When my poorly maintained apartment building burned in a catastrophic fire, more than a hundred low-to-middle income people were suddenly homeless. We ultimately had no choice but to organize ourselves to make sure everyone was taken care of. When it became clear that a lawsuit would be an appropriate next step, I volunteered to find someone with a proven track record who would take us seriously. Tom was fantastic from the very start. In our first meeting, he didn’t bat an eye when I mentioned that I am a member of the LGBT community. He was sympathetic, honest, funny, and warm – and as a social worker, this combination is exactly what I’m looking for in professionals who I need to trust. In the earliest days, I texted him pictures of documents to get his advice before signing them – and he was responsive every time. For over four years now, he’s always answered my calls or responded quickly, always made our case a priority, never made it seem like we were just one of what must have been a lot of other projects he was handling. When class members had questions, I referred them to Tom, who made himself available to chat with every one of the former tenants who wanted to talk to him, sometimes more than a few times a week. Our case eventually became so intricate I could barely give a coherent status update to other tenants, yet Tom was always on top of the newest developments and able to explain where we were in the larger scheme of things. He made sure to schedule regular meetings with me and the other named plaintiff so we understood what had happened and what would happen next. Before depositions and court appearances, he made time to meet with us to explain what we would need to do (but never pushed us to say or omit anything). When we eventually made it to court, I was genuinely impressed with Tom’s ability to tie together years of complex legal developments into simple stories and compelling arguments. I’m not just happy with him because we eventually won a significant settlement, but because I think he did a serious, honorable job and never lost sight of who he was asked to represent: new immigrants, students, grandmothers, retired people – a whole spectrum of working and middle class West Philly residents. He considered the value of settlement offers not just for himself, or for me and the other named plaintiff, but for every member of the entire class, because we all understood that we were in this together. Even if we’d lost, I would still feel that I bet on the right lawyer. If I’m made him sound angelic, you should know that he does not take *any* crap from the other side. We won because he is a competent, level-headed scrapper. This was a fight and we won because Tom is a superb fighter. Highly recommended.