Tom Cassels

Tom is a commercial litigator specialising in high stakes and crisis litigation, including public law and funded competition litigation. He is ranked in leading legal directories such as Chambers UK, Chambers Europe, Chambers Global and The Legal 500. He has won industry awards from the Lawyer and Legal Business and was twice included in The Lawyer “Hot 100”.

Tom works in close collaboration with lawyers from the firm’s other market-leading practice areas, including AFIG, Corporate, Projects and TMT in cross-office, multidisciplinary teams.

Work highlights

Tom has acted for clients in many major public and competition law disputes, investigations and commercial litigation. Recent experience includes representing:

• The UK Government on industry litigation exposure arising out of restructuring of train operation franchises in response to the Coronavirus pandemic
• A major global payments technology company in its defence in defence of multiple group claims in Interchange fee litigation extending to thousands of claims with lead cases recently before the Supreme Court and now remitted to the CAT
• Succocitrico Cutrale in connection with ongoing group litigation proceedings brought by growers alleging price-fixing and related cartel activity 
• BA and other airlines on their judicial review challenge to the Department of Health’s Coronavirus quarantine rules 
• The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), in a case heard by the Supreme Court involving a grant to another English registered charity, Big Win Philanthropy
• Reckitt in multijurisdictional civil, governmental and criminal proceedings leading to settlement with a class of overseas victims arising out of a significant product liability issue facing one of its subsidiaries.

Tom is a governor of a local comprehensive school and a former trustee of the Social Mobility Foundation, a charity that aims to make a practical improvement in social mobility for young people from low-income backgrounds.

Tom often acts in pro bono cases, currently including:

• Privacy International in litigation concerning migrants’ rights to privacy on arrival in the UK
• The LGBT Foundation in its intervention in Supreme Court proceedings concerning the lawfulness of voter identification proposals

Tom has also advised on the following transactions:

• The Government of Georgia on its successful defence of a claim before the European Court of Human Rights
• The BBC on aspects of its competition and regulatory functions and high profile crisis matters

Tom studied law at Queens’ College, Cambridge University.