Tom Besant represents large corporations and individuals in various contentious matters, including fraud, insolvency, antitrust, and contractual disputes. He has extensive experience in both litigation and arbitration. The Legal 500 describes him as a "superb drafter and surefire partner of the future" and as a "future star."
Tom's recent experience includes representing: the liquidator of Comet, the former UK high street retail giant, in the largest ever preference clawback claim successfully brought under the United Kingdom's 1986 Insolvency Act; Mastercard in its groundbreaking defense of numerous multibillion pound claims, alleging that its interchange fees and certain network rules are anticompetitive; and a leading United Arab Emirates bank in its efforts to recover substantial sums due under various loan instruments, as part of which injunctive relief was successfully obtained in the United Kingdom, Jersey, the British Virgin Islands, and France in support of substantive proceedings in the UAE.
In 2018 and 2019, Tom spent seven months seconded to the litigation and regulatory team at Goldman Sachs in London where he advised on a range of matters across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
Experience
- BPP Law School, London (Legal Practice Course with distinction 2013; Graduate Diploma in Law with commendation 2012); University of Oxford (B.A. in Modern Languages [French and Italian] 2011)
- Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales