Thomas C. Merchant
Thomas Merchant is General Counsel, Franklin Templeton.
Prior to Franklin Templeton, Tom Merchant was General Counsel at Legg Mason. In his role as General Counsel, Tom oversaw the Firm’s legal and compliance divisions. Tom joined Legg Mason in 1998 as Associate General Counsel. He progressed in his roles to include Vice President, General Counsel Corporate and Corporate Secretary, while successfully leading the Company’s Corporate Legal Department. As head of the Corporate Legal Department, Tom has been responsible for overseeing all legal aspects of corporate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions and financings, public company reporting requirements and annual stockholder meetings.
Prior to joining Legg Mason, Tom was a Corporate Associate at Shearman & Sterling in New York from 1993-1998.
He earned a B.S. in Economics from Penn State University, graduating with honours and high distinction. Tom received a J.D. from New York University School of Law.