Thomas Dillon is a Barrister, admitted in England & Wales (and in California). After taking a degree in Classics at Queens’ College, Cambridge, he was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1983. He studied intellectual property and competition law at Queen Mary & Westfield College, London (Diploma, 1990). He became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1999. In 2009 he completed an MBA (Film Business) at Sir John Cass Business School. In 2023 he graduated from Queen Mary, University of London with distinction as a Master of Laws in International Dispute Resolution. He is an accredited mediator.
He practised as a Barrister in England and Wales from 1984 to 2000, qualifying on the way as a California attorney in 1998. In 2000 he undertook an internship at the Motion Picture Association in Los Angeles, then took up an appointment as inhouse counsel at the MPA’s EMEA office in Brussels. In 2006 he was promoted to Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, EMEA. In 2009 he returned to London and set up his own legal practice, continuing to advise the MPA and other businesses in the media and financial sectors. From 2014 to 2023 he worked at the World Intellectual Property Organization as a Legal Counsellor.
He is a member of British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Royal Television Society, London Centre. From 2009 to 2015 he was a director of Ffilm Cymru Wales. In 2015 he was appointed chairman of the Film Complaints Panel, UK.