Tom Ford > Essex Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Essex Court Chambers Offices
24 LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS
LONDON
WC2A 3EG
England
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Tom Ford
Position
Barrister
Career
Tom Ford is widely acknowledged as one of the stars of the junior commercial Bar. He is a senior junior regularly instructed – both unled and as part of a team – in high-value commercial disputes, whether contractual or with a tort or fraud aspect. He frequently argues matters against King’s Counsel, and acts both in Court and arbitration. Alongside a top Tier 1 ranking, Legal 500 describes that, “Tom is a force of nature. He can take on much bigger and better funded teams, and beat them into submission almost single-handedly. An extraordinary work ethic and a great legal mind.”
Tom’s practice covers domestic and international commercial dispute resolution, including contractual claims, banking & finance disputes, civil fraud claims, shareholder disputes, arbitrations and related proceedings, and appellate advocacy. Tom is currently recognised in the Legal Directories for his particular reputation in Commercial Dispute Resolution (Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal), Civil Fraud (Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500) and Banking and Finance (The Legal 500). Chambers and Partners describes that, “Tom is incredibly tenacious and effective” and that “He is a very established junior with a very sharp intellect and the ability to see new angles.”
Tom’s expertise has been recognised as exceptional: Tom is ranked in Litigation as a “Future Leader” by Who’s Who Legal, has been twice shortlisted as Commercial Litigation Junior of the Year (Chambers Bar Awards 2019 and 2022), and previously highlighted in Legal Week’s Stars of the Bar. That article explained: “Highly commended in 2013’s feature, 2017 sees Ford enter this feature in his own right, as someone who is equally as able at major oligarch disputes, as he is in offshore arbitrations and enforcement actions, to mainstream Commercial Court work, be they banking cases, shareholder disputes, or civil fraud claims…”
Tom has particular and regular experience of acting in high profile and lengthy trials. Recent instructions include acting in Federal Republic of Nigeria v. P&ID, a US $11 billion dollar eight week Commercial Court trial seeking to set aside an arbitration award on the grounds that the award was procured by fraud or contrary to public policy (one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2023); acting – both at first instance and in the Court of Appeal – for a Swiss lawyer in a successful jurisdiction challenge in Public Institution for Social Security v. Al Rajaan & Ors (a previous The Lawyer Top 20 case), and acting in the twelve week Commercial Court trial in Tatneft v. Bogolyubov and ors, the longest fully remote Commercial Court trial of 2020, involving the cross-examination of witnesses and experts from the UK, Russia, Ukraine and America via video link.
In addition to acting in trials and arbitrations, Tom has considerable experience in interlocutory matters (including freezing injunctions, applications concerning disclosure and challenges to privilege claims, summary judgment and security for costs applications), arbitration enforcement claims and in appeals.
Tom has also acted in arbitrations under various different rules (including ICC, LCIA, DIFC-LCIA, NAI and ad hoc) and seated in various different jurisdictions around the world, including different European Countries, the Middle East, and India. He has also acted in the DIFC Courts in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Education
Inns of Court School of Law (2008 BVC); University of London (2007 LLM); Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge (2006 BA Law (First Class Hons)).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Fraud: civil
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Tom Ford –Essex Court Chambers ‘Tom is an exceptionally gifted lawyer, who works extremely hard. He is a measured, careful and persuasive advocate.’
London Bar > Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Tom Ford –Essex Court Chambers ‘Tom is very smart and very hard-working. His legal analysis is matched by very few at the Bar.’
London Bar > Commercial litigation
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Tom Ford –Essex Court Chambers
‘Tom has a lot of energy, is well spoken, and a good strategist. He’s also a pleasure to work with – he has no weaknesses.‘
Fielding ‘one of the very finest groups of barristers around‘, Essex Court Chambers is a ‘go-to set for anything important or high-value‘. In recent highlights, Joe Smouha KC, leading Ciaran Keller, represented the government of Mozambique in the “Tuna bond case”, its claim against Credit Suisse concerning government-backed loans that were arranged by Credit Suisse and pushed Mozambique into a debt crisis. In The Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Process & Industrial Developments Ltd, Tom Ford was instructed as the most senior junior for Nigeria, which seeks to set aside an $11bn award, on the basis that it and the underlying contract were the result of a massive fraud. Ruth den Besten KC, who recently successfully defended a $1.2bn fraudulent misrepresentation and conspiracy claim concerning a mining venture in Guinea, was elevated to silk status in March 2023; and in November 2022, commercial dispute resolution junior Matthieu Gregoire joined from 4 New Square Chambers.