Tom joined Linklaters in 1998 and was the first person of Black-African heritage to be elected as a US partner within Linklaters and the first Black-African partner to be elected as a member of the firms International Board (on which he sat from 2011-2014). As a member of the International Board, Tom was one of 14 partners responsible for the firms strategy and performance, out of 400+ partners.
Tom has been co-chair of the Linklaters Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network since 2009. The network aims to encourage and influence attraction, recruitment, retention and promotion of people from black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds at all levels within Linklaters, both lawyers and business services staff. In 2013, Tom was jointly responsible for the BAME Networks launch of the firms Inspired to Succeed series which focuses on soft-skill development, career flexibility and networking. The sessions are delivered by external experts.
Tom recognised a serious issue within Linklaters own diversity statistics (in 2013 just 1% of junior associates were black, while 16% were of Asian origin) and is passionate about addressing this to ensure that more lawyers of black heritage join Linklaters and make it to partnership in the future.
