Tom Ford

Practice Areas

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, often with a fraud aspect. He frequently argues matters against King’s Counsel, and acts both in Court and arbitration.

Recent instructions include acting for the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 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 of a claim arising from the alleged laundering of funds connected to the Kuwaiti Public Institution for Social Security (a previous The Lawyer Top 20 case), and acting for a Ukrainian oligarch in the 2020 twelve week US $380m Commercial Court relating to alleged expropriation of funds connected to oil payments.

Tom’s expertise has been recognised as exceptional: he has been shortlisted twice as Commercial Junior of the Year and featured in Legal Week's 10 Stars at the Bar amongst other commendations.