Thomas Newkirk

Employment, Discrimination, and Civil Rights lawyer Thomas Newkirk focuses exclusively in the areas of plaintiff-oriented civil rights and employment law. Tom also has a specific focus on discrimination in college athletics, representing student athletes, female coaches, and administrators across the country.

Tom is a leading expert in identifying, educating and designing remedies for the effects of implicit or subconscious bias. Implicit bias is a leading cause of harm in employment, criminal justice and in college athletics. To reduce that harm it is necessary to increase the understanding of implicit bias as well as other cognitive processes that often prevent us—as individuals, employers, governments and universities—from taking the necessary steps to reduce that harm.

To increase this understanding Tom provides training (often for free or at reduced rates) on implicit bias to private businesses, public agencies and institutions. Tom has worked with the Iowa State Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, Des Moines University, the NAACP, the NCAA, American Association of University Women, among others.

Tom holds degrees from Drake University and Drake Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. Tom is currently a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) and Iowa NELA.

Tom currently lives in Des Moines, Iowa, where he and his wife continue to teach their adult children to be enlightened and respectful in all walks of life.

Practice Areas

• Gender Bias in Intercollegiate Athletics
• Race Discrimination and Implicit Racial Bias
• Implicit Bias Training and Focused Remedies for Implicit Bias
• Remediation of internal office conflicts and systemic conflicts created by implicit bias
• Trial practice, litigation and negotiations for all employment areas

Education

• Drake University Law School, Des Moines, Iowa, J.D. 
• Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, B.A. in Political Science

Bar Admissions

• State of Iowa (1989) 
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (1990) 
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (1996) 
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit (1998)
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (2025)

Select Awards

• Spirit of Martin Luther King Award (2012)
• Special Presidential Recognition Award (2014)
• Diversity Champion Award (2018)

Select Publications and Presentations

• Anthony G. Greenwald and Thomas Newkirk, Roles for Implicit Bias Science in Antidiscrimination Law, 153 Daedulus 1, 174 (2024).
• Implicit Bias in Medical Care, Presentation, Des Moines University (presented bi-annually).
• Justice and Disparities - Implicit Bias in Criminal Justice, Presentation, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (2016-2020).
• Implicit Gender Bias in University Settings, Presentation, University of California - Berkeley (2017).
• Implicit Bias in College Athletics - Remedies, Presentation, Harvard University (2016).

Community

• Member, National Employment Lawyers' Association
• Member, Iowa Employment Lawyers' Association
• Member, Iowa State Bar Association
• Adjunct Professor, Employment Law, Drake University Law School (2018).
• NTL - Civil Plaintiff - Top 100 for 2026