Tom Curvin, co-leader of the Eversheds Sutherland (US) Litigation group, defends property and casualty, life and health insurers in class action, coverage, and extra-contractual litigation in state and federal courts across the U.S. In recent years, Tom has defended insurance class actions involving homeowners insurance, premiums, claims practices, and coverage questions, commercial general liability coverages, automobile claims handling and coverage questions, medical payments coverages, catastrophe claims, and reinsurance, among other topics. In that capacity, Tom also has served as national coordinating counsel in mass tort litigation implicating various property and casualty insurance products. Outside the class action area, Tom represents insurers in bad faith and coverage litigation and counseling.
Tom defends national and regional law firms in professional liability matters arising out of corporate transactions, franchising, securities, trusts and estate planning, and litigation, among other practice areas. These matters range from defending against claims of professional negligence to claims of aiding and abetting alleged Ponzi schemes.
For more than 15 years, Tom also has advised automobile manufacturers on state regulatory and licensing issues and regularly defended them in federal and state court litigation, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings involving disputes with dealers, suppliers and customers. Tom’s experience includes litigation stemming from add-point and relocation challenges, buy-sells, dealer candidate turn-downs, sales performance and fraud-based terminations, and reverse discrimination claims.
Client Tools
•Up to Speed Blog
Clerkships
Honorable C. Roger Vinson, U.S. District Court - Northern District of Florida.
Awards and Rankings
Recognized by The Legal 500 United States in the area of general commercial disputes (2017-2019)
Recognized by Chambers USA: Guide to Leading Business Lawyers in the area of litigation: general commercial (2010-2020)
Selected for inclusion in Georgia Super Lawyers (2008-2009, 2011-2016-2020)
Recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” by The Best Lawyers in America in the area of legal malpractice law - defendants (2016)
Named to The Best Lawyers in America in the area of legal malpractice law - defendants (2010-2020) and insurance law (2014-2020)
Experience
“This work is intellectually challenging, and I often have very tough cases that require a lot of creativity. I enjoy building client relationships, giving advice, being thought of as a counselor, not just a litigator.”
Experience
Won dismissal of a putative nationwide class action brought by homeowners alleging that damage to their homes and personal property allegedly caused by defective Chinese manufactured drywall was covered under their homeowners insurance policies.
Achieved favorable outcomes for stadium owners in challenges to nearly $600 million in public financing for the construction of two new professional sports stadiums in Atlanta.
Secured dismissal of a putative class action against a major property and casualty insurer alleging that interest must be paid on all claims not resolved within 60 days after report dates.
Won a directed verdict for a national property and casualty insurer in post-Hurricane Katrina litigation involving part of a state-mandated residual “wind pool” - a market of last resort for homeowners insurance on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Secured dismissal of class action against an international law firm alleging that the firm aided and abetted a Ponzi scheme involving over $60 million in business opportunities.
Won summary judgment for an automobile manufacturer against claims by a would-be dealership purchaser, who sued for millions in lost profits damages after manufacturer turned down the proposed transfer.
Multimedia
Webcast: Supreme Court review/preview - high court cases the business community should watch (October 4, 2018)
Last term, the US Supreme Court decided several cases with implications for the insurance and financial services sectors, and the docket for the Court’s October 2018 term already includes merits ...
Webcast: Insurance Litigation Trends to Watch in 2016 (February 18, 2016)
Sutherland attorneys Tom Curvin, Kym Kochis, Lewis Wiener, Phil Stano, Valerie Sanders and Wilson Barmeyer present Insurance Litigation Trends to Watch in 2016 on February 18, 2016. Litigation ...
Webcast: U.S. Supreme Court Review / Preview: High Court Cases Insurers Should Watch (September 24, 2015)
Last term the U.S. Supreme Court decided several cases with implications for the insurance sector, with issues ranging from ERISA fiduciary duties and class action procedure to disparate impact ...
Webcast: The Price Is Right? Predictive Modeling, Big Data and “Price Optimization”: Regulatory and Litigation Developments (May 12, 2015)
Predictive analytics, fueled by big data and driven by our constant use of smartphones, apps and web browsers, are increasingly used by insurers in marketing and distribution, underwriting, in-force ...
Webcast: Insurance Litigation Trends to Watch in 2015 (February 10, 2015)
Litigation is never off the radar screen in a sector as heavily regulated as insurance. Join a panel of Sutherland litigators, including Tom Curvin, Phil Stano, Lewis Wiener, Valerie Sanders, Wilson ...
