Tom Snelling > Signature Litigation LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Tom Snelling

+44 (0)20 3818 3500 tom.snelling@signaturelitigation.com View profile View profile

Work Department

Commercial Litigation, Civil Fraud, International Arbitration, Judicial Review, Product Liability Litigation

Position

Tom has over 20 years’ experience in complex and high value commercial litigation and arbitration, spanning many business sectors and often involving multiple jurisdictions.

He has a wide-ranging practice based on managing high value, commercial disputes in sectors such as consumer products and retail.

Tom acts on some of the most high-value and complex mandates being brought before the English High Court, including acting for Privinvest in the US$2bn claim brought against Credit Suisse and Privinvest by the Republic of Mozambique, also known as the “Tuna Bonds” litigation. The claim relates to supply agreements and supporting financial instruments and guarantees entered into by state-owned enterprises dedicated to the development of Mozambique’s offshore Exclusive Economic Zone and supporting international investment into its oil and gas reserves. The claim engages allegations of bribery of Mozambican government officials. Tom acted for Privinvest companies in their successful March 2021 appeal of the question of whether claims against them were in the scope of arbitration agreements.

He is also one of the lead partners at Signature advising a worldwide automotive manufacturer on diesel emissions-related litigation proceedings in the UK.

An expert at predicting when problems are likely to come to the boil, Tom uses innovative and legal tech solutions to solve them when they do. He is a market leader in applying e-disclosure to complex commercial litigation, having trained a group of High Court judges on this issue. Recently, he advised a client on content to allow third party users to create and manage comprehensive, legally binding smart contracts, and associated liability exposure.

Tom also represents clients in relation to financial services litigation, including advising a UK client on a potential dispute with one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world and the related FCA and the FOS regulatory regimes, as well as representing a UK-based financial advisory investment firm on a potential contractual dispute and debt recovery steps as regards one of Africa’s leading agri-fintech companies. Tom is also acting for two UK companies on the entitlement to specific performance from the English Courts against two non-UK financial services bodies.

Tom’s work is also often international in scope. For example, he has been advising on requests under the UK Freedom of Information Act regime and in the making of related requests under legislation of an EU Member State and of an international organisation that aims to promote global financial stability. He is also advising a client on a potential bilateral investment treaty claim in an extractives industry context.

Tom is also well-known for his longstanding commitment to pro bono work, having represented Save the Children, someone seriously injured in the London 7/7 bombings and the family of one of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing victims. In 2016, Tom brought a successful intervention in the UK Supreme Court on behalf of both the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.

Career

Trained Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 2000; Qualified 2002; Associate Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 2002; Partner Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 2010; Partner Signature Litigation 2020.

Memberships

London Solicitors Litigation Association.

Education

University of Nottingham (LLB); Nottingham Law School (LPC).