Education

J.D., Marquette University Law School
Traineeship for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, University of Minnesota,
B.A., Lawrence University, Biology/Chemistry

Thomas P. Gehl is a Senior Counsel in Clark Hill’s Corporate Practice Group. He has over twenty years of experience in legal, management, and related issues, including 15 years of senior management experience and seven years as in-house counsel. As a result, Tom has experience in advising management teams on mergers and acquisitions, contracts, real estate issues, environmental, health and safety regulations, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and international practices. Moreover, he specializes in corporate social responsibility, sustainability, international affairs, investor relations, environmental issues, and China.

Tom has extensive experience in the area of corporate social responsibility, including Sustainability, Climate Change Issues and environmental programs. In the past, he has developed several green products for housing and recreational vehicle markets, as well as reducing toxic materials in RV products while developing vehicles with higher fuel efficiency. Tom has testified before the United States Congress on environmental issues and served on the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. He also works with many national groups examining the next generation of EHS regulations. Due to his history of environmental responsibility, Tom has also been the corporate counsel for many companies throughout the country.

Tom is very experienced in broad range of Environmental and Safety issues. Utilizing his extensive technical background he has been responsible for saving millions of dollars for his clients finding the most cost effective solutions to the issues. He can deal with the technical experts from EPA, OSHA and the State regulatory enforcement individuals to find the potential flaws in the complex technical scientific data and present his clients in the most favorable light. He has also been responsible for qualifying and managing the Environmental and Toxicological experts in major cases to maximize their testimony at trial as well as to look for the potential weakness of the opposing experts. Using creative problem solving and cooperative interaction with the Environmental Agencies he has helped his client s achieve superior results.

In the Corporate world, Tom has conducted Mergers and Acquisition work in over a dozen countries. Serving as Corporate Secretary and Director of Investor Relations for a NYSE company he had frequent contact with both the NYSE and the SEC for proxy preparation and compliance issues. He was responsible for Board of Director compliance issues and also assuring that the Corporation was in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley regulation, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other corporate compliance issue. Tom has also negotiated many complex contracts for his clients, draft private placement subscription for raising capital and advised on strategic planning for the corporation.

Moreover, Tom is active in the international arena. He was appointed to the Wisconsin International Trade Council by the Governor, and was Chairman and General Counsel for the Asian Chamber of Commerce and Trade. His international experience is particularly strong when it comes to China. He has been on trade missions to the Qinghai, Shandong, and Shanxi Provinces in China to develop alliances with the local governments and manufacturers. Moreover, while at Coachmen Industries, Tom headed the group that achieved the first sales of recreational vehicles in China, and arranged a joint venture with a major Chinese truck and car manufacturer.

While earning his J.D. at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Tom was the President of the Environmental Law Group, a Member of the International Law Group, and had internships at the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division and the National Labor Relation Board. Tom also completed a Traineeship for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health at the University of Minnesota. Tom is an extensive lecturer and has presented at numerous national and international conferences. He is also a former Adjunct Faculty at Marquette University Law School where he taught “International Environmental Law."