Tom Pack

Tom learns the complex medicine and engineering behind clients’ life-saving and life-enhancing products, distilling them in court for accurate and vigorous advocacy in offensive and defensive litigation. He works with clients to tailor litigation strategies that align with their business objectives and values, with a right-sized, business-oriented approach for each matter from individual claims to multiple-venue consolidated litigation.

Product Liability & Commercial Litigation

With concentrations on pharmaceutical and medical device matters as well as commercial litigation, Tom has deep experience in helping clients protect their interests and achieve their goals in complex and high-stakes cases involving issues such as product liability claims, breach of contract, fraud, patent infringement and regulatory compliance. He has particular skill with the application of federal preemption to product liability claims, having secured successful pre-trial dismissals in multiple high-exposure matters. Tom also has wide-ranging experience representing clients in consolidated proceedings, including federal multidistrict litigation and similar proceedings in the state courts of California and Minnesota.

Representative Experience

• Rieger v. Medtronic MiniMed, Inc., No. 20STCV33401 (Los Angeles Cnty. Sup. Ct.). Argued the successful summary judgment motion that led to dismissal of all claims on federal preemption grounds.
• Wiggins v. Medtronic MiniMed, Inc., No. 3:22-cv-02781 (N.D. Fla.). Secured dismissal of case at the summary judgment stage after successfully excluding plaintiff-side causation experts.
• Represented a global leading medical device manufacturer in a large portfolio of product liability litigation involving dozens of filed cases (in consolidated actions in California and around the country) and thousands of unfiled claims.
• Represented a global medical device manufacturer in several minimally invasive surgical device tort matters in Minnesota state courts.
• Represented a major grocery retailer in multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Ohio and in several bellwether cases around the country.
• Represented a major automobile manufacturer in investigations related to security breach and intellectual property theft.
• Represented a large manufacturer in patent litigation against a competitor involving multiple patents and hundreds of claims.
• Represented one of the world’s largest technology companies in software and hardware patent litigation, securing settlements.
• Represented a homebuyer in confidential arbitration proceedings and ancillary Minnesota district court litigation, in which the homebuyer alleged fraudulent nondisclosure of various defects in the home. Secured arbitration award on the merits as first-chair and subsequent settlement.
• East View Information Systems, Inc. v. Xigent Solutions, LLC, A17-2066 (Minn. Ct. App.). Secured full dismissal of all claims in a breach of contract matter, with the dismissal affirmed on appeal by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
• SRI, Inc. v. Seapine Software, Inc., 3:16-cv-07353 (N.D. Cal.). Defended patent infringement claim, including substantial invalidity discovery, and secured a settlement.
• Kienholz v. Woodside Homes of Minnesota, Inc., 86-cv-16-149 (Minn. D. Ct.). Secured full dismissal of all claims in a construction defect case; also secured dismissal of appeal.
• Bostic v. Schaefer, 2:13-cv-00395 (E.D. Va.), 14-1167 (4th Cir.). Represented the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that successfully challenged Virginia’s constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage, which served as a predicate case for invalidating similar bans throughout the Fourth Circuit.

Service & Recognition

Tom is actively involved in the legal and business communities in San Francisco and the Twin Cities, presently serving as president-elect of the Minnesota State Bar Association, as chair of the Audit Committee and on the Executive Committee of the Minneapolis Foundation, and on other boards and committees.

Tom also maintains an active pro bono practice in civil rights and immigration law, with an emphasis on representing asylum seekers fleeing persecution on account of their LGBTQ+ sexual orientations or gender identities. Tom and his teams have secured asylum or other immigration relief for more than a dozen individuals, both in offensive and defensive proceedings. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Tom also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Native American Bar Association and as chair of its Standing Policy Committee.

Personal Interests

Tom and his husband live in San Francisco, although Tom spends a substantial amount of time in Minneapolis as well. In his free time, Tom balances his love of cooking, wine and San Francisco’s fantastic restaurant scene with exercise and hiking the many beautiful trails that Northern California has to offer.