Tom received his B.A. degree (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and his M.A. degree from Columbia University in 1971 and 1972, respectively. He graduated from The University of Michigan Law School in 1975.

Tom has practiced law in Minnesota since 1975, with the exception of 1978-1979, when he practiced with the largest firm in Sacramento, California. (He is still admitted in California as an inactive member of The State Bar of California.)

He has practiced in several different firms, ranging in size from one attorney to 150 attorneys. By way of example, for some years prior to its dissolution, Tom was a partner in the Trusts and Estates Department of Rider Bennett, leaving to resume his own private practice in 2004. Tom is a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education and other professional training seminars on guardianship/conservatorship law, estate planning, and probate administration and litigation. He chaired the committee of the Minnesota State Bar Association that redrafted the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act and adapted it to Minnesota practice. The Act was passed into law in 2003.

He is a member of the American, Minnesota State, California State, and Hennepin County Bar Associations and is a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and served for five years as a member of the Elder Law Committee of ACTEC.

Tom is also a past member of the Board of Directors of The Minnesota Chorale and The Minnesota Opera.