Thomas Phillips

Thomas is currently undertaking pupillage at Hailsham Chambers under the supervision of Thomas Crockett, Imran Benson, and Heather McMahon.

Prior to commencing pupillage, Thomas worked for a number of years as a paralegal at a specialist commercial litigation firm. There, he worked on domestic and multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes variously involving issues of: breach of contract, civil fraud, banking & financial markets law (in particular, FSMA, ss.90 and 90A), jurisdiction, privilege, costs, and insurance. Consequently, he understands the issues and pressures which solicitors acting in this area regularly face and has experience assisting with matters such as disclosure (generally and under PD 51U), preparing for CMCs and interim hearings, as well as preparing case documents and witness statements.

Following his time as a paralegal, Thomas was a Commercial Fast Stream Trainee for a year in the Civil Service where he was posted to the Ministry of Justice. There, he advised on the management and procurement of contracts for the accommodation of individuals leaving prison at risk of homelessness.  As a result, he was exposed to a broad range of commercial issues and developed an understanding of how large organisations approach disputes.

Thomas has also interned at the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (where he represented clients in appeals against benefits decisions) and the AIRE Centre (where he drafted letters to clients advising them of their EEA rights). Accordingly, Thomas has experience of working with and assisting lay clients.

Over the course of his pupillage to-date, Thomas has gained experience of clinical negligence matters (during his seat with Thomas Crockett) and professional negligence and insurance matters (during his seat with Imran Benson). He is keen to develop a practice in all the core areas of Chambers’ work.