The Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
Call 1975 Silk 1987
After reading chemistry at Oxford and then spending three years as an investment banker, David Neuberger was called to the Bar in 1975 and practised largely in property law, taking silk in 1987. His practice involved a large amount of court and arbitration advocacy, as well as much advisory work.
He was appointed a High Court Judge, sitting in the Chancery Division, in 1996, where he tried a number of cases involving financial and commercial contractual disputes, revenue law, company law, insolvency law, IP law, and property law, professional negligence. He was made Supervisory Chancery Judge for Midland, Wales and Chester and Western Circuits from 2001. In 2004, he was made a Lord Justice of Appeal, and a Privy Counsellor. In the same year, he was appointed Judge in charge of IT and modernisation. In 2007 he was promoted to be a Law Lord and became a peer. He was appointed Master of the Rolls in 2009. In 2012, he became the President of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, a position from which he retired in 2017. In 2017, he started practising as an arbitrator and legal expert from One Essex Court.
Since joining One Essex Court, Lord Neuberger has been appointed arbitrator in a significant number of arbitrations across a broad range of buisness and commerce under the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, ICSID and UNCITRAL rules, and he is ranked as a leading arbitrator in Chambers UK Guide 2026 (Star Individual) and The Legal 500 2026 (Band 1). He is also frequently appointed to provide expert testimony on English law in foregin proceedings.
Since 2010, Lord Neuberger has been a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and since 2018 a judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court. He was Treasurer of Lincoln’s Inn in 2017. He is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, and an honorary member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He is President of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and President of the Academy of Experts. He chaired the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom between 2019 and 2024. He was on the Board of the University of the Arts London from 2001 to 2010, and was a trustee, and then chairman, of the Schizophrenia Trust from 2000 to 2012. He is a trustee of MHRUK, a mental health research funding trust, and a patron of Prisoners Abroad, and of Sapere, a children’s educational trust. He was chair of the Magna Carta Trust 2009-2012. He chaired an investigation for the Bar Council into widening access to the barrister profession in 2006-2007, and also served on the panel on fair access to the professions in 2008-2009
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Examples of Recent Cases
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Arbitration (As Arbitrator)
Since joining Chambers in 2017, Lord Neuberger has been appointed both as chair and co-arbitrator in a large number and wide range of international arbitrations including insurance/reinsurance, shipping, banking, energy (oil and gas), construction, joint venture and investor-state disputes, both ad hoc and under PCA, LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL, DIAC, HKIAC, SIAC and other institutional regimes, both in London and overeseas.
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What the Directories Say
"Lord Neuberger's support and contributions are always well balanced and founded on his tremendous judiciary experience." (Chambers UK 2026 - International Arbitration: Arbitrators)
"David Neuberger has a very incisive mind. He gets right through the heart of the case very quickly and writes his awards quickly and precisely. He is at the very top of the profession." (Chambers UK 2026 - International Arbitration: Arbitrators)
"Lord David Neuberger is an absolute legend and he has accomplished so much both in the UK and outside. He is the most humble individual and he still works like a Trojan." (Chambers UK 2026 - International Arbitration: Arbitrators)
"The features which make David stand out are the ease with which he works with co-arbitrators and parties alike, and the hard work he puts into every case." (The Legal 500 2026 - International Arbitration: Arbitrators)