Tom Tongue is a partner at Dunn Carney and has served as the Litigation Group Practice Leader. His practice centers around complex civil litigation and health law. Tom is Immediate Past President of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), the most distinguished group of trial lawyers in America and Canada. Tom was elected a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1993.
Tom was selected by his peers to be included in The Best Lawyers in America under Commercial Litigation, Bet the Company litigation, Securities Litigation and Trusts and Estates Litigation. In 2004-2013, Tom was recognized as a top litigator in Oregon in the Chambers and Partners USA survey of America’s Leading Business Lawyers. According to the survey, “Peers acknowledge that Thomas Tongue is ‘one of the finest: he has all the right attributes you want in a lawyer.’” In November 2006 the first Oregon Super Lawyer poll selected Tom as an Oregon Super Lawyer. He received the second highest number of “points” (votes by peers) of any lawyer in the state. He was the featured in the cover story, The Lawyerly Lineage of Thomas H. Tongue, in the 2010 Oregon Super Lawyers publication. In 2012, Tom was featured in this Portland Business Journal article, Portland Lawyer Leads Eminent Trial Lawyers Group.
Both the Multnomah County Bar Association and the Oregon State Bar Litigation section have awarded Tom their prestigious Professionalism Awards in recognition of his style of practice as an example for others. In 2011, Tom received the Judge Learned Hand Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Area Jewish Committee. Award recipients are people who embody much of what Judge Hand represented: the rights of the individual and the importance of democratic values in an orderly society. A highly respected fourth generation Oregon attorney, Tom represents the highest level of skill and professionalism in the practice of law.
Education
- University of Wisconsin, J.D., 1968
- University of Oregon, B.S., History, 1965
Bar Admissions
- Oregon, 1968
- U.S. District Court District of Oregon, 1970
- U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit, 1971
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1973
Representative Cases
- American Timber & Trading Co v. Niedermeyer, 276 Or 1135, 558 P2d 1211 (Supreme Ct. of Oregon)
- YMCA v. Department of Revenue, 308 Or 644, 784 P2d 1086 (Supreme Ct. of Oregon 1989)
- Hoffman Const. Co. v. Indemnity Company, 313 Or 464, 836 P2d 703 (Supreme Ct. of Oregon 1992)
- Goddard v. Farmers Inc. Co. of Oregon, 173 Or App 633, 22 P3d 1224 (Ct. of Appeals of Oregon 2001)
Representative Clients
- Professional Liability Fund
- Portland General Electric Co.
- YMCA of Columbia-Willamette
- RJ Reynolds
- Weyerhaeuser Company
- The Doctors Company
Presentations
- Professional Liability Fund (PLF) Trial College, 2010
- Oregon State Bar, Trial Advocacy College, 2008, 2009
- Oregon Association of Defense Counsel (OADC), Trial Advocacy, 2007
- PLF Defense Panel conference, 2007 and 2009
- Trial of Complex Professional Liability Issues, Professional Liability Fund, August 2005
- Hot Litigation issues affecting Estate Planning, Oregon State Bar, June 2005
- Ethical Issues Applicable to Professional Liabilties Defense, Professional Liability Fund, 2003
- Defending Punitive Damages Cases, Oregon State Bar 2002
- Ethics Issues in Settlement of Cases, Professional Liability Fund, 2001
- Protecting and Challenging Attorney Fee Applications, Oregon State Bar, 2000
- Defense of Complex Cases, Oregon Association of Defense Counsel, 1999
Honors and Awards
- Professionalism Award, Multnomah Bar Association, 1990
- Oregon State Bar Board of Governors’ President’s Membership Service Award, 1992
- Exceptional Performance Citation, Defense Research Institute, 1999
- Oregon State Litigation Section, Owen Panner Professionalism Award, 2002
- American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow, 1993-Present
- American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
- Recommended for U.S. District Court Judge by Merit Selection Panel, 2003
- Best Lawyers in America, 2005-2013
- Chambers and Partners, USA Survey, 2003-2013
- Oregon Super Lawyers, 2006-2012
- Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star, 2011, 2013-2014
- Judge Learned Hand Lifetime Achievement Award, 2011
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Oregon Association of Defense Counsel, Board of Directors, 1993-1998, President, 1998
- Oregon Supreme Court, Civil Law Advisory Committee to Chief Justice, 1998-1999
- Multnomah County Bar Association, Past President, Past Chair Committee on Judicial Selection
- U.S. District Court, Merit Selection Panel for Selection of U.S. Magistrate Judges, Chair, 1997
- U.S. District Court, Merit Selection Panel for Selection of U.S. Magistrate Judges, Member, 1993
- American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow, 1993-Present; President-elect, 2010-2011; President, 2011-present
- American Bar Association, Member
- American Judicature Society, Member
- Oregon State Bar, Past Chair, Committee on Function and Organization of Bar
- Oregon State Bar, Past Chair, Committee on Disciplinary Rules and Procedures
- Oregon State Bar, Past Chair, Committee on Prepaid Legal Insurance
- Oregon State Bar, Past Chair, Committee on Professional Responsibility
- Oregon State Bar, Past Chair, Joint Committee on New Judgeships
- Oregon State Bar, Elected Delegate, House of Delegates, 1996-2008
- Defense Research Institute, Recipient of Exceptional Performance Citation, 1999
- International Association of Defense Counsel, 1983-Present
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Delegate, Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, 1992-1994
- Past Member of YMCA of Columbia-Willamette Board of Directors
Family
Married for 41 years to Dr. Andrea Tongue, a pediatric ophthalmologist. They have two children, son Thomas M. Tongue, a fifth generation Portland lawyer, and daughter Kathryn Watts, Assistant Dean and law professor at University of Washington. Kathryn previously clerked for Justice Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hobbies
Fly fishing, golf and hiking.
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