Thomas R. Ayres has a wide-ranging franchise and business litigation practice representing franchisees, franchisors, licensees, dealers, manufacturers, and distributors in various forums. Tom also advises clients on employment, transactional, advertising, real estate, operational, and regulatory issues. He has published several articles on franchising:
- Bricks to Clicks: The Post-Pandemic E-commerce Reckoning
Franchise Law Journal, Summer 2021 - Advertising & Marketing Funds: What Are You Doing With “My” Money?
ABA Forum on Franchising, October 2020 - What is Prohibited by State Franchisee Right of Association Statutes?
The Franchise Lawyer, August 2020 - Covenants Against Competition in Franchise Agreements
Massachusetts Chapter of Fourth Edition, ABA Forum on Franchising, 2023
Tom previously worked in the Boston office of a large firm litigating complex civil matters and represented individual and corporate clients involved in investigations by state and federal regulators and prosecutors. Fluent in Spanish, Tom also represented Latin American countries and multinational corporations before U.S. federal courts and international arbitral tribunals.
Tom is a graduate of Hamilton College (B.A. summa cum laude, 1998) where he majored in Spanish and Comparative Literature. He received his law degree from Boston College Law School (J.D., 2004), where he served as Senior Managing Editor of the International and Comparative Law Review. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Scott J. Kafker at the Massachusetts Appeals Court, working on a variety of civil and criminal matters.
Tom has defended numerous victims of domestic and intimate partner violence. As a result of his pro bono work, he was named as a Public Interest Leadership Fellow by the Boston Bar Association in 2010 and received the Shining Star Award in 2011 from the Victim Rights Law Center. In 2011, Tom also served as Special Assistant District Attorney in Norfolk County prosecuting numerous criminal cases in Quincy District Court.
Tom has been a member of the Massachusetts bar since 2004 and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First and Sixth Circuits.
