Experience:

Thomas founded Asset Finance Legal Counsel, P.C., as of August 1, 2009 (converted to a LLP as of March 1, 2011). Prior to that, Thomas was a partner at Chapman and Cutler LLP, Chicago, IL, specializing in equipment finance and bank finance. During his tenure with Chapman, Thomas also devoted a great deal of time to workouts and restructurings of aircraft finance transactions related to the major U.S. airline bankruptcies.

Prior to Chapman, Thomas was a partner at Baker & McKenzie, Chicago, IL, and head of the North American Aircraft Finance practice. In addition to aircraft, Thomas represented various deal participants in vessel, rail, satellite and other equipment transactions.

Thomas started his legal career with the banking department of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, New York, NY, and worked on a wide variety of matters, including banking, bank regulatory, securitizations, project finance and capital markets. Over time, Thomas specialized in aircraft and other equipment leasing and finance. Thomas worked in the Hong Kong and Tokyo offices of Milbank from 1996 to 2000.

Team Support – Alliances:

Thomas has close-knit cooperation and alliance arrangements with law firms in Chicago and New York to deliver a team approach to particular projects on an as-needed, when-needed basis. These regular collaborations have proven to be very successful since the inception of AFLC, best serving the needs of the project and the client.