Thomas (Tom) McInerney has extensive employment litigation experience in complex litigation matters, with an emphasis on class actions, multi-plaintiff cases, and trade secret and other complex business disputes. He has tried to verdict several cases in both state and federal courts, and represents clients in a wide-range of fields, including technology, financial services, insurance, construction, energy/utility, healthcare, transportation and logistics, and personal services.
Tom brings a practical, problem-solving business perspective to his practice, formed in part by his experience working with large, medium-size, and small business clients throughout California and elsewhere. Tom’s expertise is in helping clients navigate complex or novel issues, including claims asserting wage and hour class, collective, and representative (PAGA) actions, sex and race discrimination and harassment, alleged theft of trade secrets, and breach of contract. Tom’s legal expertise has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Labor and Employment Litigation and as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment. Tom also has significant experience in appellate matters, including litigating cases in the California Court of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Arbitrations and mediations are also a large part of Tom’s practice.
Tom managed Ogletree Deakins’ San Francisco office for several years through 2020, and currently serves on the firm’s Pricing Committee. Tom has a deep commitment to providing legal services to those in need, and serves as a board member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Justice & Diversity Center, which advances fairness and equality by providing pro bono legal services to low-income people and educational programs that foster diversity in the legal profession. In 2014 Tom was awarded JDC’s “2014 Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service Award.” Tom is also a board member of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the oldest civil rights organizations on the West Coast. Tom is also very active in the local San Francisco Bay Area community, having served in various roles with the Bar Association of San Francisco, including as chair of its Judiciary Committee for two years, and as a board member of the Marin County Bar Association. For eight years Tom also served as an elected official in Marin County, including two terms as Mayor of the Town of San Anselmo, as a board member of the Transportation Authority of Marin, and as chair of both the Central Marin Police Authority Council and the Ross Valley Fire Board.
