Thomas C. Merchant

Thomas Merchant serves as the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel Head of Regulatory Compliance at Franklin Templeton since August 2020. Prior to this role, Thomas held various positions at Legg Mason from August 1998 to August 2020, including General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, and Associate General Counsel. Thomas began their legal career at Shearman & Sterling LLP as an Associate in the Corporate Reorg & Leasing and Corporate Finance Departments from September 1993 to July 1998. Educationally, Thomas obtained a Doctor of Law (JD) from New York University School of Law and holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Economics from Penn State University.