Teresa Pike Tomlinson
Biography
Teresa Pike Tomlinson is a Partner in our Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia, offices, where she specializes in complex trial and appellate civil practice. She is known for her ability to handle strategically complicated and potentially high-value cases. She maintains an active trial and appellate practice throughout the country in both federal and state courts. Teresa is admitted to six federal circuit courts and the United States Supreme Court.
Teresa practiced law for 16 years with the plaintiff’s law firm of Pope McGlamry, where she specialized in complex litigation, giving her a unique perspective in her current defense cases. As plaintiff’s counsel, Teresa led a trial team to a $21.5 million award in her client’s favor and led litigation teams in cases including nationwide class actions, securities and derivative litigation, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act litigation, and multidistrict litigation. While with Hall, Booth, Smith she obtained a $20.76 million jury verdict on behalf of the firm’s pre-existing client.
Teresa has significant appellate experience involving issues of first impression and other complex or novel issues. Most recently, she and her team secured a significant victory before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which reversed a jury verdict of more than $10 million against a physician and hospital. The Court found that Oklahoma’s COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Limited Liability Act provided immunity from ordinary negligence under the circumstances presented. Another Oklahoma Supreme Court victory resulted in the reversal of the intermediate appellate court to dismiss professional negligence claims against healthcare providers under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, 42 U.S.C. § 247d-6d. The results reflect Teresa’s experience preserving complex issues at trial and developing strategic appellate arguments in cases involving significant exposure or evolving areas of law.
From 2011-2019, Teresa served as the mayor of Columbus, Georgia, a city of 200,000 people, where she served as the chief elected official of the city/county government, public safety director, and Homeland Security Director for a 16-county region. She was a statewide candidate for United States Senate in 2020, finishing second in a field of seven in the primary election.
Teresa earned a Juris Doctor from Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts in Government, Economics and Business Management from Sweet Briar College in Virginia. In 2015 she joined with other alumnae to save her alma mater from closure, raising $28.5 million in four months, participating in a legal proceeding that went to the Virginia Supreme Court, and ultimately serving as Chairperson of the Sweet Briar College Board of Directors from 2015-2018 placing the college back on solid financial footing where it thrives today.
Experience
Teresa is an experienced litigator and strategic thinker who has decades of leadership experience in municipal governance, complex legal matters, and crisis management. She served two terms as Mayor and Public Safety Director of the Columbus Consolidated Government, and holds National Security Secret Clearance with the U.S. Department of Defense. Earlier in her career, she focused her legal practice on complex litigation and appellate work.
Teresa brings decades of experience in complex litigation, strategic decision-making, crisis management, and government leadership to HBS clients. She joined the firm in 2019 after completing two terms as Mayor and Public Safety Director of the Columbus Consolidated Government, and she holds National Security Secret Clearance with the U.S. Department of Defense.
She previously spent a decade and a half handling complex litigation and appellate work at Pope McGlamry, where she led a trial team to a $21.5 million judgment in her client’s favor in a contract dispute that involved a related action by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Credentials
Admitted
State Courts:
- Georgia
- Supreme Court
U.S. Courts of Appeals:
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Other Federal Courts:
- Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
- U.S. Supreme Court
Education
- J.D., Emory University
- B.A.; Government, Economics, and Business Management; Sweet Briar College
Memberships
- Georgia Bar Association, 1991-Present
- Governor’s 2020 Census Complete Count Committee, 2017-2018
- Sweet Briar College, Chair of the Board of Directors, 2015-2018
- Georgia Municipal Association, Board of Directors, 2012-2016
- Governor’s Commission on 911 System Modernization, 2012-2014
- Justice Served, Inc.; Board of Directors; 2006-2010
Recognition
- Distinguished Peer Rated Attorney, Martindale-Hubbell
- Distinguished Women of Achievement, North Columbus Rotary Club, 2023
- Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential Georgians, 2013-2018
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Award, 2018
- Honorary Alumna Award, Columbus State University, 2017
- Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award, 2017
- Georgia Stateswoman, 2015
- Distinguished Alumnae Award, Sweet Briar College, 2011
Presentations
Teresa is often invited to speak before other municipalities across Georgia and to local chambers of commerce and business development groups. She is also a frequent guest commentator on political and legal matters on Political Rewind by Georgia Public Radio, MSNBC’s AM Joy show and The Daily Beast.
Publications
- Dobbs Decision Fractures Abortion Law Landscape
Inside Medical Liability; August 2024 - How (to This Point) Has PREP Act Application Gone So Wrong?
The New York Law Journal; December 10, 2021 - PREP Act Pitfalls: Federal Courts Deny Providers Their Due Protections
HBS Coronavirus Litigation Blog; April 26, 2021 - Just Peachy: A Great Night for Women Candidates in Georgia
The Daily Beast; May 23, 2018
- In Georgia, It’s the NRA and the Legislators vs. the Police
The Daily Beast; February 22, 2018 - Don’t Mistake Racism for Politics
The Atlanta Journal Constitution; January 12, 2018 - The Conservative Plan to Rewrite the Constitution, and Yes, It’s a Thing
The Daily Beast; August 21, 2017 - Generals are Playing Vital Civilian Role Now
The Atlanta Journal Constitution; August 12, 2017 - Why the Republican Brand is So Strong Where I Live
The Daily Beast; June 30, 2017 - The Kind of Democrat Who Can Win in the South — or Anywhere
The Daily Beast; June 11, 2017 - Sweet Briar College Commencement Address
American Rhetoric; May 17, 2015
In the Press
