Year of call: 2002
Thomas joined Kings Chambers following a number of years as a barrister in private practice. Most recently, he was a partner of the leading law firm in Qatar, where he built and headed the arbitration team and led the firm’s practice before the Qatar International Court and Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Tribunal. Before that, he was a partner and head of arbitration and commercial dispute resolution at the London office of an international law firm. He began his career at the independent Bar in London, where he specialised in commercial and chancery matters.
Thomas is an experienced advocate before courts and arbitral tribunals. He has appeared frequently in the English High Court (including the Commercial Court) and the Court of Appeal. He has been lead counsel in arbitrations governed by the major institutional rules, and in ad hoc arbitrations under the Arbitration Act 1996 and the Qatari Arbitration Law 2017. He often appears with and against King’s Counsel.
He acts in all areas covered by the Business and Property Team. His litigation practice involves a wide range of commercial, corporate and regulatory matters, often with an international element. He has considerable experience of the enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards, and frequently works with lawyers in other jurisdictions. The focus of his arbitration practice is on complex commercial and construction disputes.
Thomas sits regularly as an arbitrator. He is a member of the panel of arbitrators of the ICC, the LCIA, the SCC, the Shanghai Arbitration Commission, the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration, the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration, and the Madras Chamber of Commerce. He has also undertaken an expert determination in the context of a major construction project in Qatar.
From 2017 to 2023, Thomas was a member of the Disciplinary Panel of the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service, in which capacity he served on tribunals to determine disciplinary charges against member of the Bar, both at first instance and on appeal.
Legal 500 and Chambers Global say that he as a “fantastic lawyer” who is “very fast in grasping the points presented to him”, with “the ability to put forward arguments succinctly and persuasively”, and that he is “a warm and dynamic character” with “really good soft skills”.
Thomas has extensive experience of arbitration, and arbitration-related litigation. His main focus is on disputes in the commercial and construction sectors.
His recent experience includes the following:
Commercial arbitration
Representing a Spanish party to a JV in an LCIA arbitration against its Qatari former JV partner, concerning the profits arising from the development of a food facility in Qatar.
Representing a Qatari party to a JV in an ICC arbitration against its Irish JV partner, concerning the profits arising from a number of major infrastructure projects in Qatar.
Representing the US party to a JV in an ICC arbitration against its Saudi Arabian JV partner, concerning the profits arising from a construction project in Saudi Arabia.
Representing a Nigerian party to a JV in ICC arbitration against its Nigerian JV partner, concerning the purchase of a formerly government-owned electricity company in Nigeria.
Representing Lebanese and Iraqi individuals in an LCIA arbitration against a commercial fishery in Sierra Leone, relating to a ship finance facility.
Representing a Lebanese individual in an LCIA arbitration against the Iraqi owner of a power plant in Iraq, arising out of a consultancy agreement.
Construction arbitration
Representing a Qatari employer in an ICC arbitration against a Qatari project manager, in relation to the construction of a shopping mall in Doha.
Representing a Qatari MEP sub-contractor in an ICC arbitration against an Indian contractor, concerning the construction of a major energy facility in Doha.
Representing a Qatari sub-contractor in an ICC arbitration against a Qatari employer, arising from core and shell works carried out as part of a major residential and commercial building project in Doha.
Representing an Italian steel sub-contractor in an ICC arbitration against an Italian contractor, arising from the construction of a stadium in Doha.
Representing an Indian contractor in three ICC arbitrations, case managed and heard together, against a Chinese steel sub-contractor, concerning the construction of a stadium in Doha.
Representing an Indian sub-contractor in an ICC arbitration against a Qatari contractor, concerning the construction of a prominent mixed-use development in Doha.
Representing Italian and Qatari sub-contractors in a QICCA arbitration against a Qatari contractor, arising from the construction of a major port facility in Qatar.
Representing a Qatari sub-contractor in an ICC arbitration against a Qatari contractor, arising from the construction of a major energy plant in Qatar.
Representing a Malaysian employer in an ICC arbitration against a Malaysian sub-contractor, concerning the construction of a petrochemical plant in Malaysia.
Arbitration-related litigation:
Enforcing an arbitral award in England on behalf of a Qatari entity.
Enforcing an arbitral award in England against an African country.
