Tom is a barrister and worked as a government lawyer on a range of high profile and complex advisory and litigation matters before entering private practice. As such, his role at Russell-Cooke will see him being called in to assist where expert additional counsel is required across a range of practices, hence his title of legal counsel.

Tom's areas of expertise include public law, public international law, regulatory and immigration law and he has particular experience working with entrepreneurs and business owners as well as professionals.

He is consistently highly rated in the legal directories and takes pride in delivering an outstanding service to his clients. Tom is listed as a recommended lawyer in the Legal 500 and has been continuously recommended in the leading legal directories for several years.

• Acting for national, multi-national and global companies, as well as for national regulators. He has particular experience acting for international clients, including investors and entrepreneurs
• International entrepreneurs and investors:
  • working as a government lawyer for the Home Office and tax authorities before joining private practice. He therefore brings to bear experience from acting for the government as well as individuals and companies
  • being one of the most experienced and knowledgeable lawyers in the country on the various routes by which entrepreneurs, professionals and business people can establish themselves or their companies with residence in the UK
  • acting for individuals, multinational companies, household names and celebrities on the full range of business immigration applications that can be made
• Public law, regulation and international law:
  • acting with Russell-Cooke partners in the Supreme Court case of Hemming v Westminster City Council [2015] UKSC 25. The clients of Russell-Cooke included several national regulators, including the Architects Registration Board, Bar Standards Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority. This high profile and complex case was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union
  • assisting in showing that state immunity had been waived by a foreign nation in the matter of the High Commissioner v Natwest [2015] EWHC 55 (Ch). Russell-Cooke's application to set aside a notice of discontinuance served by a foreign government was successful in litigation involving a fund of approximately £35 million and a landmark judgment. This judgment was one of the leading international public law cases in the UK courts in the last decade
  • conducting several dozen judicial reviews, including at appellate level (Supreme Court and Court of Appeal), both as a government lawyer and in private practice acting for private and regulatory clients
• Regulator work and sector knowledge:
  • acting for the Solicitors Regulation Authority in one of the largest and most complex disciplinary cases concerning solicitors in the last decade. The case was very widely covered in the national press and television, and concluded in favour of the SRA
  • having particular experience acting for barristers, defending barristers in claims brought by the Bar Standards Board. Has assisted with the defence of a range of allegations
  • conducting proceedings for several years on behalf of the Architects Registration Board, assisting John Gould. These were a broad range of High Court appeals and judicial reviews brought by architects, all of which were successfully defended on behalf of ARB

• Won the Keith Jones Essay award and first class honours as an undergraduate
• Secured a distinction in his MA, before securing pupillage and tenancy in Chambers in his early career