The Honorable Thomas M. Boyd
Tom has extensive private sector and government experience. Prior to joining Venable, he spent 10 years as a co-chair of the government affairs practice in the Washington, DC office of a global law firm. Following his government service, he served as deputy general counsel and managed the Washington, DC office for Kemper Corporation, a diversified financial services company. He also ran the legislative affairs department of the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the trade association for the mutual fund industry.
Tom held several high-ranking government positions before entering private legal practice. He was nominated by President Reagan to serve as assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legislative Affairs in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and subsequently headed the DOJ's Office of Policy Development under President George H.W. Bush. He was also appointed by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to serve a three-year term as a member of the DHS Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee.
Tom has authored more than 50 legal and political commentaries and essays, most of which have appeared in law reviews and national publications. His writings have been featured in the Washington Post, Reader's Digest, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, the New York Post, and the Boston Globe.
Experience
Government Experience
- Republican counsel, Judiciary Committee, U.S. House of Representatives
- Director, Office of Policy Development, U.S. Department of Justice
- Member, Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice
Representative Matters
- Serves as counsel to the National Business Coalition on E-Commerce and Privacy, an organization of a dozen name-brand companies and associations, formed in 2000 to support the enactment of consistent state and federal laws and policies that encourage the growth of electronic commerce, in a way that achieves a reasonable and practical balance between the legitimate privacy interests of both businesses and consumers
Insights
Credentials
Education
- J.D. University of Virginia School of Law 1971
- Tazewell Taylor Scholar
- B.A. History Virginia Military Institute 1968
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- California (inactive)
Clerk Experience
- The Honorable A. Andrew Hauk U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America, Government Relations Practice
- U.S. Department of Justice, Edmund J. Randolph Award
- Delta Society, National Media Award
- Chambers Global, Privacy and Data Security
- Chambers USA
- Government Relations
- Privacy and Data Security
- Legal 500, Media, Technology and Telecoms - Cyber Law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Who’s Who in America