Tom Rucinski was born in Hammond, Indiana in 1949, and attended Bishop Noll Institute, where he participated in Varsity athletics and the theatrical production "You Can't Take It With You."  Tom then attended Indiana University graduating with a Bachelors of Science from the Indiana University Business School in Bloomington, Indiana.  Thereafter, Tom attended and graduated from the School of Law at Valparaiso University in 1974 with a Juris Doctorate degree.  Also, while in law school, Tom married his high school sweetheart, and has three children and three grandchildren.

 

Commencing his legal career as a Law Clerk with the law firm of Sachs & Hess, P.C. in 1972, Tom has been involved in numerous types of criminal cases, including a high profile murder case garnering national publicity.  Tom has defended persons charged with rape, burglary, and armed robbery, as well as numerous misdemeanor charges.  The emphasis of Tom's practice began to change with more effort being devoted to personal injury and wrongful death cases, where Tom obtained recoveries for clients against local and state governments, corporations, doctors, and dentists.  As a licensed pilot, Tom's knowledge of the Federal Aviation Agency and the National Transportation Safety Board provides him with additional tools with which to handle aviation-related matters.  

 

Presently, Tom is devoting a large percentage of his time to assisting and representing clients in the field of family law.  It can be said that Tom is the divorce lawyer for the professionals having represented doctors, dentists, lawyers, politicians, businessmen, and professional athletes or their spouses.  Having been happily married for over 33 years, Tom recognizes the benefits of a successful marriage.  It is not uncommon for Tom to recommend and promote reconciliation.

In the 1970s, Tom, as lead attorney, was filing an average of 50 new divorce cases per year.  Although he has stopped keeping track of new divorce filings, he would not be surprised if he has represented over 1,000 different spouses or ex-spouses in family-related matters.  Tom's philosophy in representing divorce clients is to amicably reach a settlement on all issues without going to court.  However, there are times when, for a variety of reasons, settlement is impossible.  In this case, litigation is the only alternative.  Two of Tom's cases have set legal precedent in Indiana, see In Re Bueller dealing with the issue of voluntary underemployment and In Re Gnerlich dealing with disability payments being included in the marital estate and, therefore, a divisible asset.

 

Tom has represented clients in divorce cases in Hammond, Indiana; Gary, Indiana; East Chicago, Indiana; Crown Point, Indiana; Valparaiso, Indiana; Kentland, Indiana; and Rensselaer, Indiana. Tom is willing to represent clients in divorce cases in Lake County, Indiana; Porter County, Indiana: LaPorte County, Indiana; Jasper County, Indiana; and Newton County, Indiana.