Justice David W. Rivkin is a Judge at the Singapore International Commercial Court. He served as the Co-Chair of Debevoise & Plimpton’s ESG/Business Integrity Group and former Co-Chair of its International Dispute Resolution Group. He served as President of the International Bar Association in 2015-2016, the first American to serve in that role in 25 years. As IBA President, he led major projects on judicial integrity, business and human rights, climate change, human trafficking, and the independence of the legal profession, among others. He regularly spoke about the important role of lawyers in preserving the rule of law.
Mr. Rivkin is consistently ranked as one of the top international dispute resolution advocates and arbitrators in the world. He has handled international arbitrations throughout the world and before virtually every major arbitration institution, and he has won some of the largest investment treaty and commercial arbitration awards. Subjects of these arbitrations have included long-term energy and natural resources concessions, investment treaties, joint venture agreements, pharmaceutical agreements, financial issues, insurance coverage, construction contracts, distribution agreements and intellectual property, among others, and they have involved common law, civil law, and Islamic law systems. He also represents companies in transnational litigation in the US, including the enforcement of arbitral awards and arbitration agreements, and he works actively with clients on various ESG-focused issues. He has authored many articles and frequently spoken about international arbitration and litigation. Mr. Rivkin has served in leadership roles in arbitration institutions on five continents, including currently as Co-Chair of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and as a member of the Council of the Mumbai Centre fro International Arbitration.
In 2012, the American Lawyer’s Am Law Litigation Daily named Mr. Rivkin one of two “Global Lawyers of the Year.” In 2011, the National Law Journal named him one of the country’s “Most Influential Attorneys.” The American Lawyer quoted a General Counsel as follows: “The thing that impresses me about lawyers is when they come up with better answers to problems than I do. Every once in a while, you encounter a lawyer who has really created the better answers. David W. Rivkin is that lawyer.”