Thomas J. Barnes

ABOUT TOM BARNES

AREAS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE

Estate Planning and Administration

Tom advises individuals and their families on all aspects of estate and tax planning, including generation-skipping tax, gift tax, income tax and related matters. In addition, Tom represents fiduciaries in estate and trust administration matters and acts as a fiduciary for families. He also advises clients on all aspects of charitable giving. Tom provides advice on personal income tax, fiduciary income tax and Orphans’ Court litigation; handles the administration of trusts; and creates irrevocable trusts and advises on related tax planning matters.

Business Law

Tom provides general corporate and strategic business counseling to executives and owners of private companies on a range of issues, including business formation, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing and succession planning.  Tom works extensively with both early-stage and mature businesses in a several industries, including technology, publishing, retail, commercial real estate and manufacturing. He counsels clients on contract matters with customers and suppliers, landlords and tenants, employee liability matters and the rights and obligations of company owners.  Tom is also experienced in securities and corporate financing laws and transactions. He also represents debtors and creditors in federal bankruptcy matters.

Commercial Real Estate

Tom represents real estate investors, developers and owners in the purchase and sale of real estate, and in the negotiation of commercial leases.  He has extensive experience in negotiating and documenting commercial mortgage loans for both lenders and borrowers, including traditional term loans, lines of credit and construction loans.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

In his early years in the legal profession, Tom represented insurance company clients, defending policyholders in a wide range of civil litigation matters.  These cases involved issues ranging from automobile accidents, product liability claims, arson and wire fraud, and other business matters. Tom also represented an insurer in the defense of several complex insurance coverage cases that arose from suits brought against aircraft manufacturers for alleged groundwater pollution, and against silicon breast implant manufacturers for leakage. Tom began to evolve into a business lawyer during that time, serving as general counsel to a local manufacturing company and a member of its board of directors as it raised over $1 million in seed capital from several local high-net worth investors.  

In the mid-1990s, Tom was a registered representative with the investment securities firm of Legg Mason Wood Walker, where he provided investment and retirement planning advice to high-net worth individuals.  Following that, Tom served as a consultant to two technology concerns. In the early 2000s Tom served as an investment banker for A.E. Rosica & Co., a smaller-middle-market advisory firm serving clients in the environmental and energy industries.  Tom served as lead banker in several asset purchases and divestitures, equity private placements and recapitalizations. During that time Tom was graduated from Temple University with an MBA in finance.

Tom returned to the full time practice of law in 2006, when he joined Jim Egbert to form Egbert & Barnes, P.C.  He is admitted to the practice of law in Pennsylvania, and is admitted to the bars of the courts of that state, as well as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

EDUCATION

Villanova University School of Law – J.D. (1982)

Villanova University College of Commerce and Finance – B.S. in Accounting (1979)

Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA (1975)

Temple University – MBA in Finance (2004)

PERSONAL

Tom is one of four children, and grew up in Ambler, Pennsylvania in a happy family.  He attended Gwynedd-Mercy Academy, and still lives near where he grew up. He is a member of Saint Anthony of Padua parish in Ambler.  He is an avid golfer and squash player, and enjoys competing in both games.