Tom Hall joined the firm in 2014, after retiring as Clerk of Court of the Florida Supreme Court. In addition to assisting on particular cases by applying his extraordinary experience in Florida’s appellate courts, Tom is the firm’s in-house expert on court and clerk procedures – past, present, and future.
The son of a steel worker and stay at home mom, Tom grew up in southwest Ohio. He became the first in his extended family to attend college when he enrolled at Ohio University. His studies were interrupted when he served four years in the United States Navy as a naval photographer during the Vietnam War. After his service, Tom ultimately completed his undergraduate studies in Florida, graduating in 1976 from the University of West Florida. He earned his law degree in 1980 from the University of Miami School of Law. While at Miami he was active in moot court and mock trial competitions, winning every competition he entered at the law school and representing the school in numerous regional and national competitions. He was Chair of the Moot Court Board.
After graduation Tom served as a law clerk for the Honorable Daniel S. Pearson at Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal in Miami. After an 18-month stint at the court, Tom went to work for a small firm in Miami – Schoniger and Siegfried, where he focused on construction litigation and representing numerous homeowner’s associations. He left that firm after about two years and joined another Miami firm now known as the Kenny Nachwalter. While there he handled trial and appellate litigation, primarily involving construction and banking disputes in state and federal court.
In 1990, looking for a change in lifestyle and location, Tom accepted a job as chief staff attorney at Florida’s First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, where he worked in legal, administrative, and supervisory capacities. In 2000 he was appointed Clerk of the Florida Supreme Court. He was just the twentieth person to hold this position since Florida became a state in 1845, and he learned the ins and outs of the state court system first hand during his thirteen years of service to the supreme court. He was Clerk during the presidential election cases in late 2000.
Besides his duties as clerk, Tom continued his long tradition of volunteer service to the bench and bar. One of the many committees he served on was the District Court of Appeal Performance and Accountability Commission. While Clerk, Tom served on the Board of Directors of the Florida Courts E-Filing Authority. He was also the Court’s unofficial liaison to the Florida Court Technology Commission and served on several committees of that Commission. He currently is the Chair of the Joint Committee of Florida Court Technology Commission and the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee of The Florida Bar. The Joint Committee makes recommendations to the two separate groups and then often to the Florida Supreme regarding rules of procedure or technical standards.
Throughout his storied career, Tom has also been very active in The Florida Bar. He has served on procedural rules committees of the Bar for more than 40 years. He was a founding member of the First District Appellate Inn of Court. He is currently on both the Rules Appellate Procedure and the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration committees and has been so for 11 consecutive years, despite it being very rare for anyone in the Bar to ever serve on two procedural rules committees at the same time. He has chaired two sections of the Bar– Government Lawyers and Appellate Practice – and remains active in Appellate Section activities. Tom was also Chair of the CLE Committee of the Bar.
Tom served as vice chair of the Technology Committee of the Vision 2016 Commission, which was tasked with a comprehensive study of the future practice of law in Florida. He also remains active as a retired member in the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks, which is focused on improving appellate court operations throughout the country.
Tom has been active in many community organizations. He was until recently a member of the Board of Directors of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society. For four years while living in Tallahassee he was president of the congregation at his church and three years on the board of directors of ECHO, a charitable organization serving the homeless in Tallahassee. He currently is on the church counsel in his name home in Babcock Ranch, Florida. He also served for many years as a judge in Teen Court in Leon County. He currently sits on the School Board of Babcock neighborhood school.
Tom has taught law at the University of Miami and St. Thomas University schools of law. He has presented at many national conferences such the E-Court Conference sponsored by the National Center for State Courts. In Florida besides teaching at Florida Bar seminars, he has taught at Florida judicial education seminars. He has taught extensively about open meetings and open records under Florida’s constitution. The last five years as Clerk he taught Supreme Court jurisdiction at the new appellate judges’ course.
Besides practicing appellate law at The Mills Firm, Tom is president of TLH Consulting Group LLC. In that capacity he provides non-legal advice to various groups about court administrative operations.
