The lawyer behind the biggest class action in British legal history: Tom Goodhead on building Pogust Goodhead and its $550m bet to take on the global litigation elite
In this conversation, we speak with Tom Goodhead, managing partner of Pogust Goodhead, one of the UK's fastest-growing litigation firms.
Tom shares the extraordinary story behind the firm’s rise - from his early days as a junior barrister handling slip-and-trip cases in Tesco to leading the largest class action in British legal history against mining giant BHP. Speaking from Rio de Janeiro, Tom describes how a chance meeting with a Brazilian lawyer fighting for 6,000 fishermen turned into a sprawling international legal battle, ultimately securing a $550 million litigation funding deal with US hedge fund Gramercy.
He explains how Pogust Goodhead built the infrastructure to service tens of thousands of claimants across continents, why managing mass litigation is more like running a political campaign than a law firm, and how his team has gone head-to-head with a roster of elite firms including Slaughter and May, White & Case and Herbert Smith Freehills.
Tom also discusses how he thinks about litigation funding conflicts, what it takes to maintain trust with funders, and how Pogust Goodhead is using an innovative synthetic equity scheme to incentivise its lawyers to bet on the firm’s success. He shares his broader vision for the future: building a global claimant-side powerhouse capable of challenging corporate giants the way Kirkland & Ellis or Quinn Emanuel have dominated commercial defence work.
Chapters
00:50 Introduction to the BHP Case
02:08 The Journey to the Case
06:01 Client Management in Class Actions
10:16 The Scale of the Environmental Disaster
14:00 Commercial Stakes and Legal Strategies
18:01 Litigation Funding and Financial Strategies
23:59 Challenges and Restructuring Decisions
30:03 Transformative Legal Battles: The BHP Case
34:25 Navigating Conflicts with Litigation Funders
41:16 Impact of PACCAR on the Funding Industry
47:05 Attracting and Retaining Legal Talent
56:08 Vision for the Future of Pogust Goodhead
