nolan has been named “Litigator of
the Week” by
The AmLaw Litigation Daily for his trial success in limiting damages awarded in the
“Barbie v.
Bratz” doll-war case and also has been named to
The Best Lawyers in America for the last 10 years. Mr. Nolan’s
litigation work was profiled in
The American Lawyer in an article that named Skadden as a finalist for “Litigation
Department of the Year.” In addition, Mr. Nolan has been profiled as one of the “Top 100” most influential lawyers in
California in each of the past 12 years and one of the “Top 30 Securities Litigators” in California by the
Daily
Journal.
Related Practices
Bar Admissions
Education
Professional Experience
- Lead Counsel to Court-Appointed Receiver, U.S. District Court (1985-1989)
- Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, U.S. Department of Justice (1975-1979)
Associations/Affiliations
- Fellow, American Bar Association, Sections on Litigation,
Antitrust, and Criminal Law (1998-present)
- Board of Directors, Federal Bar Association
- Member, Advisory Board, Board of Governors, Institute for Corporate Counsel
- Member, Board of Directors, Public Counsel
- Member, Board of Directors, Uncommon Good
See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations
by Thomas Nolan
Voting for the 2009 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America has closed. We will announce the posting of the next ballot later this year. Thanks for your participation.
