• Huron College, l962
• University of South Dakota Law school, 1965

Tom has practiced law for over 35 years in the State of South Dakota. He was Deputy City Attorney for the City of Brookings for l year and elected State's Attorney in Brookings County and served for 4 years.

He was also Deputy State's Attorney for another 4 years. He has been involved in over l00 jury trials, and l000 court cases. He argued over l5 cases before the South Dakota Supreme Court and has been involved in 2 cases that were appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

He has been settling claims and cases through mediation since December, 1994 and as of the end of May 2012, has handled 1204 mediations and 41 binding arbitrations. The settlement rate is over 90 percent.

In addition to his practical experience, he attended formal training at the American Arbitration Association in Minneapolis, Minnesota and completed their 4-day course on mediation. He attended a 24-hour, 3-day seminar with the American Academy Of ADR Attorneys in Des Moines, Iowa and has been Board Certified as a Mediator. He judged at the National Law School Mediation Tournament in Chicago in March of 2006. He have trained and prepared intercollegiate students for the National Collegiate Mediation Tournament.