Thomas M. Sullivan works in the Washington office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough where he represents clients seeking to have their matters heard in Congress and during the regulatory and rulemaking processes. Mr. Sullivan runs the Small Business Coalition for Regulatory Relief (www.SBCRR.com), and his clients include the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Mr. Sullivan is a registered foreign agent for the Canadian Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. He works closely with Ambassador David Wilkins and manages matters involving U.S./Canadian energy and natural resource issues.

Before joining the Firm, Mr. Sullivan served as the highest ranking government official charged with exclusively advocating the views and needs of small business before government agencies and Congress during his seven-year tenure as Chief Counsel for Advocacy in the Small Business Administration. As Chief Counsel, Mr. Sullivan headed a team of attorneys and economists who worked to remove regulatory barriers and to elevate small business visibility within all levels of government. The SBA’s Office of Advocacy under his tenure helped save America’s business community more than $65 billion. Inc. magazine in 2006 named Mr. Sullivan “an entrepreneur’s best friend in Washington, DC.”

Before his appointment to the SBA, he represented the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s leading business advocacy association. From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Sullivan served on the Congressional Affairs staff of the U.S. EPA. He also served at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

In October 2008, the National Small Business Association named Mr. Sullivan the “2008 Small Business Star,” their highest government-service award. In March 2005, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council bestowed him with the Small Business Advocate Award and induction into their Hall of Fame. The D.C. Metropolitan Subcontractors Association gave him the First President’s Award as Outstanding Public Official, and Fortune Small Business magazine named him a Power 30 Most Influential Folks in Washington.  Mr. Sullivan was named to the NFIB Small Business Legal Center Advisory Board and was appointed as an advisor to the Center for Small Business and the Environment. 

Mr. Sullivan earned his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1993. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1989 from Boston College. Mr. Sullivan lives in Virginia with his wife and two sons.