We are delighted to announce that Professor Leslie Thomas KC of Garden Court Chambers has been listed in the Top 100 Influential People 2025.
The Top 100 Influential People 2025 highlights and rewards influential people who affect and impact society today, across a broad range of sectors, including human rights.
Professor Leslie Thomas KC is a renowned barrister, law professor and specialist in civil liberties, human rights and police and inquest law. With over 30 years of legal experience, he has earned a reputation as a leading advocate for justice, representing families in numerous high-profile cases involving state or corporate abuses of power. His extensive practice includes landmark inquests such as those for the Hillsborough families, Sean Rigg, Mark Duggan, Smiley Culture, Anthony Grainger and the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Called to the Bar in 1988, he has three decades of dedication to standing up for the little person and is considered by Chambers UK to be one of the country’s leading lawyers for claims against the police and other public authorities. Indeed, despite initially getting a pupillage at a commercial chambers, Leslie realised his purpose was to represent the small person who had suffered at the hands of the state. He has also engaged in impactful international cases, such as defending land rights on the Caribbean island of Barbuda following governmental challenges to communal ownership after Hurricane Irma. Leslie has received numerous prestigious accolades recognising his exceptional contributions to justice and the legal profession.
These include being twice named Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK Diversity Legal Awards. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2014 as testament to his legal expertise. Alongside his advocacy, Leslie is the co-author of Inquests: A Practitioner’s Guide, underscoring his leadership in the field of inquest law and public accountability.
See the full Top 100 Influential People 2025 list.
