Tom Williams | Harrison Clark Rickerbys

A bit about me

In any dispute, I believe that finding real world solutions to your legal problems is key – with this in mind, I help you get on with what you do best. I know that nobody wants to be involved in a dispute, let alone court proceedings, so I find a way to solve the issue in a way that saves time and money.

I won’t tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear, giving frank and realistic advice. This approach has served me and my clients well, and I settle as many cases as possible out of court. I enjoy the variety that comes with litigation, and I help people of all kinds, recently having worked with buyers and sellers of high-value businesses, victims of defamation or harassment, executors of estates, property owners and manufacturers.

I love to learn, and as a dispute resolution lawyer, I get the chance to discover something new every day, whether that’s a legal development or an aspect of a client’s business I would never have known about otherwise. This passion for learning spills over to home, and I’m fascinated in ancient Greek and Roman history, inspired by my classics studies at university.

Want to know more?

Be prepared to look at your dispute from a different perspective – it’s is not about who’s right and who’s wrong, but what can we do to fix it.

Read your contract properly before you enter into it, and establish what terms and conditions apply and what would happen if something went wrong.

Documentary evidence is vital, and a lack of it can be fatal. Keep good records, minute key meetings and confirm important information in writing, including emails.

Can we issue proceeding quickly to put pressure on?

In some cases, there is an urgent need to issue proceedings (for example, if we need to obtain an injunction preventing someone from doing something). However, court proceedings should be seen as a last resort. In almost all cases, we should set out the details of the dispute and seek to resolve it out of court if possible.

Can I get the other side to pay my costs?

In certain circumstances, but a full recovery is unusual. Most cases settle before trial and costs are often a key area of compromise. Litigation is rarely “cost neutral”, which is one of the reasons why early settlement is generally preferable.

How much will it cost?

At the outset, there are usually too many unknown factors to give anything but an indication of the final costs, but I will give a budget for the initial steps and stick to it.

Teams I work with