Tom Polseno

Bar Admissions
New York (2006)
District of Columbia (2006)
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (2007)

Education:
Hartwick College, BA
London School of Economics and Political Science, MSc
University of Minnesota Law School, JD

Professional Affiliations and Memberships:
District of Columbia Bar Association

Background:
Tom earned his first degree in philosophy summa cum laude from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, and later earned a Master’s degree in that subject from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2000. After working briefly with an education policy research program at Harvard University, Tom entered the University of Minnesota Law School in 2002, joined the Minnesota Law Review and earned his JD with honors in 2005. During law school, he served as a clerk to a Magistrate Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota and assisted with representation of indigent criminal defendants in the Minnesota state courts with the Legal Rights Center.

Tom’s great-great-uncle, Eleazer Tubbs, saw combat in Europe during World War I. His great-grandfather, Edward Tubbs, first enlisted with the Marines at that time, but was not deployed. He re-enlisted with the Navy Seabees in 1943 at the age of 45 and was stationed on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Eniwetok following the U.S. landings there in mid-1944. He was later discharged after sustaining a severe shrapnel wound to the leg during a Japanese bombing run, and underwent extensive psychiatric treatment for what we now call PTSD (then known as “combat fatigue”) following service. Tom’s grandfather, Thomas Boria (for whom he is named), was in 1944 also posted as a Navy Seabee to the island of Guam, where he assisted in the construction of airfields that allowed American B-29 bombers to complete their first non-stop missions to the Japanese mainland. Tom’s great-uncle, Warren Tubbs, served as an Army psychiatric specialist in New York during World War II and was later deployed as a member of the active reserves to service as a combat medic during the Korean Conflict. His forbears’ service to our country inspires Tom’s service to veterans today.