Law is my second career. Before that I was an engineer. Out of undergrad I worked at a small software company that did broadcast graphics automation, which I loved because it meant spending a lot of time in the technical facilities and control rooms of Viacom, Fox, PBS affiliates and other TV broadcasters, working on real-time television graphics systems.

In college I had earned a history degree as well as a CS degree, mostly because I enjoyed writing. Eventually I realized that as much as I like technology and building things, my career was missing something: writing . . . in English, not C++.

I had assumed that the way to combine technology and writing in a legal career is to become a patent lawyer, so that’s what I did. But I quickly learned that writing patents is not for me, and I was lucky to find my way to Sony as a junior commercial lawyer. I stayed for ten years. Since then I have served as Associate General Counsel at two startups, Nauto, Inc. and Mapbox, Inc., focusing on technology, commercial and product matters.

I live with my family in a Sierra Nevada ski town where we try to spend as much time as possible outside, exploring by foot, bike, ski, kayak and 4×4, and adding to our running list of new lakes visited. I enjoy giving back to my community by coaching kids in mountain biking each summer, and volunteering with local environmental groups.

E-mail: tom@terrain.legal