Tom Cassels

Tom is a commercial litigator noted as a leading practitioner in public law and competition litigation. Tom advises household name clients on high-profile disputes and investigations as well as preparing senior management for appearance at Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) hearings, public inquiries and select committee hearings and judicial reviews.

Tom works in close collaboration with lawyers from the firm’s other market-leading practice areas, including 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:

• Visa in its defence of thousands of claims in Interchange fee litigation
• AF/KLM in defence of multiparty, follow-on litigation relating to Air Cargo
• Halifax in defence of judicial review proceedings relating to PPISSE in a judicial review raising State Aid issues relating to significant projects
• Three in its High Court dispute with EE relating to delivery of Free Carrier sites
• 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 Benckiser on a product liability issue facing one of its subsidiaries, Oxy RB
• the BBC on aspects of its competition and regulatory functions

Tom is a 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, including for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children. Other cases include representing:

• the AIRE Centre in litigation concerning refugee status of children fleeing from the migrant camps of Calais

• supporting the team running the “Twitter Joke Trial”

Tom studied law at Queen’s College, Cambridge University.