Representing the Government of Laos in the English Commercial Court, setting aside orders recognising arbitral awards in various jurisdictions which were subsequently annulled at the seat.
Thomas has a broad commercial and company practice. He is experienced in claims for breach of commercial contracts, joint venture disputes, fraud, and claims for knowing assistance and breach of trust. He has also enforced judgments in the English High Court and abroad. He has sought and resisted the winding-up of companies, including obtaining injunctions to restrain the presentation of statutory demands and winding-up petitions, and advised liquidators on claw-back remedies. He successfully presented the first creditor’s winding-up petition in the Qatar International Court. He also has considerable experience of personal insolvency.
His reported decisions are as follows:
Investment Invoice Financing Limited v. Limehouse Board Mills Limited [2006] 1 WLR 985: representing the Appellant in the Court of Appeal in a case which considered the jurisdiction of, and principles to be applied by, a court when requiring assignees of claims to provide security for the payment of costs ordered to be paid by the assignor.
Churchill v. First Independent Factors and Finance Limited [2007] BusLR 676: representing the Appellant in the Court of Appeal on a second appeal concerning the proper interpretation of r.4.228 of the Insolvency Rules 1986. The Court of Appeal gave permission to appeal because the case, the arguments and the subject matter (phoenix companies) were of public importance. The case required those involved in MBOs to reconsider their methodology and approach.
His recent experience includes the following:
Representing a Scottish oil and gas company in English Commercial Court proceedings, relating to tax indemnities in an SPA.
Representing a financial services professional and related entities in English High Court proceedings, arising from the termination of a retainer.
Representing a prominent Qatari businessman in the Qatar International Court, in relation to a dispute with a QFC-incorporated financial services company.
Representing an English supplier of energy products in winding-up proceedings in the Qatar International Court against a QFC-incorporated energy consultancy, arising out of an ICC arbitration.
Enforcing an English judgment in India, including in the Indian Supreme Court, under the Indian Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.
Representing English defendants in a liability trial in the Qatar International Court, arising from the sale of a BVI company under an SPA. The case also involved having to resist applications for a third-party debt order, a freezing injunction and security for costs.
Representing an English businessman in proceedings brought by the QFC Regulatory Authority, including appeals against liability and sanction before the Regulatory Tribunal of the QFC and the Appellate Division of the Qatar International Court.
Representing an Australian businessman in a claim before the Qatar International Court, including bringing proceedings for contempt.
Thomas has considerable experience of professional negligence, in both litigation and arbitration proceedings. Relevant cases include the following:
Fryatt v. Preston Mellor Harrison (a firm) [2015] EWHC: representing the purchaser of an option to purchase land, in an action against his solicitors for negligent conveyance advice. Successfully established negligence.
Representing a Danish sub-contractor in an ICC arbitration brought against it by an English contractor, in relation to the alleged negligent design of bridges in Qatar.
Representing an East Asian conglomerate in an LCIA arbitration, defending a negligence/product liability dispute brought by a Central European renewable chemicals manufacturer.
St John’s College, Cambridge: Choral Scholar, McMahon Law Scholar
Lincoln’s Inn: Hardwicke Scholar
MA: St John’s College, Cambridge (2000)
LLM: Durham University (2001)
Follow the money: Commercial Litigation Journal (2019). An article on the enforcement of a foreign judgment in India.
Using foreign judgments to get your debt paid under India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code: Global Restructuring Review (2019).
Costs of Arbitration: GAR Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (2019).
Global arbitrations around the world: Qatar: Lexology and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (2019).
Interim relief in Arbitration: GAR Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (2019).
Challenging Arbitral Awards in Qatar: GAR Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (2020).
The Advance on Costs in International Arbitration: Reimbursement of Substituted Payment: Kluwer Journal of International Arbitration (2020).
Qatar Chapter: GAR Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (2020). An article concerning the effect on a Doha-seated arbitration of a moratorium under s.14 of the Indian Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.
Oil and Gas Arbitration: a perspective from Qatar: Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution International Arbitration Review (2021).
Does a Right to a Physical Hearing Exist in International Arbitration? Qatar report for the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (2021).
Legal 500 Country Comparative Guides: Qatar International Arbitration Guide (2021).
Seat of Arbitration: Doha or the QFC: GAR Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (2022).
