Barristers

Thomas Elias

Thomas Elias

Serle Court, London

Position

Thomas has a wide-ranging commercial chancery practice with particular expertise in company law, civil fraud, insolvency and intellectual property.

Notable recent matters include successfully appealing a finding of dishonesty in a three day appeal in the Court of Appeal (Floreat v Churchill [2023] EWCA  Civ 440) (leading John Eldridge), successfully defending a claim to a property worth c. £8 million under s. 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (Lemos v Church Bay [2023] EWHC 2384 (Ch)) (leading Andrew Gurr), and appearing  in the Court of Appeal in Marks & Spencer v Aldi Stores in a design right case relating to light-up snow globe gin liqueur bottles (led by Michael Edenborough KC). He also appeared as part of a team in two appeals to the Privy Council from The Bahamas.

Thomas is due to appear in a three week Commercial Court fraud trial in the summer of 2024.

Thomas is recognized in the Legal 500 as a leading practitioner in commercial litigation, company law, intellectual property and insolvency.

He is one of the editors of Minority Shareholders: Law, Practice and Procedure (Joffe et al, 7th edn, 2024) and a contributing editor of CITMA’s Contentious Trade Mark Registry Proceedings (2nd edn, 2023).

Career

Called 2008 (Inner Temple).  Called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court 2013. Previous career as a clerk in the House of Lords.

Memberships

Chancery Bar Association; COMBAR: IP Bar Association

Education

King’s College, Cambridge (1995 BA; 1999 MA; 2001 MPhil; 2001 PhD).

City University (2007 CPE distinction; 2008 BVC outstanding, top in year)

Leisure

People, music, food, wine.

Mentions

London Bar

Commercial litigation

Leading junior4
Thomas Elias – Serle Court ‘Thomas is astonishingly clever. He also has terrific judgement and commands enormous respect from the judiciary.'
London Bar

Company

Leading junior5
Thomas Elias – Serle Court ‘Thomas is astonishingly clever and has terrific judgement.’
London Bar

Insolvency

Leading junior4
Thomas Elias – Serle Court ‘Thomas is astonishingly clever. He also has terrific judgement and appears to command enormous respect from the judiciary.’
London Bar

Intellectual property

Leading junior4
Thomas Elias – Serle Court ‘Thomas is strong of mind and willing to make the difficult arguments in his client's best interests. He provides the advice that matters at an early stage, cuts through issues, and is a quick thinker on his feet.'