Tom Shayes

Tom Shayes
General information
Full name	Thomas Shayes
Occupation	Senior partner at Hewes & Associates Senior associate at Hewes & Associates (formerly) Student at Harvard Law School (formerly)
Status	Deceased
Relationship information
Significant others	Deb Shayes (wife)
Children	Megan Shayes (daughter)
Siblings	Cynthia Shayes (sister)
Series information
Seasons	1 • 2 • 3
First appearance	Get Me a Lawyer
Last appearance	The Next One's Gonna Go in Your Throat
Episode count	39
Portrayed by	Tate Donovan

Thomas Shayes, or simply Tom, is a main character in the first three seasons of Damages.

Background

Tom had a sister, Cynthia Shayes.

Tom graduated from Yale Law School. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Tom was married to Deb Shayes, and they had a daughter, Megan Shayes. He was very protective of his family.

Tom was a vegan. He had a paternal demeanor and unassuming air.

Series

Tom worked at Hewes & Associates and was Patty Hewes' senior legal associate and most trusted advisor. He showed Ellen Parsons around the offices and gave her her first assignments. While in the car, Patty pretended to fire Tom, even making him get out of the car. It was a ruse in order for Patty to more easily manipulate and keep an eye on Ellen. While "unemployed", Tom was offered a partnership position at a rival law firm, a move that caused the clients in the Forbisher lawsuit to seek to fire Patty and hire Tom as their lawyer. Eventually, Patty decided to meet the rival firm's offer by making him equal partner but without adding his name to the law firm. He returned to Hewes & Associates.

Tom had a personal connection to the Tobin case. He was one of the victims of Louis Tobin's fraud, as he and his in-laws had invested money with an investor who had invested with the Tobins. He became desperate to get their money back and seek justice.

Tom was killed by Joe Tobin.^[1]

References