Tom Grodecki

Tom has advised numerous major financial services firms and some of the world’s most prominent energy, retail, transportation, industrial, telecommunications, and media organisations.  His clients have included JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Shell, BHP, Vitol and Virgin.

Tom has represented Heads of State, UK civil servants at Permanent Secretary/Director General level, Board Directors including the full Board of Shell Plc, and ultra-high net worth individuals.

Tom has been named to Lawdragon’s 2025 and 2026 “500 Global Leaders in Crisis Management” and to the 2025 “500 Leading Global Litigators” guides.

Tom earned his B.A. in jurisprudence and his B.C.L with distinction from Oxford University, where he also served as a company law tutor.

Compliance, Investigations and Enforcement

Tom’s extensive practice encompasses regulatory enforcement investigations, internal investigations and governance reviews across multiple sectors. His disclosable representations include:

• The Independent Review into TSB’s migration to a new IT platform, which left millions of its customers temporarily locked out of their bank accounts.
• Defending JPMorgan Chase in respect of cross-border regulatory investigations into the multi-trillion-dollar spot FX market, and JPM’s £222m settlement with the Financial Conduct Authority.
• Defending Standard Life Assurance Limited in the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation into the alleged mis-sale of non-advised annuities, and its subsequent settlement.
• Successfully defending Malcolm Brinded, (formerly Executive Chairman, Upstream International, and Board member at Shell) in the OPL 245 criminal bribery proceedings, described by the press as the largest ever bribery trial. Mr Brinded obtained a complete acquittal and declaration that the charges against him should never have been brought.
• Advising a core participant and multiple individual witnesses in one of the UK’s most prominent statutory public inquiries.
• Representing numerous listed issuers in the context of regulatory securities inquiries.

Litigation and Arbitration

Tom represents clients in their most significant and high-stakes disputes. These have included:

• Successfully defending Shell plc and its Board of Directors from ClientEarth’s application for permission to continue a derivative action. ClientEarth challenged the Board’s management of Shell’s climate strategy and accused them of breach of fiduciary duties.
• Representing BHP Group plc in one of the largest ever cases before the English courts, with over 700,000 claimants seeking in excess of £36bn in damages in relation to the collapse of the Fundão dam.
• Defending MAN SE, in respect of follow-on damages proceedings, in the wake of the EU Commission's c.€3 billion fine against truck manufacturers for cartel infringements.
• Successfully defending a multi-billion dollar claim in confidential arbitration proceedings in the energy & construction sector.
• Representing Virgin in its successful $180m claim against Alaska Airlines (purchaser of Virgin America) for its failure to pay Virgin royalties for the right to use the Virgin brand, and other contractual breaches.

Tom joined Cadwalader after more than a decade practicing at a Magic Circle firm.

Recent Publications

How Top Court Ruling Limits Scope Of Motor Finance Claims | Law360 | August 13, 2025

Artificial Intelligence, Real Liability: The legal risks of “AI-Washing” | The AI Journal | July 2025

Whistleblower Rewards May Soon Materialize In UK | Law360 | 05/28/2025

New measures will encourage companies to report fraud | The Times | 05/28/2025

Expect Complex Ruling From UK Justices In Car Dealer Case | Law360 | 05/01/2025

Recent Press

Nick Ephgrave’s Early Exit Leaves an Uncertain Future for SFO | The Times | January 22, 2026

SFO head to step down as speculation grows over future of agency | Compliance Week | January 2026