Attorneys

Tom Gooding
Tom Gooding practices general commercial law, focusing on business formations and counseling, joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures, commercial finance, real estate, taxation, and other commercial law matters. Tom became a partner with Elliott, Blackburn, Barnes & Gooding following his tenure as General Counsel of Griffin, LLC, a Valdosta, Georgia based international chemicals company. Prior to joining Griffin in 1998, Tom was a partner with one of the country's largest law firms, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, based in Atlanta, which he joined in 1981 upon graduating from Tulane Law School. He is an Attorney/CPA/MBA.

Tom brings cost effective solutions to his client's legal and business needs.   Serving as General Counsel and as part of the executive management team with a major international company gives Tom a keen awareness of the need to advise clients from their perspective - to ensure that clients receive practical, cost-effective legal advice aimed at advancing their business goals. His tenure as a merger & acquisition and tax partner at a national law firm provides Tom with a breadth of commercial law expertise.

Before entering Tulane Law School, where he graduated cum laude and was a member of the Law Review, Tom practiced as a CPA with Price Waterhouse & Co. Tom has been a frequent speaker at Georgia Bar Association and Georgia Society of CPA's education programs, and is a former chairman of the Atlanta Bar Association's Taxation Section. He is active in local civic affairs, including leading various governmental and legislative initiatives for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, and serving on Valwood School's Board of Trustees and the Salvation Army's local Advisory Board. Tom and his family attend Valdosta's First United Methodist Church. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the nations' top business schools, and a BS (Accounting) from Florida State University.   He is a native of Jacksonville, Florida.

Tom's wife, Mary, is Director of Marketing and Community Relations at Valdosta State University.  She has been recognized as one of the 25 most influential South Georgians by South Georgia Business magazine and The Valdosta Daily Times newspaper. Tom and Mary have two children, Thompson and Darby.

tgooding@ebbglaw.com

Litigation Attorneys
Walter G. Elliott
James L. Elliott

Commercial Attorneys
Richard E. Barnes
Thompson H. Gooding, Jr.

Of Counsel
W. Gus Elliott