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Contact Information
803.451.4511 Direct
803.799.1111 Main
803.254.1335 Fax

Primary Practice Areas
Business and Commercial Law
Church Law
Civil Litigation
Construction Law
Insurance Coverage
Surety Law

Education
Clemson University (B.A. 1981)
University of South Carolina School of Law (J.D. 1984)

Bar Admissions
South Carolina
United States District Court, District of South Carolina
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

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Tom Strickland is a Managing Partner of Barnes, Alford, Stork & Johnson, LLP. He joined the firm in 1984 after graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was selected to serve on the South Carolina Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree in 1981 from Clemson University with honors.

Mr. Strickland’s practice focused on insurance coverage and civil litigation during his first ten years with the firm. He served as South Carolina coverage counsel for several insurance companies, authoring hundreds of coverage opinions and handling numerous declaratory judgment and bad faith lawsuits. In 1994, he began working more closely with the firm’s commercial side, focusing on construction and contract law and other business-related matters. In conjunction with local counsel, he has assisted clients with negotiating and drafting contracts for construction projects and other commercial transactions in over thirty states and several countries, with values ranging up to $100 million. He maintains an active litigation practice, handling cases involving major construction and contract disputes, insurance coverage, bad faith, defamation, surety bonds, civil rights violations, defective products, professional malpractice, motor vehicle accidents, will contests, and trust reformations. He also counsels churches and charities on the unique legal issues they face, including the drafting of policies and procedures for nursery and pre-school operations, reporting child abuse and neglect, volunteer participation, and church incorporation. He also assists churches with construction and contract issues related to their building programs.

Mr. Strickland is serving a second four-year term on the Richland-Lexington County Disabilities and Specials Needs Board, which supports individuals with autism, mental retardation, head injuries, spinal cord injuries, and similar disabilities. He is currently the Board’s Chairman.

Mr. Strickland is admitted to practice in South Carolina, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. His reported cases include Sunshine Sportswear & Electronics, Inc. v. WSOC Television, Inc., 738 F.Supp. 1499 (D.S.C. 1989) (business defamation); M.B. Kahn Construction Co. v. Three Rivers Bank & Trust Co., 354 S.C. 412, 581 S.E.2d 481 (2003) (personal jurisdiction); Joe Harden Builders, Inc. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 326 S.C. 231, 486 S.E.2d 89 (1997) (adopting modified injury-in-fact/continuous trigger rule for allocating coverage among multiple insurance carriers in cases involving progressive damage); Colite Industries, Inc. v. G.W. Murphy Construction Co., 297 S.C. 426, 377 S.E.2d 321 (1989) (application of South Carolina’s long arm statute); and Brittingham v. Williams Sign Erectors, Inc., 299 S.C. 259, 384 S.E.2d 319 (Ct. App. 1989) (statutory employment doctrine).

Mr. Strickland co-authored the South Carolina chapter in Fifty State Construction Lien and Bond Law, published in 2000 by Aspen Publishing. He has also taught seminars on such topics as insurance coverage, bad faith, contract negotiation and preparation, volunteer liability, charitable immunity, and various construction issues.