Tom [Vogele] is one of the people I rely on to help me make decisions about the direction of my business. I consider him a key part of my management team.
Tom has represented me and my companies since early 2009. Throughout that time, he has stood shoulder to shoulder with me and always proven himself more than just a lawyer. I consider him to be one of the finest attorneys I’ve ever worked with and TVA to be the premier small firm in California. Their unique understanding of business and creative approach to solving problems makes them stand out from the crowd.
A Lifetime of Thanks! Tom Vogele and Associates is by far the most brilliant, creative, supportive and successful team my husband and I have ever encountered. My husband and I believed we had evidence of business fraud. Our case, however, was complex and multi-layered. The main problem was that we did not have the right attorneys. Finally, we were given the name of Thomas Vogele and Associates. Tom listens intently to your issues and he has other superlative attorneys such as Ted Davis who will spend time with you going over every single detail of your particular case. He has an excellent office staff including Lynne Marino who watches over all your paperwork and is always ready to respond to your calls and needs. Tom knows the law and he knows where every piece of your case fits into the law, and will defend you with energy and commitment. I have personally seen other attorneys become defensive and regret that Tom ever walked into the room. When Tom believes that you have been wronged, he will go to the ends of the Earth to right what has happened to you.
Tom was able to bring clarity to our situation and his intuition was able to detect the other side’s most vulnerable issues. I can also say that I was respected as a woman, a shareholder in the company. Tom listened and respected my knowledge, unlike attorneys in the past. Because of Tom Vogele and his team, the offer from ‘the other side’ more than doubled and was funded in full!
For those of you going through heartbreak or frustration because of what another human being or group of people have done to hurt you financially or in any other way, this is the attorney and office you want to represent you. We thank Tom Vogele and his staff every day in our hearts as he took our case in hand and took actions based on his brilliant knowledge of the law. He is kind and sensitive but when in the boardroom or courtroom with adversaries, he has a personality of mesmerizing strength combined with a keen intelligence, and he outwits everyone around him. We are forever grateful and can only tell you to call this group as soon as you can.
Tom [Vogele] was articulate, informative and always available during the time we worked with him. I always took comfort knowing that Tom looked out for our interests during a highly contentious and lengthy probate dispute. He managed to get not only what we were owed but more than we ever imagined. I would highly recommend Tom to anyone who needs a truly zealous advocate.
My wife and I decided to move all of our lawsuits to Tim Kowal at Thomas Vogele and associate. He is honest and not mechanical like others. He is patient and meticulous in business and corporate law.
During the initial in-person consultation, Tim listened carefully to the complicated contract details and outlined additional information he would need to approach the other party to demand performance on the contract. He outlined a step-by-step approach which he confirmed in the engagement letter for his services. Further matters, confirming facts, research, etc., were conducted entirely by email for the convenience of the client. The result was that the other party immediately chose to perform and further litigation was avoided! That's a great attorney! So we trusted him with a small matter and believe we will again call on him and his firm, Thomas Vogele & Associate for more excellent service!
I hired Tim Kowal from Thomas Vogele and Associates for a landlord/tenant issue. He was very honest, helpful and actually cared about my case. I was a bit reluctant to hire him at first since most attorneys I have dealt with do not seem to really care about your case unless there is a huge profit for them. Tim was very diligent, professional and followed through on what he said he would do. If you want a lawyer with integrity you should hire, Tim Kowal.
I did not get justice at my trial after I was taken advantage of by a lender. I think the judge made up his mind whom he wanted to believe. When Tim took my case up on appeal, he focused the case on the contract. The appeal saved my retirement.
I worked with Tim and Tom on an appeal after a five-week jury trial – and over a year of post-trial motions – resulted in a multi-million dollar judgment against our client. Tim and Tom listened to my ideas and the client’s ideas, and worked cooperatively with us to develop the appellate strategy that won our appeal.
After a bad result from our judge, we did not immediately appeal the judgment. Instead, Tim filed several motions bringing the various defects in the ruling to the judge’s attention. We then appealed. The judgment was reversed because of Tim’s efforts in the trial court highlighting its defects.
