The Honourable James Spigelman AC QC served as Chief Justice of New South Wales, Australia’s largest state, from 1998 until the end May 2011. In July 2013, he was appointed a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
After his retirement as Chief Justice he joined One Essex Court, Temple, London as an arbitrator. He has since been appointed as chair, sole arbitrator and party-appointed arbitrator on panels with seats in London, Dubai, Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. His work as an arbitrator has included ICC, LCIA, ICSID, KLRCA, SIAC, CAS and ad hoc arbitrations and to determine a privilege issue in an NAFTA arbitration.
James Spigelman was Senior Advisor and Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of Australia, before appointment as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Media in 1975. He was a member of the Australian Law Reform Commission from 1976 to 1979. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986. He was acting Solicitor General of New South Wales in 1997. He has served on the boards and as chair of a number of cultural and educational institutions. He is currently chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
James Spigelman is the author of three books, co-author of a fourth and of some 170 published articles, including on a range of aspects of commercial and corporate law such as contractual interpretation, insurance law, commercial arbitration, insolvency, international commercial litigation, freezing orders and proof of foreign law. Three volumes of his speeches as Chief Justice have been published.