Webcast: Real Life Minority Report ? - Insurers Grapple With Big Data's Implications (January 13, 2015)
The future that Tom Cruise lived in - where criminal behavior was predicted and stopped before it happened - may be closer than many people realize. Predictive analytics, driven by our constant ...
Webcast: Black Hats, Firewalls and Data Loss: Insurers Confront Data Breach Litigation (December 9, 2014)
Are hackers taking over the world? Companies with iconic brands like Home Depot, Target and Neiman Marcus - to name only a few - have suffered catastrophic security breaches exposing them to ...
News
In the News
On the Move News (September 9, 2016)
Daily Report
Sutherland Partner Thomas Curvin is mentioned in this Daily Report article for being selected to the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation Board of Directors for a two-year term.
Cobb to Close Wednesday on $376.6 Million in SunTrust Park Bonds (September 9, 2015)
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Sutherland represents the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority regarding bond issuance to finance the construction of the new Atlanta Braves stadium discussed in this Atlanta Business ...
Retained Asset Account Class Action Proceeds Versus MetLife; Policy Terms Critical (April 24, 2015)
Bloomberg Law - Class Action Litigation Report
Partners Phillip Stano and Thomas Curvin are mentioned in this Bloomberg Law article for representing MetLife.
Georgia High Court OKs $200M NFL Stadium Funds (March 16, 2015)
Law360
Partners Thomas Curvin and Matthew Nichols are mentioned in a Law360 article for representing one of the defendants in Cottrell v. Atlanta Development Authority, a case regarding bond issuance to ...
Georgia Supreme Court Hears Braves Bonds Case (February 4, 2015)
Marietta Daily Journal
Partner Thomas Curvin is quoted in a Marietta Daily Journal for representing the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority regarding bond issuance to finance the construction of the new Atlanta ...
Georgia Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Braves Stadium (February 4, 2015)
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Partner Thomas Curvin is quoted in an Atlanta Business Chronicle article for representing the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority regarding bond issuance to finance the construction of ...
Stakes Are High in Case Involving Issuing of Bonds (February 4, 2015)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Partner Thomas Curvin is quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution article for representing the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority regarding bond issuance to finance the construction ...
Cobb Residents Take Challenge of Nearly $400 Million in Braves Stadium Bonds to Georgia Supreme Court (February 3, 2015)
Creative Loafing Atlanta
Partner Thomas Curvin is quoted in a Creative Loafing Atlanta article for representing the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority regarding bond issuance to finance the construction of the ...
Press Releases
24 Eversheds Sutherland Practice Areas, 63 Attorneys Named Among Nation’s Best in 2020 Chambers USA (April 23, 2020)
Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that 24 practices and 63 attorneys have earned recognition in the 2020 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Chambers USA, a ...
21 Eversheds Sutherland Attorneys Named 2020 Georgia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars (February 14, 2020)
ATLANTA-Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that 19 of its attorneys based in Georgia have been selected as top attorneys in the state by Super Lawyers . Additionally, two attorneys have been ...
19 Eversheds Sutherland Practice Areas, 87 Attorneys Named Among Nation’s Best in 2019 Legal 500 United States (June 10, 2019)
Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that 19 practice areas and 87 attorneys have been recognized in the 2019 edition of The Legal 500 United States, a comprehensive survey of legal service ...
19 Eversheds Sutherland Practice Areas, 55 Attorneys Named Among Nation’s Best in 2019 Chambers USA (April 25, 2019)
Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that 19 practices and 55 attorneys have earned recognition in the 2019 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Chambers USA, a ...
27 Eversheds Sutherland Attorneys Named 2019 Georgia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars (February 7, 2019)
Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that 25 of its attorneys based in Georgia have been selected as top attorneys in the state by Super Lawyers . Additionally, two attorneys have been ...
18 Eversheds Sutherland Practice Areas, 68 Attorneys Named Among Nation’s Best in 2018 Legal 500 United States (May 30, 2018)
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP is pleased to announce that 18 practice areas and 68 attorneys have been recognized in the 2018 edition of The Legal 500 United States, a comprehensive survey of legal ...
19 Eversheds Sutherland Practice Areas, 59 Attorneys Named Among Nation’s Best in 2018 Chambers USA (May 3, 2018)
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP is pleased to announce that 19 practices and 59 attorneys have earned recognition in the 2018 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Chambers ...
30 Eversheds Sutherland (US) Attorneys Named 2018 Georgia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars (February 23, 2018)
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP is pleased to announce that 25 of its attorneys based in Georgia have been selected as top attorneys in the state by Super Lawyers . Additionally, five attorneys have ...
