Thomas M. Pohl

Mr. Pohl is a Member at Burns White, with a practice that focuses on complex commercial and civil litigation and business disputes. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© in the category of Commercial Litigation (2021). He is a former Assistant United States Attorney and a former law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals.

Mr. Pohl has handled trial and appellate-level litigation matters for clients in federal courts across the country, serving as counsel for both defendants and plaintiffs. He has first-chair jury trial experience, and he has tried cases to verdict in Pennsylvania’s federal and state courts. He has experience litigating matters involving commercial breach of contract, fraud, and other tort claims for a variety of clients, including those in the aerospace and defense industries, as well as manufacturing, supply and logistics, energy, financial, newspaper and media, and non-profit sectors. Additionally, he has handled civil appellate matters in state and federal courts, including multiple matters in the United States Supreme Court.

He also has international arbitration experience, having arbitrated under the procedures of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, as well as under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Pohl advises clients on matters of commercial and international arbitration, and has provided commentary on international arbitration for the Allegheny County Bar Association’s “Third Circuit Review.”

Mr. Pohl has managed large-scale civil discovery projects, and previously served as temporary in-house counsel to a major pharmaceutical company, managing a litigation portfolio for that company. His practice also includes meeting with corporate boards to discuss litigation-avoidance planning.

Prior to joining Burns White, Mr. Pohl served within the Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Civil Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania. Prior to that, he was an attorney in the complex civil litigation group at one of the world’s largest law firms; and, prior to that, he served as judicial law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and as a judicial intern to U.S. Senior District Judge T.S. Ellis, III on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Mr. Pohl taught for several years as a guest lecturer in United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab’s business course at Grove City College, where he instructed business students in the fundamentals of contract law and personal jurisdiction in the age of e-commerce and global supply chains.

Mr. Pohl received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and his undergraduate degree from Princeton University. Between college and law school, he served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps for five years, deploying twice. He then transitioned to the Marine Corps reserve with the rank of Captain.