Business Litigation
Our Business Litigation practice group offers the experience of seasoned lawyers who recognize the value of solving problems to promote your business success.
Complex Tort Defense
Since its founding in 1988, a staple of Conn Kavanaugh’s practice has been the defense of business entities in serious and complex personal injury or property damage actions.Construction
Whether you are the owner, design professional, general contractor, project administrator, subcontractor, or supplier on a construction project, our Construction practice will assist you in achieving a successful project outcome.Corporate / Transactional
Our Corporate/Transactional practice has a broad range of skills. This versatility allows them to remain a principal point of contact with our business clients and to move freely across multiple disciplines to ensure continuity of representation.
Criminal / White Collar / Regulatory
We have extensive experience advising businesses and individuals who are the subject of criminal or regulatory investigations or proceedings.
Employment Litigation / Counseling
Employers and employees alike look to Conn Kavanaugh’s employment lawyers for advice in navigating the increasingly complex web of state and federal statutes,Estate Planning / Administration
Our Estate Planning attorneys help individuals and their families plan for the future and protect their assets. We handle all aspects of estate planning.
Family Law / Probate Litigation
Our experienced Family Law/Probate Litigation attorneys work zealously to ensure rightful asset distributions in these emotionally charged proceedings. Our group handles a wide range of areas including prenuptial agreements, custody disputes, and post-divorce support or estate modifications.
Insurance Litigation
Land Use / Real Estate Litigation
Our Land Use/Real Estate Litigation practice has extensive experience in handling real estate disputes of all kinds and at all levels. We can develop a strategy for your dispute.Mediation / Arbitration
Having litigated hundreds of cases, the Mediation/Arbitration practice is well-equipped to effectively value cases to resolve disputes according to your needs and goals.
Product Liability
Conn Kavanaugh’s lawyers regularly represent manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in defending against product liability claims.Professional Liability
Our trial attorneys are accomplished in defending claims against attorneys, health care professionals, insurance agents and brokers, and other professionals.Real Estate
Our Real Estate practice provides skilled representation in a variety of transactions, including the financing, leasing, acquisition and disposition of commercial properties.
- Business Litigation
- Complex Tort Defense
- Construction
- Corporate / Transactional
- Criminal / White Collar / Regulatory
- Employment Litigation / Counseling
- Estate Planning / Administration
- Family Law / Probate Litigation
- Insurance Litigation
- Land Use / Real Estate Litigation
- Mediation / Arbitration
- Product Liability
- Professional Liability
- Real Estate
Architects/Engineers
Conn Kavanaugh has a wealth of experience advising and representing architects and engineers in many aspects of their businesses.
Cannabis
Closely Held/Family Businesses
Conn Kavanaugh’s business attorneys have a broad range of skills and are very experienced in providing legal services to family-owned and other closely-held businesses.
Construction
Conn Kavanaugh has provided an array of services to private and public clients in the construction industry, including the manufacturers of building materials and systems.Financial Services
Conn Kavanaugh draws upon a wide range of disciplines to meet the needs of individual and institutional clients in the financial services industry.
Food and Beverage
Our decades of work in the food and beverage industry, including alcohol regulatory and distribution, have permitted us to gain expertise and insight into the typically fast paced and challenging world of our clients engaged in the food and beverage industry.Government
Conn Kavanaugh provides an array of services to clients in the public sector, including state agencies, municipalities, and public officials.Healthcare
The Conn Kavanaugh team has the skills and experience necessary to successfully maneuver our clients through the increasingly complex and highly regulated environment of the health care industry.Insurance
Our lawyers work with our insurance industry clients in a variety of ways. We represent their insureds in virtually every type of lawsuit for which insurance coverage is available. We represent insurance companies directly in bad faith actions, and in high-exposure losses or losses that present unusual or challenging coverage issues.Law Firms
Since the firm was founded in 1988, our attorneys have been known as “lawyers’ lawyers.”Manufacturing
Conn Kavanaugh has broad experience in representing the interests and needs of various manufacturers.