Four Eversheds Sutherland Attorneys Named Lawyer of the Year; 80 Lawyers Recognized in 2018 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America (August 15, 2017)
Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that four attorneys have been selected as “Lawyer of the Year” in their respective fields by The Best Lawyers in America, and 80 attorneys have been ...
19 Eversheds Sutherland (US) Practice Areas, 58 Attorneys Named Among Nation’s Best in 2017 Legal 500 United States (May 31, 2017)
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP is pleased to announce that 19 practice areas and 58 attorneys have been ranked in the 2017 edition of The Legal 500 United States. Legal 500 is a comprehensive survey ...
Presentations
“With Eversheds Sutherland (US), you’re going to get very bright lawyers who are committed to client service and to giving you creative solutions to legal problems. You’re also going to get people who are really committed to integrity-you can trust us. Other lawyers know they can trust us, and clients know they can trust us.”
Presentations
Webcast: Supreme Court review/preview - high court cases the business community should watch (October 4, 2018)
Last term, the US Supreme Court decided several cases with implications for the insurance and financial services sectors, and the docket for the Court’s October 2018 term already includes merits ...
Insurance Trends and Emerging Issues CLE Program (September 12, 2016)
Sutherland is proud to host a CLE program focused on Insurance Trends and Emerging Issues on September 12, 2016, in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Topics include Cybersecurity and Technology, Insurance ...
Big Data and Predictive Analytics: Lessons from the P&C World (May 16, 2016)
Association of Life Insurance Counsel (ALIC) Annual Meeting
Sutherland Partners Thomas Curvin and Kymberly Kochis present Big Data and Predictive Analytics: Lessons from the P&C World at the Association of Life Insurance Counsel (ALIC) Annual Meeting on ...
Webcast: Insurance Litigation Trends to Watch in 2016 (February 18, 2016)
Sutherland attorneys Tom Curvin, Kym Kochis, Lewis Wiener, Phil Stano, Valerie Sanders and Wilson Barmeyer present Insurance Litigation Trends to Watch in 2016 on February 18, 2016. Litigation ...
Webcast: U.S. Supreme Court Review / Preview: High Court Cases Insurers Should Watch (September 24, 2015)
Last term the U.S. Supreme Court decided several cases with implications for the insurance sector, with issues ranging from ERISA fiduciary duties and class action procedure to disparate impact ...
Webcast: The Price Is Right? Predictive Modeling, Big Data and “Price Optimization”: Regulatory and Litigation Developments (May 12, 2015)
Predictive analytics, fueled by big data and driven by our constant use of smartphones, apps and web browsers, are increasingly used by insurers in marketing and distribution, underwriting, in-force ...
Webcast: Insurance Litigation Trends to Watch in 2015 (February 10, 2015)
Litigation is never off the radar screen in a sector as heavily regulated as insurance. Join a panel of Sutherland litigators, including Tom Curvin, Phil Stano, Lewis Wiener, Valerie Sanders, Wilson ...
Webcast: Real Life Minority Report ? - Insurers Grapple With Big Data's Implications (January 13, 2015)
The future that Tom Cruise lived in - where criminal behavior was predicted and stopped before it happened - may be closer than many people realize. Predictive analytics, driven by our constant ...
Webcast: Black Hats, Firewalls and Data Loss: Insurers Confront Data Breach Litigation (December 9, 2014)
Are hackers taking over the world? Companies with iconic brands like Home Depot, Target and Neiman Marcus - to name only a few - have suffered catastrophic security breaches exposing them to ...
Class Action Litigation and Supreme Court Decisions (July 1, 2014)
Insured Retirement Institute Government Legal & Regulatory Conference
Sutherland Partner Thomas W. Curvin presents “Class Action Litigation and Supreme Court Decisions” at the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) Litigation Forum, Washington, DC. The panel explores the ...
Publications
“In a set of opinions handed down in 2010, the Supreme Court limited the honest services fraud statute and ensured that prosecutors cannot simply use the law as a catch-all provision for punishing wrongful-but not necessarily criminal-behavior. These rulings provide more certainty for potential defendants-including corporate officers and directors- about what the law requires for such charges to succeed.”
Legal Alerts
The impact of Langan v. Johnson & Johnson on nationwide class actions (August 15, 2018)
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently closed the door on a potential argument for defendants fighting multi-state class certification. In Langan v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer ...
The Final Rule: Next Steps After Vacatur (April 5, 2018)
The nationwide vacatur of the Department of Labor “investment advice” fiduciary definition and related exemptions by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on March 15, 2018, does not bring an ...
