Tom Snelling

Experience

Commercial Litigation

• Advising a worldwide automotive manufacturer on emissions issues in the UK.
• Advising a California-based tech company on a potential dispute with a developer of one of the top ten most popular entertainment apps in the US.
• Advising Cargill in its long running dispute against one of the largest steel manufacturers in India. In 2019, Tom successfully obtained summary judgment in favour of Cargill and an award of default compensation at a rate of LIBOR plus 12%. This was one of the first cases to apply the UK Supreme Court’s seminal decision in Cavendish Square v Makdessi [2015] UKSC 67, which redefined English law as to when contractual obligations are an unenforceable penalty.
• Acting for a major bank in one of the most significant pieces of post-credit crunch litigation in the English Courts and then obtaining one of the largest non-party costs orders ever made.  To enforce the resulting judgment debt, Tom successfully had equitable receivers appointed and defeated a subsequent attempt to set aside their appointment.  Related proceedings include obtaining Norwich Pharmacal relief in England and Wales and Guernsey, litigation in the Turks and Caicos Islands, proceedings in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales determining the UK’s contempt of court jurisdiction against foreign defendants, successful enforcement action in the Norwegian Supreme Court (leading to the sale of a key asset in 2020), and a US trial in late 2019.
• Acting for Deutsche Bank in its dispute with Unitech, one of the first cases to consider the civil consequences of alleged LIBOR manipulation. This case had been to the Court of Appeal on a number of interlocutory points (including LIBOR) and at trial in 2019, the Court entered judgment (on the first day of the trial) against Unitech for approximately USD $315m.
• Advising Accenture in its multi-million pound dispute with Centrica (British Gas) over the design and implementation of the largest billing system ever installed for a major utility company.
• Acting for Hutchison 3G in a dispute with its network software supplier concerning delays in production and quality.
• Representing a multinational in its successful defence of English High Court group litigation proceedings brought by a group of landowners, claiming for environmental damage allegedly caused by the construction of an oil pipeline.
• Acting for a global feed business on litigation strategy issues in the context of a potential dispute with a leading private equity house.

EU Law and Judicial Review

• Advising a high profile body in the insurance sector in connection with public law issues engaged by the UK Government’s position on a contentious EU directive and in connection with potential UK Supreme Court proceedings and related contribution claims.
• Obtaining a reference from the English High Court and then bringing proceedings in the CJEU to challenge the legality of the EU’s revised Tobacco Products Directive.
• Bringing judicial review/constitutional challenge proceedings in the English High Court, Court of Appeal, the UK Supreme Court, the Australian High Court and the Irish Courts against bans on the branding of certain consumer products.
• Acting for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants in the 2016 UK Supreme Court hearing of R (on the application of MM (Lebanon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department.
• Advising a global product manufacturer on complex challenges to UK and EU food law.

International Arbitration, Civil Fraud and Risk Management

• Representing members of the Privinvest Group in connection with a US$2bn claim brought against Credit Suisse by the Republic of Mozambique. The claim relates to supply agreements and supporting financial instruments and guarantees entered into by state-owned enterprises dedicated to the development of Mozambique’s offshore Exclusive Economic Zone and supporting international investment into its oil and gas reserves. The claim engages allegations of bribery of Mozambican government officials.
• Advising a major multinational in relation to complex and high value ICC arbitration proceedings involving a six-week hearing in 2019.
• Advising a UK plc in the energy sector in connection with complex LCIA arbitration proceedings.
• Leading a team advising in complex cross border litigation involving allegations of fraud, conspiracy and breach of directors’ duties. The litigation involved freezing and asset disclosure injunctions being granted in favour of an entity connected to an ultra high net worth individual and a related jurisdictional dispute being appealed to the UK Supreme Court and a successful preliminary reference to the CJEU.
• Advising manufacturers and retailers of food, feed and consumer products in connection with numerous safety issues, including global product recalls and an investigation into the cause of a multi-million dollar food contamination crisis.
• Advising a leading manufacturer of consumer products on data integrity and disclosure risk management in the context of a global migration to Microsoft Cloud.
• Advising clients on appearances before UK Parliamentary Select Committees.