About Thomas Lyons III

Tom Lyons practices in the areas of products liability defense, asbestos defense, commercial litigation, employment litigation, and civil rights. He has tried jury trials to verdict in federal and state court and has argued appeals in the First Circuit and the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Tom has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in products liability defense by his peers and as “AV-Preeminent” by lawyers and judges in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union has honored him as a “Civil Libertarian of the Year” and a “Civil Libertarian of the Decade.”

Tom is currently active in the Defense Research Institute. He is involved with both its Products Liability and Commercial Litigation Committees and was formerly the chair of the latter committee. Tom is a past president of the New England and the Rhode Island Bar Associations and was a long-time member of both associations’ executive committees. He has served as editor-in-chief of the Rhode Island Bar Journal and as chair of the Bar Association’s Technology and Superior Court Bench/Bar Committees. Tom was the chair of the subcommittee that drafted the Bar Association’s Model Civil Jury Instructions. He was a member of the board of directors of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation. Tom has also served on several Rhode Island Supreme Court task forces. He was a member of the American Bar Association’s Task Force on the Future of Legal Education and a member of the executive council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents. Tom is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and served for many years as its state chair.

Tom has made numerous presentations to bar associations around the country on the future of the practice of law and made local presentations on civil litigation and electronic filing. He has written numerous articles and is the co-author of the Rhode Island chapter in the Defense Research Institute’s compendium of “Products Liability Defenses.