Professional Profile
Thomas L. Carpenter graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1986 and obtained his JD, magna cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1994. After clerking with Presiding Justice Lenore Prather of the Mississippi Supreme Court, he worked in two firms focusing on insurance interpretation and insurance defense. Thomas was then hired as general counsel for a Mississippi automobile insurance company focusing on bad faith claims and reviewing claims handling procedures to minimize the opportunity for bad faith claims to arise. At Carr Allison, Thomas focuses his practice on insurance interpretation, bad faith underwriting and claims handling issues.
Thomas founded and has been a president of the Russell, Blass, Walker Chapter of the American Inn of Court, an organization chartered to foster judicial ethics, civility and professionalism. He also served as president of the Harrison County Bar Association. In October of 2009, Thomas was made a fellow of the American Bar Association, an organization limited to one-third of one percent of practicing lawyers in Mississippi. He has also served as a commissioner for the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association. Since 2017, Thomas has been included in The Best Lawyers in America© in the area of insurance law.
Thomas is admitted to and practices before all state courts in Mississippi, up to the Mississippi Supreme Court. On the federal level, he is admitted to and practices before the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Thomas has served as a lecturer on insurance claims management, ethics in claims and underwriting handling, and how to avoid successful bad faith claims. He has also successfully advised clients regarding admiralty matters and handled admiralty cases in local federal courts.
