Thomas J. Leach
Professor of Law
Director, Advocacy Certificate Program
B.A., Cornell University
M.A.T., Wesleyan University
J.D., University of Pennsylvania
E-mail Professor Leach
Tel: 916.739.7002
Professor Leach team-teaches Trial Advocacy with Professor Joseph Taylor and Professor Cary Bricker and developed and teaches Advanced Trial Advocacy (a course added in 1999). He came to Pacific McGeorge in 1996 from Philadelphia, where he was a trial lawyer and partner at the firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath and taught as an adjunct professor at Temple University School of Law. He also directs and teaches trial-skills courses for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Professor Leach served a two-year clerkship with Judge Edmund Spaeth of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania before joining his firm in 1978. He litigated in the fields of general corporate and commercial disputes, specializing in franchising, construction, and automotive products liability cases. Professor Leach was also the chair of his firm’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Resources Group, and litigated several multi- million dollar cases settled through ADR techniques.
Courses: Trial Advocacy | Advanced Trial Advocacy | Evidence
Curriculum Vitae:
Professor of Law (September 2000-present), Director, Center for Legal Advocacy (August 2001-2005), Associate Professor of Law (August 1996-August 2000), University of the Pacific / McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento, California. I co-teach, with three faculty colleagues, the Trial Advocacy course to approximately 200 second- and third-year students each year. In the 1999 Spring semester I formulated and taught our first course in Advanced Trial Advocacy, which is now offered each Spring. In addition, I oversee and co-supervise coaching for our Mock Trial Competition Teams, which in the past six years have won local California tournaments and advanced from regional victories to four national tournaments - our first victories in 17 years. In August 2001 I began service as the Director of the School’s Center for Legal Advocacy, which comprises all of our trial training courses, our competition teams, and our Concentration in Advocacy. I have been awarded tenure by the University of the Pacific effective September 2003.
Publications. I updated and edited, for republication in a revised edition, “Loss of Attorney-Client Privilege Through Inadvertent Disclosure of Privileged Documents,” Attorney-Client Privilege in Civil Litigation: Protecting and Defending Confidentiality (ABA, 2d ed. 1997). I adapted the content of this article for a newsletter-style summary, published as “Oops! Have You Waived the Attorney-Client Privilege by Producing Privileged Documents? What Can You Do About Such a Mistake - How May You Avoid It?,” TIPS Section Committee News (ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Summer 1997). My article entitled Civil Conspiracy: What’s the Use?, which discusses the recognized uses of the doctrine of civil conspiracy and suggests areas for expansion, was published in the October 1999 issue of the University of Miami Law Review. My article entitled “Propensity” Evidence and FRE 404: A Proposed Amended Rule With an Accompanying “Plain English” Jury Instruction was published in the Summer 2001 issue of the University of Tennessee Law Review.
Other/Prior Teaching Experience. I have served since 1997 as Program Director for the Western Deposition and Western Regional Programs, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). I served as an Assistant Team Leader in NITA’s National Program (Boulder, Colorado, June 1997), and as a Team Leader in July 1999. I have directed and taught in numerous NITA in-house training programs, including Paul Hastings, Littler Mendelson, Latham & Watkins, Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, Munger Tolles & Olson, Steefel Levitt & Weiss, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, State Farm Insurance, and Allstate Insurance. In addition, building on my prior background in teaching (Master of Arts in Teaching 1969, Wesleyan University), throughout my 18 years of law practice I developed and used my teacher's training in the instruction of trial advocacy, deposition techniques, legal writing, negotiation, and ADR. I served as a Lecturer in Law (Trial Advocacy) at Temple University Law School, earned a Certificate of Master Advocacy from NITA, taught NITA trial-skills courses nationwide (Boulder/National; Dallas/Southern; Minneapolis/ North Central; Philadelphia/Mid-Atlantic & Deposition), and administered and taught my firm's litigation training program.
Partner (1985-1996)/Associate (1978-1985), Drinker Biddle & Reath, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a partner and trial lawyer at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia I concentrated my work in the fields of general corporate and commercial disputes, franchising, construction litigation/arbitration, Alternative Dispute Resolution, automobile products liability cases, and automobile manufacturer/distributor representation.
Corporate & commercial. My trial practice included a broad range of corporate and commercial law issues, e.g., breach of representations and warranties in business acquisition cases, securities fraud, contracts disputes, sales warranties, and partnership/shareholder disputes. In addition to trying such cases, I also provided preventive counseling to clients in advance of and in the course of their business and contractual relationships.
Franchising. For twelve years I represented a major international soft-drink and confectionery franchisor/manufacturer in disputes and issues arising with its licensees. This work comprised both litigation and business issues, including antitrust and trademark counseling. I litigated four major cases for this client, one to verdict, three to favorable settlements; and I also conducted the documentation and closing of transactions to transfer license rights from prior bottlers to new bottlers, including research and counseling on antitrust issues and franchise-law compliance.
Construction litigation/arbitration. I litigated over fifty cases on behalf of owners/developers, architects, and general contractors covering the full range of issues that such cases present: delay claims, change-order disputes, architect/engineers' liability for errors or omissions, contract abandonment and termination disputes, and defective-work claims.
Alternative Dispute Resolution. With the trend towards pre-litigation settlement through mediation, several of my largest cases were handled by ADR techniques. I assisted in representing a major pharmaceutical company in its disputes with a general contractor arising out of a $130 million project for construction of a new R&D headquarters. The ADR proceeding involved claims and counterclaims totaling approximately $35 million; it was settled through the ADR process.
In another such case, I was lead counsel representing ICI Americas, Inc. in disputes with its design-build engineer/contractor, which claimed $8 million for extra and delayed work on a polyethersulferone plant. That case, too, was settled through ADR.
In a third ADR case, I persuaded both parties to employ a mini-trial technique, even though a lawsuit was already at summary judgment stage in federal court. The case settled after two days of ADR.
In light of the successful use of ADR in these cases, and of my and our clients' interest in the advantages of ADR over traditional litigation forums, I organized and headed, as ADR Partner, my firm's ADR Resources Group. This Group served as a cross-departmental coordinating arm for the firm's ADR experience and expertise; provided training to all firm attorneys in the choices and uses of ADR; maintained an ADR Library and ADR Forms File; and offered seminars and assistance to client groups interested in ADR options.
Automobile-related matters. I represented several importer/distributors of foreign automobiles in dealer disputes, warranty litigation, Lemon-Law suits, and major products liability actions. I successfully defended one of these clients in two million-dollar personal injury actions.
General. I coordinated the cross-departmental Construction Law Group, which collected the expertise of over twenty construction litigators, real estate practitioners, labor and tax lawyers for service to clients whose needs span these various disciplines. I am a member of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, and served on the Construction Disputes Committee and the Mediation Committee of the Center for Public Resources, a non-profit organization that serves to promote the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution. I served on the Professional Guidance Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association, which issues advisory opinions on ethical questions. I have reading and spoken fluency in French.
A 1967 honors graduate of Cornell University, I received my J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. Before joining Drinker Biddle & Reath in 1978 I served a two-year clerkship with The Hon. Edmund B. Spaeth of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