The Final Rule: DOL Fiduciary Rule Affirmed and Revoked (March 21, 2018)
During the week of March 12, two federal appeals courts separately upheld and vacated the DOL fiduciary rule under the Administrative Procedure Act, and DOL suspended enforcement of the rule pending ...
The Final Rule: Considerations and Analysis of the DOL’s 18-Month Transition Period Extension (November 29, 2017)
By a notice published in the Federal Register on November 29, 2017, the Department of Labor extended from January 1, 2018, until July 1, 2019, the date for compliance with the full conditions in its ...
The Final Rule: DOL Proposes to Extend Transition Period until July 1, 2019, and Issues Additional Non-Enforcement Policy for Arbitration Limitations (August 31, 2017)
By a notice published in the Federal Register on August 31, 2017, the Department of Labor proposed to extend from January 1, 2018, until July 1, 2019, the date for compliance with the full conditions ...
The Final Rule: DOL Issues Fourth Set of FAQs (August 9, 2017)
On August 3, 2017, the Department of Labor released a fourth set of FAQs related to its new “investment advice” fiduciary definition and related exemptions, which became applicable on June 9. Like ...
The Final Rule: The Fifth Request for Public Comments (June 30, 2017)
On June 29, 2017, the Department of Labor released a request for information, seeking public comments yet again on its new “investment advice” fiduciary definition and related exemptions which became ...
Legal Alert: Plaintiffs’ Voluntary Dismissal Does Not Transform Denial of Class Certification into an Appealable Final Judgment (June 14, 2017)
The Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Ginsburg, has held that 28 U.S.C. 1291 does not confer appellate jurisdiction over an otherwise interlocutory order on class certification ...
The Final Rule: June 9 is the Launch Date After All (May 26, 2017)
With its announcements of May 22, 2017, starting with an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Labor confirmed that, absent last-minute action in the courts or by Congress, its new ...
The Final Rule: Delayed But (Perhaps) Not Denied (April 7, 2017)
On April 4, 2017, the Department of Labor released its final rule postponing the applicability date of its new “investment advice” fiduciary definition and related exemptions. This extension, which ...
Articles
Eversheds Sutherland presents annual Industrial Foresight Report 2020 (February, 2020)
In collaboration with Eversheds Sutherland Managing Partner Dr. Matthias Heisse .
Our global Diversified Industrials sector team are proud to present our annual Industrial Foresight Report 2020. This report identifies key risks, legislation and commercial developments your company ...
Class Certification in 11th Circuit Supplement Case Comes with Limits (January 6, 2020)
Law360
In their article for Law360, Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Tom Curvin and Kamryn Deegan discuss how, according to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, allegations that plaintiffs ...
Big Data: Courts Put Regulators in the Driver’s Seat (July 6, 2016)
Law360
Can an insurance company use big data or predictive modeling about its customers’ price sensitivity to set automobile insurance rates? State regulators who have addressed the question have generally ...
The Final Rule: DOL’s Expanded Definition of Investment Advice Fiduciary Under ERISA and Revised Complex of Exemptions (April 12, 2016)
Just less than a year since its proposal, and just more than six months after receiving thousands of pages of commentary, petitions and hearing testimony, the Department of Labor finalized its ...
Price Optimization: 2015 in Review and a Look Ahead (January 27, 2016)
Law360
2015 saw approximately one-third of U.S. states join the first state, Maryland, in issuing guidance to property and casualty insurers with respect to price optimization; action by the National ...
2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (November 24, 2015)
The Litigation Practice Group of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP has published “2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” This publication reflects important changes to the Federal ...
A Sword of Damocles? Georgia’s Offer of Settlement Statute, O.C.G.A. 91168 (July 2015)
Georgia Defense Lawyers Association Law Journal
Georgia’s offer of settlement statute was enacted as part of 2005’s major tort reform initiative, was amended in 2006, and was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court of Georgia in Smith v. ...
Price Optimization: Regulators Struggling with Big Data (June 8, 2015)
Law360
“Price optimization,” an emerging practice that uses big data, predictive modeling and data analytics in pricing insurance products, especially personal lines property and casualty insurance, ...
Did Pennsylvania’s High Court Just Open the Class Action Door? (February 2, 2015)
Law360
In Braun v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a $187 million jury verdict in favor of class action plaintiffs. In their article for Law360, Sutherland attorneys Philip ...
High Court Opens Door To 5th Amendment Takings Cases (March 19, 2014)
Law360
In what is commonly known as a rails-to-trails case, the U.S. Supreme Court held on March 10, 2014, in an eight-to-one decision, that certain railroad rights-of-way revert to private property owners ...
