Thomas E. Sullivan

Tom served more than 15 years at the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as an appellate litigator, a senior appellate attorney, and finally, as a deputy chief counsel. Tom joined Finnegan in 2017 as pro bono counsel.

Tom has authored more than 250 appellate briefs and argued numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims on issues arising under VA compensation, pension, fiduciary, education, insurance, burial, and healthcare benefits programs, including general statutory and regulatory interpretation, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Equal Access to Justice Act, the All Writs Act, and the U.S. Constitution. As deputy chief counsel, he supervised a team of seven attorneys and oversaw the litigation of over 400 appeals. Tom has led multiple in-house training seminars on effective brief writing and oral advocacy for VA lawyers.

Prior to his federal government service, Tom worked as an associate at a California law firm, focusing on federal and California administrative, healthcare, and military affairs law.