
Tom Sager is the former General Counsel and Senior Vice President at the DuPont Company. In 2014, Tom joined Ballard Spahr as a Partner, where he leverages his experience steering the legal department at a heavily regulated, Fortune 100 global corporation to a broad portfolio of areas at the firm, including litigation and trial practice, internal investigations, environmental issues, and mergers and acquisitions. Tom began his career with the DuPont Company as an attorney in the Labor, Benefits & Corporate Security Group and spent more than a decade as chief litigation counsel before being named Senior Vice President and General Counsel in 2008. During his tenure, he oversaw significant litigation involving governmental investigations, product liability, environmental, toxic tort, labor and employment, securities, antitrust, and tax issues.
Tom was a strong and early proponent of diversity in the legal profession and helped pioneer the DuPont Company Convergence and Law Firm Partnering Program, or the DuPont Company Legal Model—an industry benchmark that has received national acclaim for its innovative approach to the business of practicing law. The program redefined the way in which clients and law firms measure success, encourage creativity and collaboration, increase efficiency, and retain and promote women and minorities. Many of his early innovations, including use of preferred providers and flat or fixed-fee billing, have become commonplace in corporate law departments. In naming him in 2013 as one of “The Top 50 Big Law Innovators,” The American Lawyer wrote: “Thomas Sager and the DuPont Legal Model are to the legal industry what Derek Jeter is to the Yankees.”
Tom received The American Lawyer’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. In addition, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Thomas L. Sager Award is given annually to law firms that demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Professional Highlights
Professional Activities
American Bar Association Task Force on Preservation of the Justice System
Business Advisor to Business Law Section of the ABA
Distinguished Lecturer, Corporate Counsel Technology Institute's Inaugural Annual Technology Lecture Series, held at Widener University School of Law, 2005
Recognition & Accomplishments
Recipient, James H. Gilliam, Jr. Award, American Heart Association, 2016
Recipient, Lawyers of Color Legacy Award, 2015
Named in 2015 to the Lawdragon Hall of Fame as an Innovator
Speaking Engagements
"Cutting-Edge Legal Departments: Creating a Loss Recovery Program to Generate Revenue and Preserve Assets," Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, Toronto, ON, February 7, 2019
Board Memberships & Community Service
Advisory Board, DirectWomen
Past Chairman, Minority Corporate Counsel Association
Chairman of Finance Committee, Delaware Historical Society
Publications
"The Legal Profession Needs More Givers Than Takers," The Legal Intelligencer, February 18, 2015
"Creating a Climate of Trust Before Crisis Emerges," The Legal Intelligencer, November 12, 2014
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Credentials
Education
Wake Forest University School of Law (J.D. 1976)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A. 1972)
Admissions
Delaware
Not admitted to practice in Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
U.S. Supreme Court