Tom Snelling
For nearly 25 years, Tom has been helping clients navigate some of the most complex and business critical commercial litigation and arbitration matters. His clients benefit from the fact that Tom has done so in a broad cross section of business sectors and across multiple jurisdictions.
Tom is well-known in particular for managing high value, commercial disputes in the consumer products and retail sector. This reflects his genuine interest in his clients’ businesses and loved brands that have changed the world.
Over the last four years, Tom been building his practice from the platform of Signature Litigation: a disputes-only group that suffers none of the distractions of much larger, full-service, law firms. Being at this boutique and benefiting from its focus on what should matter to law firms: client work, Tom has rekindled his enthusiasm for legal practice. As a result, he has been tremendously successful while acting on some of the most high-value and complex mandates being brought before the English High Court.
There is clearly sufficient basis to revisit why he not been ranked in the top bands for Commercial Litigation and Civil Fraud. Two cases which have been exceptionally active in 2024 and are expected to continue into 2025 provide sufficient evidence to justify this inclusion.
First, Tom has been pivotal to defending Privinvest in the over US$3bn claim brought against it and others by Mozambique in the so-called ‘Tuna Bonds’ litigation. The litigation came to trial in the High Court in late 2023 by way of 12 separate sets of proceedings, which also involved Tom managing appeal hearings in the Court of Appeal twice and in the UK Supreme Court. Tom led the team through a 12-week trial having to navigate the fact that the litigation was seriously hampered by acknowledged and serious disclosure failings by Mozambique and by the failure of its own President to acknowledge service of process to enable his proper participation in the trial, and thus bring his role in procuring the allegedly corrupt contracts sovereign guarantees. Applications for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal are pending.
Trial followed a gargantuan disclosure exercise overseen by Tom which, by contrast to that of his opponents, was praised by the trial judge. Tom’s ability to navigate this successfully was helped by him being a market leader in applying e-disclosure to complex commercial litigation, having trained a group of High Court judges on this issue. The judge for the Privinvest trial also noted that the command that Tom’s team had of the enormous amount of material in play was utterly impressive.
Both judicial comments reflect the innovative way in which Tom harnesses technology to keep costs in check and to deliver value to clients, and his charismatic and empathetic leadership style. Tom is a clear favourite among clients and his team, who enjoy his open and empowering approach.
Second, Tom is leading the Signature Litigation team defending Renault in the NOx Diesel Emissions Group Litigation in England and Wales and similar proceedings in Scotland. The President of the High Court King’s Bench Division has described the scale of this litigation as “unprecedented” and that “that the potential costs involved are enormous and, without active case management, have the potential to become wholly disproportionate to the sums actually involved or in particular the sums (if any) ultimately recoverable by any individual claimant”.
Renault is a key player in proceedings in which more than 1.5 million claims have been issued. A technical trial in the English High Court is listed for 10 weeks in October 2025. Most recently, in the context of disclosure in this case, Tom has represented Renault in the High Court and the Court of Appeal concerning the so-called French Blocking Statute and the process for giving evidence through the Hague Convention, in what is now a leading authority.
In this litigation, Tom played a key role in the costs budgeting applications that led to a 2024 High Court judgment describing his opponents’ costs approach as: ‘absurd’, ‘extraordinary’, ‘disproportionate’, ‘eye-watering’, ‘redolent of financial incontinence’, and ‘plainly unreasonable’.
The English Courts have not seen the likes of the NOx Diesel Emissions litigation before and it is presenting unique challenges for all parties. In running the team for one of the lead defendants, Tom is actively deploying innovative case management and legal tech solutions (plus good humour). He has also been presenting his client’s case (and testing that of his opponents) directly to the two High Court judges actively managing the proceedings at fortnightly progress meetings with them.
Tom’s strengths are reflected in the following feedback from clients and others involved in these cases in 2024:
“Tom has navigated a complex multi-party multi-jurisdictional legal dispute with unwavering professional, dedication and dynamism.”
“Tom is an extremely intelligent, strategic, proactive, forward-thinking litigator. His dedication and availability coupled with his ability to communicate clearly and concisely has enabled an extremely successful working relationship.”
“Tom's strategic insights and innovative problem-solving skills have at times been instrumental. His understanding of the legal landscape is impressive. Tom possesses a breadth of legal knowledge and expertise that has enabled him to tackle even the most challenging legal issues with precision.”
“He has the ability to delve into even the most complex of details swiftly and effectively.”
“Tom has run a team of litigators at Signature Litigation seamlessly during this time, clearly inspiring loyalty and respect.”
A “hands on and good fun lawyer who built and led a team through… some mammoth litigation.”
“Throughout the process we were impressed by his team spirit and ability to explain complex legal issues in simple terms such that the end client… got comfortable with disclosure duties and the other areas of English law which were previously alien.”
“Tom maintained good humour and professionalism throughout working on the case and shepherded us through some truly testing times.”
“Tom was personable, professional, always ready…”
“Tom's strategic acumen, legal expertise, professionalism, and commitment to excellence make him a standout litigator. Tom's ability to think innovatively and his unwavering dedication to achieving success make him a valuable asset to have on your side.”
Beyond these two ‘mega cases’, Tom remains well-known for his longstanding commitment to pro bono work. He has represented: Save the Children; someone seriously injured in the London 7/7 bombings; and the family of one of the Manchester Arena bombing victims. Tom has also 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.
