Click here to contact Thomas H. Fain
Tom Fain was born and raised in Mexia, Texas, attending Southern Methodist University for his undergraduate degree, and the University of Texas law school. Between SMU and Texas, he worked as an accountant for Shell Chemical Company in New York and Houston. In law school, he was accepted into the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity and the Order of the Coif. He graduated with honors in 1976, and moved to Seattle, where, for the past 30 plus years, he has limited his practice to trial work and litigation.Tom is licensed in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, and has tried cases in state and federal courts and administrative agencies. His practice emphasizes product and professional liability, toxic tort claims, and commercial litigation. He has represented hundreds of health care professionals over the years, and tried their cases before civil juries and professional disciplinary boards. He has worked closely with corporate counsel in representing some of the largest U.S. and foreign manufacturers of agricultural products, manufactured housing, consumer goods and industrial equipment with respect to claims brought in the Western United States. Other trial types have included legal malpractice, contract claims, workers compensation jury appeals, construction, guardianship fraud, bankruptcy fraud and insurance fraud.Tom is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and an Advocate with the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has been active in the American Bar Association’s Trial Torts & Insurance Practice Section, serving as former Director of the National Trial Academy, and former Chair of the Products, General & Consumer Law Committee.
Professional Liability Experience
Medical, dental, legal, accounting and engineering malpractice
Representation of medical, dental and chiropractic professionals in disciplinary proceedings, credentialing and data bank disputes, and matters pending with state and federal regulatory agencies
Consultation and representation of professional associations before rule-making regulatory agencies and with respect to pending legislation.
Product Liability Experience
Chemicals such as formaldehyde, isocyanates, and solvents
Industrial equipment such as conveyors, cranes, hoists, mullers and grinders, hydraulic lifts and dumpers, cranes and pumps
Consumer goods, water heaters, motor homes and manufactured housing
Pharmaceuticals
Agricultural products such as motorized equipment, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and fertilizers
Mass tort litigation: formaldehyde, asbestos.
Toxic Tort/Environmental Law Experience
Litigation of personal injury and property damage claims involving industrial and agricultural products, and chemicals such as formaldehyde, asbestos, hydrazine, ethylene dibromide, isocyanates, 2, 4-D and organophosphates
Representation of clients before regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency, and the Department of Environmental Quality
Contribution claims for recovery of costs incurred in removal and remediation actions
Litigation of environmental claims insurance coverage disputes
Litigation of claims concerning adequacy of environmental impact statements
Litigation of claims of air and groundwater contamination.
Commercial Litigation Experience
Directors and Officers liability
State and federal securities laws and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)
Claims of business fraud and unfair business practices
Intellectual property and trade secrets
Lender liability
Claims of tortious interference with business relationships
Disputes among partners and shareholders of closely-held corporations
Defense of wrongful discharge and sex discrimination claims.
Professional Experience
1997—present, Fain Sheldon Anderson & VanDerhoef PLLC (member)
1976—1997, Williams, Kastner & Gibbs, LLP (partner 1983 - 1997)
1970—1973, Shell Chemical Company, Accountant and Senior Analyst (Financial Reporting and Computer Programming)
Education
University of Texas at Austin School of Law, J.D., with honors, 1976
Order of the Coif
Phi Delta Phi
Southern Methodist University, B.B.A., 1969
Double Major: Economics and Finance
Bar Admissions
Washington State, Idaho and Oregon
United States District Courts - Western District of Washington, Western District of Texas, District of Idaho
United States Court of Appeals - Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits
Pro Hoc Vice admissions: Montana, Hawaii, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota
Professional Associations/Activities
American College of Trial Lawyers
Teaching/Trial & Appellate Advocacy Committee
American Board of Trial Advocates
Past President – Washington State Chapter (2004)
National Board of Directors Representative for Washington State (1995-2000)
American Bar Association
Trial Torts & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) – Chair, Products Liability, General & Consumer Law Committee (1999-2000); Director, National Trial Academy (2002)
Washington State Bar Association
Litigation and Health Care Sections former Bar Examiner
Special District Counsel for Disciplinary Investigations (1987‑1997)
Chair, Future of the Profession Task Force (study Multidisciplinary Practice and Multijurisdictional Practice (2000-2001)
King County Bar Association- Mandatory Arbitration Panel
Defense Research Institute
Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association
Council on Litigation Management
Presentations
Successful Medical Malpractice Suits, NBI, Seattle, WA, December 2007
Masters in Trial, American Board of Trial Advocate, Dallas, TX, October 2007
Informed Consent, Seattle Gynecological Society, Seattle, WA, September 2007
Successful Medical Malpractice Suits, NBI, Seattle, WA, December 2006
Telling Your Story as a Witness, AALNC, Seattle, WA, December 2006
When Trouble Occurs: Some Legal Issues for Physicians, Washington State Medical Association Annual Meeting, October 2005
Masters in Trial, American Board of Trial Advocates, Sacramento, CA, December 2004
Masters in Trial, American Board of Trial Advocates,, Columbus, OH, September 2004
Responding to Unanticipated Outcomes, Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Co., September 2004
Masters in Trial, American Board of Trial Advocates, Seattle, October 2003
Expert Witness Testimony and the Litigation Process, Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Co., 2003
Ethical & Malpractice Issues in Forensic Work, Seattle Forensic Institute, January 2003
Protecting Your Practice and Your License, Washington State Medical Association Annual Meeting, September 2002
Health Insurers’ “Fraud and Abuse” Enforcement: The New Managed Care?, Washington State Medical Association, December 2000
Trying Big Tort Cases, University of Washington School of Law, October 2000
Masters in Trial, American Board of Trial Advocates, Anchorage, September 2000
Emerging Issues In HMO Tort Liability, American Bar Association/Tort & Insurance Practice Section (Atlanta), August 1999
Law & Medicine Symposium, The College of Medical Education, Tacoma 1999
Masters in Trial, American Board of Trial Advocates, Seattle 1998
Limiting the Expert Witness: Before Judge and Jury, American Bar Association/Tort & Insurance Practice Section (Orlando), August 1996
Common Issues in Claim Investigation, Product Liability Megaconference, sponsored by American Bar Association/Tort & Insurance Practice Section (Boston), October 1995
Punitive Damages from the Jury's Perspective, American Bar Association/Tort & Insurance Practice Section, Annual Meeting (Chicago), August 1995
Problems and Pitfalls in Litigation Involving a Foreign Party, American Bar Association, Tort & Insurance Practice Section, Annual Meeting (New Orleans), August 1994
Product Liability Law in Washington - Changes & Proposals, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, October 1993
National Practitioner Data Bank and Medical Disciplinary Board Reporting, Health Law: An Overview of Issues Affecting Providers, March 1993
Risk Management: Staying Out of Trouble, Washington Osteopathic Medical Association, September 1987
Liability Issues for Primary Care Practitioners, Planned Parenthood of Seattle and King County, October 1986
Comments on Expert Witnesses in Toxic Tort Litigation, Professional Consultants in Occupational Health (Washington, D.C.), October 1981
Reported Cases
Fain v Chapman, 89 Wn. 2d 48; Jeffries v Clark’s Restaurant Enterprises, Inc., 20 Wn. App. 428; Ohler v Tacoma General Hospital, 92 Wn.2d 507; Roth v Bell, 24 Wn.App. 92; DeHaven v Gant, 42 Wn.App. 666; Gustav v Seattle Urological Associates, 90 Wn.App. 785; Silves v King, 93 Wn.App. 873; Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. v. Puget Sound Escrow Closers, Inc., 96 Wn. App. 227, 979 P.2d 872