9 Gough Square - Barristers

Civil

Tom has a particular specialism in personal injury cases. He advises, drafts pleadings and appears in the County Courts in employers' liability, public liability, road traffic accident and other PI claims. He appears before High Court Masters, the Coroners Court and the First Tier Tribunal - Criminal Injuries Compensation.

Tom has experience acting in a wide range of civil cases, such as landlord and tenant cases, estate agency and letting agency commission claims, building disputes and professional negligence cases.

Tom's employment law practice includes cases involving misconduct, retirement and redundancy unfair dismissals, constructive dismissal and discrimination.

Notable cases:

- M v S [2011]. Difficult personal injury case where credibility of Claimant in issue after disclosure of surveillance footage. Conducted conference with Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Consultant Psychiatrist, drafted the Schedule of Loss and advised on quantum. Settled for £181,500 (net of CRU & 15% deduction for contributory negligence/liability risks).

- Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers [2011]. Advised and assisted the Metropolitan Police concerning a complex disclosure and redaction exercise in the 'phone hacking' cases.

- E v R [2011]. Ongoing personal injury case. Tom's involvement as counsel for the claimant has led to the instruction of forensic accountants. Advised in conference and drafted the Schedule of Loss totalling over £250,000.

- Ford v Olive Tree International Property [2010]. Sole counsel for the claimant in a multi-track trial concerning an international property purchase. Involved contractual issues, agency law, trusts law and the applicability of the law of Cape Verde.

- Moghal v Hudda [2008] All ER (D) 109 (Sep). Acted for the claimant in her successful appeal to the EAT in a constructive dismissal case. Went on to obtain judgment for the claimant at the remitted 3-day hearing before the Tribunal.

Criminal and related work

Tom prosecutes and defends in the Crown Court and Magistrates Courts. He is a CPS graded prosecutor and frequently prosecutes on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions. He also acts for applicants and defendants in applications for civil behaviour orders such as ASBOs, SOPOs, etc. He has experience dealing with cash forfeiture cases.

Cases of interest:

- R(Medway Magistrates Court) v Tevlin [2011] (Administrative Court). Ongoing Judicial Review claim in respect of a Magistrates Court's decision to proceed in the defendant's absence despite the provision of medical evidence to explain his non-attendance. Tom recently obtained permission to apply for JR at a renewed oral hearing.

- Comr of Metropolitan Police v Teixeira-Alves [2011] (City of Westminster Magistrates Court). Cash forfeiture case (£46,000). Acted for the successful respondent whose defence was that she had earned substantial sums working as an escort/prostitute.

- London Borough of Bromley v W [2011] (Administrative Court, Blake J). Acted for a 16 year old defendant during a 5-day 5-defendant ASBO hearing in the Bromley Magistrates Court. Then conducted the appeal by way of case stated to the High Court, firstly obtaining an order from the Administrative Court that the Bromley Justices amend the case they had stated, and then appearing at the hearing where the appeal was allowed in part.

- R v Jones [2010] (Southend Crown Court). Successfully prosecuted benefit fraud trial where the judge expressed concerns about the prospects of conviction.

- R v C [2010] (Balham Youth Court). Acting for a youth with Asperger's Syndrome charged with committing a sexual offence against a much younger child.

Family

Tom undertakes work in a range of family cases, including care proceedings (for local authorities, parents and children/Guardians), applications for non-molestation and occupation orders and private law children cases.

Example cases:

- LB Southwark v S [2011] (PRFD). Acted for the local authority in care proceedings where concerns related to mother's learning difficulties and risk-taking behaviour, neglect, child's sexualised behaviour and father's drug use.

- LB Haringey v R [2011] (North London FPC). Acted for mother in care proceedings brought due to domestic violence. Proceedings concluded with a written agreement and no order.

Experience prior to joining chambers

In 2007/8 Tom was a Judicial Assistant in the Court of Appeal to Arden LJ and Sir Anthony Clarke MR. Prior to joining chambers he also gained experience acting in a number of cases through the Free Representation Unit. He has previously travelled and worked in Australia and Kazakhstan.

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