Thomas C. Hoffman II '88 is an attorney with Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C. He has represented thousands of businesses and high-net-worth individuals during his career as a lawyer and CPA and has helped plan hundreds of business successions for a diverse group of clients, including entrepreneurs engaged in manufacturing, oil and gas, timber, publishing, and other industries in more than 15 states.
Hoffman often uses atypical approaches for clients' complex ambitions and circumstances, while working closely with their accountants, bankers, insurance agents, and wealth management advisors. He utilizes his own working group of key strategic legal and tax advisors, including former IRS agents who bring an even broader base of knowledge to clients' more unusual matters. Hoffman concentrates his practice on an array of business, estate, trust, and tax matters. He is the originator and serves as a major contributor to the Knox Law Institute® for topics including business succession planning, estate planning, tax law, and more. He began his career as a CPA with Ernst & Young in Pittsburgh from 1990 to 1993.
Hoffman is a founding board member of Erie Center for Arts and Technology (ECAT) and of the Foundation for Sustainable Forests, sits on the Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania board, is on the board of governors of the Hagen History Center, and is a past executive board member of Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership. Hoffman also serves on Penn State's Planned Giving Advisory Council, Behrend's Council of Fellows Board of Directors, and Behrend's Center for Family Business, which he was integral in establishing. He received the Alumni Fellow award in 2023 and was nominated for the award by Penn State Behrend, which he attended from 1984 to 1986.
Hoffman and his wife, Paula '87, are life members of the Alumni Association. They live in Erie and have three adult children, Christine '19, Paul '20, and Thomas III '20.