Thomas C. Papson

Thomas C. Papson is a Volunteer Staff Attorney in Legal Aid DC’s Consumer Law Unit. He represents clients in a range of consumer law cases and is a member of Legal Aid DC’s team of lawyers providing same-day representation to defendants with cases on the Superior Court’s high-volume small claims debt collection calendar. He also is active in Legal Aid DC’s legislative reform efforts relating to consumer protection and broader efforts to enhance access to justice for Legal Aid DC’s client community.

Tom joined Legal Aid DC in September 2013, following his retirement from McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. At McKenna, he maintained a commercial and government contracts litigation and compliance practice for more than 30 years, and served as Managing Partner of the Washington office. He was a member of the Legal Aid DC Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2005 and was Board President from 2000 to 2002. In 2018, Tom received Legal Aid’s Servant of Justice Award.

While in private practice, Tom was active in pro bono and other public service work. He served as court-appointed amicus in litigation concerning conditions in the D.C. public schools and as litigation counsel for two historic preservation groups in the District. Tom also held various leadership positions in the D.C. Bar, including Chair of the Judicial Evaluation Committee. He was the organizer and managing editor of the first D.C. Bar Practice Manual, for which he was recognized with the Bar’s President’s Award. He continues to serve as a volunteer mediator in the D.C. District Court’s Mediation Program.

Tom is an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University Law School, where he teaches government procurement law and advocacy.

Tom is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Georgetown University Law Center. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge John J. Sirica of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.