Tom Baker

Tom is a Partner at David W Harris & Co., where his practice covers wills, probate, trusts, powers of attorney and deputyship.

Colleagues describe Tom as hard-working, dedicated and attentive, and clients value the same qualities in his approach: a willingness to take complex tax and estate planning questions and translate them into plain, accessible language, so they feel properly informed before they make decisions.

He is known for an honest, straightforward style, and for giving advice that is tailored to a client's circumstances rather than offered as a standardised solution.

Much of his work involves people planning for later life or navigating the period after a bereavement, and Tom approaches those conversations with patience and care. He sees the role of a private client solicitor as partly technical and partly human: helping people work through the intricacies of the system, reduce inheritance tax exposure where possible and reach the outcome they want for themselves and their families.

For many clients, what they need is simply a well-drafted will or help administering an estate, without the need for complex planning, and Tom handles a good deal of that work too, giving it the same time and attention as any other matter.

Areas of practice

Tom focuses on a broad range of private client work, including the drafting of wills and Lasting Power of Attorney documentation the administration of estates and probate applications, the creation and administration of trusts, and inheritance tax and estate planning. He also acts in deputyship matters.

A typical engagement might involve guiding a client through putting their affairs in order for the first time, advising a family on how to protect wealth across generations, or supporting executors as they work through the practical and emotional realities of administering an estate.

Whatever the starting point, Tom takes time to understand the situation of each and every client and to explain the available options clearly, so that decisions are made with confidence rather than under pressure.

Experience and background

Tom holds an LLB from Cardiff University, where he graduated with a 2:1 in 2015, and went on to complete the Legal Practice Course in 2016. He joined David W Harris & Co. that same year as a Trainee Solicitor, spending his first two years focusing primarily on personal injury work before moving into private client matters from around 2019. He has built his private client practice steadily since then, developing particular knowledge of wills, probate, trusts and estate planning.

Tom is a member of the Association of Lifetime Lawyers and an Associate Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), through which he continues to progress. Before university, he grew up in Blackwood and completed his secondary education at Pontllanfraith Comprehensive School.

Outside the office

Sport plays a large part in Tom's life: he is a keen golfer, a recently retired cricketer who formerly captained Bridgend Town Cricket Club and represented Wales Minor Counties and Glamorgan Second XI, and a runner who completed the London Marathon in 2026 for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

Away from sport he is a committed early riser, with a 5.30 alarm and a gym session or run before every working day, and a dedicated home cook with a sizeable cookbook collection.

He is a non-fiction reader drawn to political memoirs and current affairs, and has Istanbul at the top of his travel list. If he had not gone into law he would probably be an accountant, with math always being an area of interest.