After a devastating loss at trial, I decided to hire an appellate specialist for a fresh approach. Tim meticulously researched our case, which turned on the opposing CPA expert’s cleverly manipulated accounting. Tim and Tom anticipated the opposing arguments, exposed the expert’s sleight of hand, and persuaded the Court of Appeal to reverse the judgment against me.
Why Relationships Matter:
Back in 1990 a company I owned was a large customer of a manufacturer in Southern California. The President of that company was a fellow named Tom Vogele. Tom and I did quite a bit of business together and he kept in touch with me over the years as he moved to another company in the industry, then when he sold that company and was consulting. A few years later, I was surprised to learn that he was going to law school at the age of 51, something I learned he had aspired to do since high school. As an attorney who became a businessman, I was surprised by Tom’s decision to make the move from business to law, but Tom stayed in touch as he started practicing law and when he started TVA.
In 2016, our company was hit with a lawsuit from one of our most aggressive competitors, a much larger company than Pioneer. The management of the Pioneer subsidiary involved retained a law firm to defend it and the parent company, but over a period of three years, the lawsuit dragged on and the outlook for success grew dim. The attorneys handling the case were all competent and experienced, but they did not really grasp the industry-specific issues involved and that put Pioneer at risk. Fearing more adverse outcomes, I reached out to Tom in late 2019 and asked him and his firm to take over.
Tom agreed and put together a veritable “dream team” to represent Pioneer and the two individual defendants in the case. Tom’s partner, Tim Kowal, handled several key appellate matters that kept our hopes alive, while Jeff Lewis and Ernie Mooney provided invaluable help with strategy and trial preparations.
I could not be more pleased with the result. Tom's effectiveness as an advocate and negotiator, and his unique understanding of our business and that of the plaintiff were invaluable in obtaining a great outcome. And when faced with adverse preliminary rulings that threatened our business operations, Tim's work in the appellate court helped us avoid the effect of these rulings, stay in business, and stay in the case.
The David-and-Goliath contest literally threatened to put Pioneer out of business. Despite the large scale of the case and the plaintiff's unlimited resources, TVA was always able to respond to the demands represented by enormous amounts of documents, data, numerous depositions, as well as near-constant ex parte applications and law-and-motion practice. I was especially impressed with Tom and Tim's handling of the plaintiff's counsel. While plaintiff’s counsel had been exceptionally aggressive before we retained TVA, Tom and Tim were always civil and professional, without ever backing down from defending our interests.
While the entire world in 2020 was careening from the effects of Covid-19 and we thought our case would never get resolved, TVA’s team devised a novel strategy to have the case removed from the Superior Court, where the plaintiff’s attorney seemed to have a decided advantage and assigned to a judge pro tempore – a retired judge in private practice. This strategic move turned the tide in the case.
More than anything, I was amazed at the exceptionally high quality of the work product and advocacy of TVA’s entire team. Tom and Tim developed a trial strategy that, quite literally, left plaintiff's counsel speechless. They identified a jurisdictional defect in the plaintiff's case, and when Tom argued on the first day of trial that the defect required dismissal of the plaintiff's entire case, the flustered opposing counsel asked for a two-week trial continuance to put his devastated case back together. Although the trial eventually got started the next day, the judge accepted all of Tom and Tim's arguments that the plaintiff's evidence and expert testimony were inadmissible and with that, the plaintiff’s case collapsed.
Ultimately, after nine days of trial, with the plaintiff’s President waiting in a conference room to be grilled by Tom on cross-examination, the plaintiff capitulated to our demand rather than go through with the trial and face paying our legal fees. This was not only an exceptionally favorable result, but it was exceptionally timely, removing the cloud of litigation and allowing Pioneer’s business operations and corporate transactions to proceed.
I would recommend Tom, Tim, and the entire TVA team without reservation. Having worked with law firms of all sizes, I would put the quality and effectiveness of TVA's advocacy up against anyone.
In the end, it was Tom’s commitment to staying in touch and maintaining the relationship first formed in 1990 that led to the great outcome we achieved in 2020.