Bio

Tom Bever is a former federal prosecutor who focuses his practice on White Collar Criminal Defense and commercial litigation. He is listed in U.S. News The Best Lawyers in America© for Bet-the-Company Litigation, Criminal Defense for White Collar Crime and for Commercial Litigation. He was named the Best Lawyers® 2018 Atlanta Criminal Defense: White-Collar “Lawyer of the Year” in Atlanta. For 2018 Tom is also ranked as a Georgia Super Lawyer (Criminal Defense: White Collar) and is listed in Chambers USA for White Collar Crime & Government Investigations. He has had a top AV Preeminent rating by Martindale Hubbell for more than 20 consecutive years. He is a member of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial honorary society.

Tom earned his JDA and MBA from the University of Virginia, and practiced in Atlanta with Alston & Bird. He then served in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, prosecuting fraud, public corruption, and general crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice awarded him a Special Commendation for his prosecution of a major FHA mortgage loan fraud case. Tom later served as Associate Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel conducting the “Iran/Contra” investigation.

Tom returned to private practice with Chilivis Cochran Larkins & Bever LLP. Tom is focused primarily on White Collar criminal defense, representing individual and corporate clients in all stages of criminal investigations in federal and state courts, from the initiation of the investigation through trial. He also represents clients in civil litigation and trials, as well as administrative hearings and regulatory matters. Tom has served as lead counsel on behalf of companies on a variety of internal investigations. His cases have primarily been in healthcare, government contracting, securities, tax, environmental, and commercial disputes.

Tom speaks and appears regularly at a variety of professional seminars. These have included the National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the American Bar Association’s Healthcare Fraud Institute, and annual seminars in Georgia on White Collar Crime, Healthcare Fraud, Federal Criminal Practice, and Internal Corporate Investigations.

Areas of Practice
•White Collar Criminal Defense
•Healthcare
•Government Contracting
•Internal Investigations
•Securities
•Business Litigation
•Tax
•Environmental

Bar Admissions
•Georgia, 1982
•U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, 1983
•U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1983
•Georgia Court of Appeals, 1983
•Supreme Court of Georgia, 1983
•U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia, 1992
•U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia, 2016

Education
•University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia •J. D. – 1982
•Honors: Finalist, Lile Moot Court Competition

•University of Virginia Darden Graduate Business School, Charlottesville, Virginia •M.B.A. – 1982

•University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina •B. A. – 1976
•Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
•Honors: Honors Program
•Honors: N.C. Fellows Program

•London School of Economics, London, England •Certificate – 1976

Honors and Awards
•Georgia’s Super Lawyers (Criminal Defense: White Collar), Atlanta Magazine, 2005-2018
•Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating, 2017
•The Best Lawyers in America 2015-2018 (Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White-Collar)
•US News Best Lawyers in America (Criminal Defense – White Collar), 2006 – 2015
•US News Best Lawyers in America (Commercial Litigation), 2009 – 2015
•Georgia’s Best Lawyers, 2016 (Criminal Defense: White-Collar)
•Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating, 1992 – 2015
•Chambers USA for White Collar Crime & Government Investigations
•Special Commendation, FHA Mortgage Loan Fraud Prosecutions, Department of Justice, 1988

Professional Associations and Memberships
•Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (Trial Honorary Society), 2014-2015
•Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court, 1987 – 1989
•American Bar Association, Member
•Federal Bar Association, Member
•State Bar of Georgia, Member
•Atlanta Bar Association, Member

Past Employment Positions
•Office of Independent Counsel, Associate Counsel, Iran/Contra Investigation, 1990-1991
•United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia, 1985 – 1990
•Alston & Bird

Thomas D. Bever

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