Tom’s regular clients include national and regional newspapers, television networks, television station owners, magazine publishers, cable news networks, and internet content providers. He has represented national media in attempts to protect the public’s right to access records and proceedings in an array of high-profile cases, including the Oklahoma City Bombing trials, Kobe Bryant rape prosecution, and JonBenét Ramsey murder investigation.

Tom is described by Chambers USA as “a go-to guy in libel defense and media litigation in Colorado and nationally. His ease in the courtroom and excellent judgment is singled out by clients.”

Before joining LSKS, Tom was a partner in the Denver office of Faegre & Benson, where he chaired the firm’s media practice.

Notable Representations

Brokers’ Choice v. NBC Universal, Inc., 2011 WL 97236 (D. Colo. Jan. 12, 2011). Tom and Gayle Sproul successfully defended NBC against libel, intrusion, trespass, fraud, and civil rights claims arising from an undercover investigative report broadcast on Dateline NBC. The court dismissed the claims because, among other things, plaintiffs could not establish that NBC’s characterization of their comments or its omission of certain hidden camera footage made the broadcast false.

Shoen v. Turner Broadcasting, 39 Media L. Rptr. 1085 (Colo. Dist. Ct., San Miguel Cty., Nov. 5, 2010). Tom and Steve Zansberg successfully defended a libel action against the producers of a documentary that aired on the truTV cable network. The court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, ruling that the documentary did not convey a defamatory meaning because it accurately depicted two competing theories of a murder.

Archey v. Nelson, District Court, Churchill County, (August 10, 2010). Tom and Steve Zansberg successfully defended a newspaper in a libel case in which the trial court granted a special motion to dismiss under the Nevada anti-SLAPP statute, which resulted in dismissal of the action and entitled the defendants to recover attorneys’ fees. This case was the first time the Nevada anti-SLAPP law has been applied to the media.

Diversified Management, Inc. v. Denver Post, Inc., 653 P.2d 1103 (1982). Tom represented the newspaper in this seminal Colorado court case, which established the rule that the actual malice standard applies to all libel actions arising in the state that involve matters of public concern.

Pring v. Penthouse International, Inc., 695 F.2d 438 (10th Cir. 1982). Tom successfully represented the defendants in this appeal, which reversed a $14.5 million jury verdict and recognized First Amendment protection for satire.