Tina Thomas: 2005 SCBA Distinguished Lawyer

By Chris Krueger Photo • By Sirlin Photography

When Loaves and Fishes wanted to open a shelter for mentally ill homeless women, it turned to Sacramento attorney Tina Thomas for help.

Thomas invited one of her clients, local developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, to tour Loaves and Fishes. After that visit, Tsakopoulos' family contributed the funds needed, and the shelter, known as Sister Nora's Place, opened last January.

Thomas is "somebody who gets things done, a real doer," Loaves and Fishes Executive Director Tim Brown said. "She has provided us with a huge amount of pro bono legal assistance and consultation. Beyond that, she has given us connections to people we would not have had access to and helped us raise money."

Passion for the causes that she believes in - whether those causes involve the needs of her legal clients or the needs of the community as a whole - and the ability to get things done through legal acumen and political savvy have been the hallmarks of Thomas' career. In recognition of her extraordinary accomplishments as a land use lawyer and as a community activist, the Sacramento County Bar Association has named Thomas its Distinguished Attorney for 2005.

"She is one of the most dynamic, intelligent women I know," said Assistant United States Attorney Robin Taylor. "She is a real leader in the community, both in terms of her political leadership and her contributions to philanthropic and charitable causes."

State Treasurer Phil Angelides said, "Tina Thomas is a dedicated community leader in our hometown of Sacramento, a loving and tireless mother, and one of California's most accomplished attorneys, but I am most proud to know Tina as a dear and loyal friend."

Thomas "literally wrote the book on CEQA," said Deputy Attorney General Deb Barnes, referring to the Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act, which Thomas co-authored with other attorneys at her firm, Remy, Thomas, Moose and Manley, LLP. "She and that firm have been gurus in developing that law."

Barnes, former Chief Counsel of the Cal-EPA, said Thomas is an attorney "who knows how to get stuff done for her client. She utilizes both the legal and administrative processes to achieve her clients' goals."

Former Sacramento City Councilmember and Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg called Thomas "one of the two or three greatest advocates I have ever met."

"She is unafraid of a righteous fight and understands the politics involved in getting something done," Steinberg said. "She's got a fierce sense of fairness. When something rankles her as being unfair watch out."

One issue that rankled Thomas was the lawsuit that the City of Sacramento filed against Loaves and Fishes in the mid-1990s. The city sued the charity for failing to comply with its land use permits. Thomas represented Loaves and Fishes on a pro bono basis throughout the fight, which she describes as the city's "attempt . . . to zone away homelessness."

That case was resolved through mediation in 1997, but Thomas' commitment to addressing the issue of homelessness continues. The problems that local communities have in addressing the problems of homelessness provided the impetus for Proposition 63, an initiative that passed in November 2004. The initiative placed a tax on incomes above $1 million to fund mental health services. Steinberg said that Thomas was a leader in that campaign. (Steinberg notes that he did not vote to authorize the lawsuit against Loaves and Fishes while on the City Council.)

"I think Tina realizes that if we are to be successful as a community, we must address the causes of homelessness," Steinberg said.

In addition to assisting Loaves and Fishes, Thomas has represented Cottage Housing, WIND Youth Center, Francis House, Clean and Sober, the Conservancy International, and the Sacramento Food Bank on a pro bono basis. "You see homeless moms on the street with kids and you think, there but for the grace of God goes me," she said.

Thomas also works with the Center for Youth Citizenship, which sponsors local educational programs, according to CYC Executive Director Joseph Maloney. Thomas has coached high school teams participating in the CYC's mock trial and moot court program, and she has encouraged attorneys in her firm to serve as coaches, Maloney said. Thomas also has provided the CYC with valuable business advice and financial support, he said.

"I think Tina has exemplified the commitment of the legal profession toward the students and the community," Maloney said.

Thomas, 52, was born in Downey, California. She earned her B.A. from Stephens College in 1975 and her law degree from the University of San Diego in 1979.

She began her legal career as a summer intern with the environmental section of the California Attorney General's Office. Since the Attorney General's Office was not hiring when Thomas graduated from law school, she had to pound the pavement looking for a job. Her supervisor at the Attorney General's Office, the late Mark Weinberger, gave her a list of environmental attorneys to contact.

Weinberger's list contained the name of an environmental lawyer named Michael Remy. Remy hired Thomas, and they ultimately became partners. They practiced together for 26 years before Remy died in 2003.

Weinberger's list also included the name of Thomas' future husband, Bill Abbott, now of the firm Abbott & Kinderman LLP. "So it was a good list," Thomas says with a laugh.

Together, Thomas and Abbott have raised three children. Libby is a senior at Brown University, Mary Claire is a junior at McClatchy High School, and Sam is a freshman at Christian Brothers High School.

How does Thomas manage to be a top flight lawyer, a political activist, a philanthropist and a mother - all at the same time? "It is kind of like juggling," she said. "You add one ball and then another ball and just keep juggling."

Thomas adds that the support of her "really great husband" has also been instrumental in her success.

How Thomas manages her juggling act is a source of mystery, according to former Sacramento Mayor and Assemblymember Phil Isenberg.

"Tina Thomas practices law full-time, is an expert on land use planning and other complicated CEQA issues, maintains a wonderful family, with three impressive kids and a hero husband, donates financially and her time to charities running the range from environmental, to food bank programs and efforts to build shelters for those who are trying to escape from domestic violence," he said.

"To top it, she is also one of the big political movers and shakers in Sacramento and around the State Capitol. Tina does the work of four people, but manages to keep her sense of balance and humor. None of her friends can figure out how she does it."

Mike Eaton, a senior project director for The Nature Conservancy, observes that Thomas "brings a unique and enviable level of energy to each of her roles attorney, activist, philanthropist, parent. Sacramento owes her a major debt of gratitude."

Indeed it does. The Sacramento County Bar Association is honored to bestow upon Tina Thomas its 2005 Distinguished Attorney Award.