Thomas H. Bell is a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, where he is a member of the firm's corporate department.  Mr. Bell specializes in investment management matters and oversees the firm's private funds practice, an area in which the firm has a preeminent international presence, having been chosen as the "Global Private Funds Law Firm of the Year" for five consecutive years (2005-2009) by Who's Who Legal.  He advises clients globally on organizing and advising a wide range of buyout funds, real estate funds, venture capital funds and other kinds of private equity funds, as well as hedge funds, offshore funds and other kinds of funds for alternative asset categories.  He is a frequent lecturer before professional groups on private investment funds of all kinds.

Representative buyout, real estate, venture capital and other private equity clients include Aquiline Capital Partners, Calera Capital, CapGen Financial, The Carlyle Group, Evercore Partners, Ferrer Freeman, The JE Robert Companies, JC Flowers & Co, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, New Mountain Capital, The Sentient Group and Sterling Investment Partners. Representative hedge fund and similar private investment fund clients include Brummer & Partners, ESL Investments, and Zurich Capital Markets.

Mr. Bell joined Simpson Thacher in 1983 and became a partner in 1992.  He received his BA, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1978, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa.  He received his JD from Yale Law School in 1983, where he was editor of The Yale Law Journal.  Mr. Bell is a past chair of the Subcommittee on Private Investment Funds of the International Bar Association.  He is the founder and past co-chair of the International Conference on Private Investment Funds co-sponsored by the IBA and the ABA.  Mr. Bell was named "Global Private Funds Lawyer of the Year" for 2006 and 2007 by Who's Who Legal.  He received an award for "Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession" from Chambers Awards for Excellence in 2007.  He enjoys the highest ranking from Chambers Global, Chambers USA, PLC Which Lawyer?, IFLR and Legal 500.

Honors/Associations

•	American Bar Association
•	Association of the Bar of the City of New York
•	International Bar Association
•	International Bar Association Subcommittee on Private Investment Funds, Chair, 1997-2001
•	International Bar Association International Conference on Private Investment Funds, Co-Chair, 1999-2002

Publications

•	Investment Advisers and Private Funds Alert: SEC Adopts Rules on Exemptions to Registration and Reporting Requirements Pursuant to Dodd-Frank
•	Regulations Proposed to Implement the Volcker Rule
•	Reflections on Dodd-Frank: A Look Back and a Look Forward
•	Getting The Deal Through – Private Equity 2011
•	SEC To Consider Extension of Registration Deadline Date for Advisers Relying on Private Adviser Exemption to Early 2012
•	Regulation of Private Funds and Their Advisers Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
•	The Final SEC Rule on Political Contributions by Investment Advisers
•	The Impact on Private Equity and Hedge Funds of the Financial Regulatory Reform Bills: A Legislative Update
•	Getting The Deal Through – Private Equity 2010
•	Getting The Deal Through - Private Equity 2009
•	New Jersey Court Protects Private Equity Funds’ Confidential Agreements With State From Disclosure
•	"Fund Formation - United States" in Getting the Deal Through - Private Equity 2005. London: Law Business Research Limited, 2005
•	SEC Proposes Rule Requiring Hedge Fund Advisers to Register Under Investment Advisers Act
•	SEC Approves New Rule 2790 (Restrictions on the Purchase and Sale of IPOs of Equity Securities); Replaces Free-Riding and Withholding Interpretation
•	Anti-Money Laundering Compliance and Private Investment Funds
•	SEC Modifies Rule 205-3 Requirements for Performance Fees
•	Staff Grants No-Action Relief Finding That a Strategic Alliance Will Not Constitute a Change of Control of an Adviser for Purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940

Admissions

•	New York 1985

Education

•	Yale Law School, 1983 J.D. Yale Law Journal, Editor
•	New College, Oxford University, 1980 M.A.
•	Dartmouth College, 1978 B.A. summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa