Thomas A Decker

Thomas A. “Tad” Decker was named President and CEO of Cozen O’Connor in August 2007. He concentrates his practice in general corporate law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and alternative dispute resolution. He brings more than 25 years of corporate management and general counsel experience to Cozen O'Connor. Tad first joined the firm in May of 2000 and was the firm’s Managing Partner. In 2004, he was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell as the inaugural Chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. During his three-year tenure with the board, he was responsible for overseeing the administration of Act 71, which legalized slots gambling at a select number of sites within the Commonwealth. A nationally-known and respected corporate attorney, Tad sits on the boards of Internet Capital Group, the YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity, The Philadelphia Zoo and Gesu School. He is a former chair of the Philadelphia Municipal Authority and a former board member of the Delaware River Port Authority, Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO) and Pierce Leahy Corporation. Prior to joining Cozen O'Connor, Tad held senior executive positions for a number of major corporations, including Asbury Automotive Group and Unisource Worldwide Inc., where he was Executive Vice President and General Counsel, and Saint-Gobain Corp., where he was Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. He also held the position of chairman of the Committee of Corporate General Counsels of the American Bar Association’s Section of Business Law, and, as former Chair of the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners, he was appointed by the State Supreme Court to oversee admission to the Pennsylvania Bar. Tad earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1971 and his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. He served in the United States Army, earning the rank of Captain.