Thomas L. Long
Thomas L. Long has been involved in complex civil litigation throughout his 30 years of practice. He has served as the lead trial lawyer on matters ranging from antitrust actions, securities fraud claims, contested corporate control matters, contract disputes, motorsports disputes to trade secret matters.
He represents clients not only in Ohio courts but also in federal and state courts throughout the country. Because of his vast trial experience, Mr. Long is often called upon to represent clients whenever a complex matter is likely to be litigated. Mr. Long has been named in the Best Lawyers in America, American Lawyer Top Commercial Lawyers, Ohio’s “Super Lawyers” and Columbus Top Lawyers.
Currently, Mr. Long is representing the SIPC Trustee in a variety of actions arising from the Madoff Ponzi scheme. His work includes the tracking and recovery of funds from off-shore hedge funds.
Recently, Mr. Long represented a FORTUNE 20 client in a series of federal securities and ERISA class actions as well as numerous shareholder derivative cases alleging waste of corporate assets, breach of fiduciary duties, and the misuse of corporate share repurchase programs designed to take advantage of market conditions. Through Mr. Long’s efforts the client was able to use an innovative early mediation process which resulted in the settlement of the cases on favorable terms while avoiding great litigation expense and disruption of the client’s business with the normal extensive discovery.
Mr. Long represents a client in the National Century Financial Enterprises securities litigation which is currently pending in federal court. He has also represented certain investor defendants in the SmartTalk Securities Litigation. During his career Mr. Long has represented both offerors and targets in nearly a dozen contested corporate control actions.
In addition to his recent securities litigation, Mr. Long successfully represented two clients in different investigations by former New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer. He recently completed the settlement of a major consumer class action, is representing a client in a major DEA investigation and is representing a client in several “reverse payment” antitrust class actions. In addition to these civil matters, Mr. Long assists in the representation of clients and witnesses in several white collar criminal investigations.
During his career, Mr. Long served as one of the co-lead trial counsel in the successful defense of the class action antitrust trial in the Northern District of Illinois in the In re Brand Name Prescription Drug Antitrust Litigation. His two wholesaler clients were awarded judgment as a matter of law following a nearly 10-week trial. The trial was the culmination of almost five years of pretrial proceedings and interlocutory appeals and resulted in a total victory, upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Immediately following the victory in the Brand Name case, Mr. Long served as one of the lead trial lawyers defending a securities fraud claim in Federated Management Co. v. Coopers & Lybrand. Following the selection of the jury and winning a series of evidentiary motions, his client was able to settle the case on very favorable terms.
He also successfully represented several defendants in the UPS EVIC Insurance class action that was transferred to the Southern District of New York by the Panel on Multi-District Litigation. The UPS litigation involved seven class actions that were consolidated into a single action in New York. Again, he successfully led and coordinated the defenses of several clients in his usual cost-efficient and effective manner.
In motorsports, Mr. Long has represented a major auto racing engine manufacturer in two complex disputes, a sanctioning body in an equipment dispute, drivers and race engineers in contract disputes and Paul Tracy and Team Green n/k/a Andretti Green Racing in their appeal of the results of the 2002 Indianapolis 500.
Mr. Long has regularly represented employers in trade secret and non-competition agreement cases since the early 1990s. He has taken an active role in defending clients’ interests and preventing unfair competition through the improper acquisition of valuable trade information.
Mr. Long has represented clients before a number of State of Ohio administrative agencies, including the Department of Transportation, Department of Insurance, Department of Education, and the Department of Commerce, Division of Securities. For example, he successfully represented B.A.T in its contested acquisition of the Farmers Insurance Group before the Ohio Department of Insurance, and more recently represented State Automobile Mutual Insurance in its contested acquisition of the Meridian Insurance Group before the Indiana Insurance Commissioner. In the Ohio General Assembly, he represents on a regular basis one of the largest property and casualty insurers in the United States.
With the advent of alternative dispute resolution, Mr. Long has become one of the more experienced mediators in central Ohio. He not only represents clients in mediation matters but is requested on a regular basis by both state and federal judges to mediate complex matters in which he does not represent any party.
Mr. Long frequently lectures on topics of current interest in the legal field. His most recent lecture topics include: “Trial Evidence,” “Taking and Defending Effective Depositions,” “Expert Witness Procedures,” “Audit Letter Responses,” and “The Litigation of a Trade Secret Case.”