Tom O'Connor, Esq.

Gulf Coast Legal Technology Center

Tom O’Connor is a nationally known consultant, speaker, and writer in the field of computerized litigation support systems.  A New England native who graduated from The Johns Hopkins University in 1972 with a BA in Political Science, Tom attended law school for one year at The University of Notre Dame before returning to Baltimore and undertaking a career as a paralegal specializing in complex litigation. While conducting his consulting business over the years, Tom earned a J.D. at an evening law school program.

Tom’s consulting experience is with both small firms and complex litigation matters including the BP litigation in New Orleans and several current opioid MDL matters as well as with the Office of the Federal Public Defender. He has been appointed as a technical consultant by various federal and state courts on cases dealing with large amounts of electronic evidence and specializes in negotiating ESI exchange protocols.

A frequent lecturer about legal technology, Tom also teaches CLE courses nationwide and is a prolific writer. He was a co-author of the 2006 award winning article, “In Katrina’s Wake”, which covered recovery efforts in the legal community of post Katrina New Orleans, in which he participated. He was also the author of the Second, Third and Fourth Editions of The Automated Law Firm: A Guide to Computer Systems and Software published by Aspen Law & Business as well as The Lawyers Guide to Summation and EDiscovery for Small Cases, both published by the ABA. He also contributes to several blogs including his own, called Techno Gumbo. (https://wordpress.com/view/technogumbo.wpcomstaging.com) Tom has also been awarded numerous professional accolades including the inaugural Betsy Ann Reynolds Award for Excellence in Litigation Support from the Litigation Support Leaders Conference and the first Scarpitti Award for Professional Achievement from the Masters Conference for Legal Professionals.

Tom currently resides down the Mississippi down in New Orleans with his son Seamus, a technical guru and current Captain of the Kings of Crescent City skateboard championship team.