Called: 2017
Practice Overview
Tom has developed a practice that matches the breadth of Chambers’ practice areas, including international commercial disputes, shipping, conflicts of laws, commodities, aviation, commercial chancery and company work. He has acted, both as sole counsel and as a junior, on claims varying in value from hundreds of pounds to multiple billions. He enjoys difficult cases, and prides himself on being responsive and easy to work with.
Highlights include appearing for the Respondent, led by Joseph Sullivan, in the Supreme Court in Takhar v Gracefield Developments Ltd, in which a seven-Judge panel decided the test for setting aside a judgment on the basis that it was procured by fraud. This raised a wide variety of issues, involving the fundamental principles of res judicata, the public policies surrounding fraud, and a detailed examination of the powers that courts have to manage the conduct of litigation generally. The Judgment of the Supreme Court can be found here.
Tom has developed a wide experience of claims under bills of lading and charterparties, including for damage to cargo and vessels, speed and performance claims, and demurrage, raising issues of expert evidence, quantum, mitigation and unjust enrichment. Further examples include:
Tom has experience in a wide variety of disputes that cover all aspects of commercial law and practice, ranging from contractual disputes, shareholder disputes, fraud, the sale and carriage of goods, and insolvency. Examples include:
Tom has experience in respect of a wide variety of aviation matters, including “extraordinary circumstances” under Regulation 261/04, and personal injury and baggage claims under the Montreal Convention.
Tom has argued multiple claims for detention in FOSFA Arbitration, including issues concerning construction of the FOSFA Rules.
Tom has appeared in respect of various small insolvency matters, including obtaining validation orders, company restoration orders, and in the winding-up court.
Academic
BA Jurisprudence (University of Oxford), 1st Class (placing 5th in year out of over 200)
LLM (University College London), Distinction (placing 2nd in year out of over 400)
BPTC (BPP), Outstanding
Awards
Lord Mansfield Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn (2016)
Hardwicke Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn (2016)
Excellence Award, BPP Law School (2016)
Master of the Rolls Scholarship, University College London (2015)
Gibbs Book Prize, University of Oxford (2015)
FHS Prize for Comparative Private Law, University of Oxford (2015)
Demyship, Magdalen College (2012-15)