Real Estate
Conn Kavanaugh has a wealth of experience in the real estate field.Staffing and Recruiting
Staffing companies and Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) are playing an increasingly important role in many aspects of human resource management, as employers are relying more and more on staffing companies and PEOs for payroll and employee benefit administration, risk management, and other increasingly complex administrative burdens.
Thomas J. Gallitano
Partner
Download vCard
Print Full BioTom has a diverse civil and commercial litigation practice. He concentrates his practice in the areas of employment law, professional liability, and business litigation. Tom serves as Co-Chair of the firm's Employment Law Practice Group, on the firm's Management Committee, and is the firm's Managing Partner.
Tom's employment practice focuses on advising and representing employers on a broad range of matters, including employment policies and procedures, drafting and negotiating employment and separation agreements, and defending discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, whistleblowing, sexual harassment, and other employment-based claims. In addition, Tom is regularly retained to pursue or defend against the enforcement of non-competition, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements. Tom also advises executives in connection with the negotiation of employment and separation agreements. Finally, Tom regularly advises companies on statutory and regulatory compliance (principally Wage and Hour and OSHA laws and regulations), and represents those companies when state and federal authorities pursue them for non-compliance.
In the area of professional liability defense, Tom primarily represents attorneys in the defense of malpractice claims and in matters before the Board of Bar Overseers.
In 2007, Tom was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to serve as Chair of the Advisory Board to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). He was re-appointed in 2015 by Governor Charlie Baker and continues to serve as Chair of the MCAD Advisory Board.
Practice Areas
- Employment Litigation / Counseling
- Professional Liability
- Business Litigation
- Criminal / White Collar / Regulatory
Industries
Education
- Northeastern University School of Law, J.D. (1987)
- Tufts University, B.S. magna cum laude (1982)
Court Admissions
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Recognition
- Tom has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America publication©. (2014 — 2020)
- Tom has been named a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” by the publishers of Boston Magazine (2004 - 2018)
- Tom has been recognized as a "Top 100 Super Lawyer in Massachusetts" since 2007.
- Tom was recognized as a "Top 100 Super Lawyer in New England" in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.
- Tom has received an AV Peer Review Rating, the highest rating, in The Martindale-Hubbell Lawyers Directory.
Representative Matters
- Employment Litigation / Counseling
- Successfully defended a Fortune 500 company during a one-week jury trial in Suffolk Superior Court, where the plaintiff alleged that her employer had engaged in race discrimination and retaliation.
- Represented senior manager of another Fortune 500 company in connection with sexual harassment claims, and succeeded in obtaining dismissal of all claims prior to trial without payment.
- Represented numerous senior executives in the negotiation of employment and separation agreements.
- Conducted numerous investigations into allegations of workplace misconduct.
- Business Litigation
- Represented a company when two senior executives left to join a direct competitor, in violation of non-competition agreements, and succeeded in obtaining a preliminary injunction preventing the executives from working for the competitor for one year. This matter settled shortly after receipt of the court order, and the client recovered substantially all of its attorneys' fees.
- Defended a start-up manufacturer and its founder against claims of trade secret violations, and succeeded in obtaining dismissal of all claims prior to trial without payment.
- Obtained substantial arbitration award for venture capital firm against a prime brokerage firm for unauthorized sale of shares held in a margin account.
- Successfully represented software company in connection with breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and related claims, where one of the company's customers had refused to reimburse the company for strategic business planning advice and services.
- Professional Liability
- Obtained summary judgment for attorney who had been sued for legal malpractice and related claims after bringing suit against his former clients to recover his fees.
- Represented attorney who had been sued for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty arising from legal and business advice provided over a span of twenty years to a closely held business, and succeeded in obtaining dismissal of all claims prior to trial without payment.
Professional Affiliation and Activities
- Boston Bar Association, Member
- Massachusetts Bar Association, Member
- American Bar Association, Member
- Tufts Lawyers Association, Member
- Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, Hearing Officer (2002-2007)
- MCAD Advisory Board, Chair
- MBA Labor and Employment Law Section Council, Member
- Annual MBA Labor and Employment Conference, Co-Chair (2008, 2009)
- Honorable Walter Jay Skinner, United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts., Law Clerk
