ThomasJames represents institutional investors in high-stakes corporate governanceand fiduciary duty litigation, with extensive experience litigating significant matters in courts around the country and focusing on complex actions before the Delaware Court of Chancery. Tom’s practice draws from his clerkship for Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery and significant experience at well-known plaintiff and defense firms.
Tom is an experienced trial lawyerwho has played central roles in landmark Delaware decisions and actions involving poison pills, special purpose acquisition companies, alternative entities, controlling stockholder transactions, and director accountability.
Tom has played key roles in severalsignificant matters, including:
In re CVR Refining LP Unitholder Litigation (Del. Ch.): $78.5million settlement obtained post-trial in a class action involving a controller squeeze-out of CVR Refining minority unit holders.
The Williams Companies Stockholder Litigation (Del. Ch.):post-trial victory permanently enjoining a novel “poison pill” adopted by the Williams Companies, upheld on appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.
In re Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. Merger Litigation (Del. Ch.): $79 million partial settlement obtained in breach of fiduciary duty action against Columbia Pipeline’s CEO and CEO.
In re AVX Corporation Stockholder Litigation (Del. Ch.): $49.9million settlement for minority stockholders in litigation arising from a controller squeeze-out transaction.
Fishel v. Liberty Media Corporation, et al. (Del. Ch.): $36million settlement in novel class and derivative action challenging a creeping takeover of SiriusXM and extraction of non-ratable benefits by a controlling stockholder.
Wilhoite, et al. v. Hou, et al. (S.D. Cal.): obtained temporary restraining order against officers and directors of autonomous trucking company in action arising from trade secret misappropriation and subsequent $42.5 million settlement.
Tom’s commentary on corporate governance, takeover defenses, and Delaware jurisprudence has been featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and the NewYork Law Journal. He is also a frequent speaker at premier academic and industry forums, including Boston College Law School, Harvard Law School, Villanova Law School and the Federal Securities Institute.
Tom is widely recognized among the nation’s leading emerging litigators, with repeated honors from Lawdragon (“Lawdragon 500 X — The Next Generation” and “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers”), Law360 (“2025 Rising Star”), Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers, and The Legal 500. He is admitted to practice in New York and in multiple federal courts.
Before joining the firm, Tom was a partner at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and an associate at Weil, Gotshal& Mange’s LLP. Before entering private practice, Tom clerked for Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster on the Delaware Court of Chancery. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School, where he served as a Senior Editor of the Boston College Law Review. Tom also holds a B.A. in history from Hamilton College, with honors.
Client-centered. Value driven. Trial-ready