Call 1972 | Silk 1987
Lord Goldsmith is a genuine rainmaker. He is a superb litigation strategist and clients trust him to manage the most high-profile, high-value and complex cases. … Peter is a true star in international arbitration. He completely masters the environment, and his skills in cross-examination are impressive. ... One of the best advocates in the world.
Chambers Global Guide
Sian Huckett
Deputy Senior Clerk
+44 (0)20 7842 3764
Click here to email
Chris Kent
Team Leader
+44 (0)20 7842 3771
Click here to email
Erin Nicholls
Team Leader Assistant
+44 (0)20 7842 3708
Click here to email
Lord Goldsmith KC is a former Attorney General for England and Wales and a leading advocate in commercial litigation, international arbitration, and public international law.
Chambers & Partners’ reviewers describe him as “a fantastic advocate” who commands considerable respect from the court, and single out his mastery of the arbitration environment and his cross-examination. Clients have called him one of the best cross-examiners of all time. Ranked Band 1 for both International Arbitration and Public International Law at the London Bar, the word that recurs across the guides is calm, reporting him as an advocate who is unhurried under pressure and whose analysis arrives already ordered. Lord Goldsmith is listed in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for international arbitration 2014 and has been named a Global Elite Thought Leader for arbitration by Lexology since 2025.
He took silk in 1987 at the age of 37, became Chairman of the Bar of England and Wales at 45, and was Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2007. He argues cases before the UK Supreme Court, the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the Caribbean Court of Justice. He rejoined Fountain Court on 1 January 2026 as counsel and arbitrator, having been a member of chambers from 1972 to 2001.
He is instructed at the level where the client is a sovereign state and the outcome moves markets, or bet-the-company cases: a practice Chambers & Partners calls “market-leading” across international arbitration, investor-treaty disputes and high-value commercial litigation. Many of the cases he has argued are now the authorities everyone else cites. He acted for Shell up to and including the Supreme Court in Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell. He is defending Shell in the Bille and Ogale group litigation, a billion-dollar mass tort claim alleging environmental damage that remains undecided;. He won Jalla v Shell International Trading and Shipping Co for Shell at every level up to the Supreme Court, now the leading authority on limitation in nuisance. Both cases turned on difficult questions of English procedural as well as substantive law. He defended the Republic of Korea over five days of merits hearing against four fact witnesses and ten experts. He appeared for the State of Qatar and prevailed twice on provisional measures before the International Court of Justice. Acting for Hess Guyana against ExxonMobil and CNOOC, he won on the pre-emption provisions of the Stabroek operating agreement on a timetable his side had fought for, and the award was made early enough on 18 July 2025 for a US$53 billion merger to close before the US market opened.
He sits as an arbitrator and accepts appointments as chair or president, sole arbitrator and party-appointed arbitrator under major institutional rules, including ICSID, and in ad hoc proceedings. He was the inaugural Chair of the House of Lords International Agreements Committee, scrutinising and advising on the ratification of all new UK treaties, and co-chaired the ICC Task Force on Arbitration Involving States and State Entities.
His experience as an arbitrator means he prepares a case knowing how tribunals decide them. He sits on the Court of the International Arbitration Centre of Abu Dhabi (ArbitrateAD) and has served as Vice Chair of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. He is currently president of the ICSID tribunal in Power China v Vietnam.
In 2014 he received a Lifetime Award for Extraordinary Contribution to the Development of Pro Bono Culture in Europe, having founded the Bar Pro Bono Unit, now Advocate, and the Attorney General’s Pro Bono Coordinating Committees.
He has been Visiting Professor of European Legal Studies at Columbia University, New York, and speaks regularly on arbitration and public international law, chairing conferences in the field.
Hess Guyana v Exxon Guyana and CNOOC Guyana
Acted for Hess Guyana in a consolidated ICC arbitration on the pre-emption provisions of the operating agreement covering the Stabroek Block. The July 2025 award allowed the US$53 billion Hess and Chevron merger to close before its October 2025 longstop date.
Jalla and another v Shell International Trading and Shipping Co Ltd (Supreme Court)
Alleged liability in nuisance for pollution. A leading case on limitation. A mass tort claim for alleged oil pollution successful in having it dismissed completely
Republic of Korea v Schindler Holding AG
Defended the Republic of Korea against a US$218 million UNCITRAL investment treaty claim over the regulation of Hyundai Elevator. The tribunal dismissed all claims, finding no breach of investment protection standards.
The State of Qatar and Qatari entities and individuals
Acted in international claims arising from the boycott of Qatar by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, prevailing on provisional measures before the International Court of Justice under the Racial Discrimination Convention.
Bille and Ogale proceedings (High Court)
Acting for Shell plc and Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited in Niger Delta oil spill group litigation brought by thousands of claimants. https://www.shell.com/news-and-insights/shells-perspectives-on-key-topics/why-is-shell-involved-in-an-english-court-case-over-nigerian-oil-spill-claims.html
Lord Goldsmith acts for sovereign states, government departments and non-governmental interveners in constitutional, administrative and public international law disputes. His work covers the power of the House of Commons to legislate under the Parliament Acts, the validity of elections to devolved office, constitutional challenges to primary legislation in Commonwealth jurisdictions, international claims and provisional measures before the International Court of Justice, the proper legal basis for the exercise of legislative powers by the European institutions, electoral rights, and claims under the European Convention on Human Rights and under Commonwealth constitutions. He has appeared before the UK Supreme Court, the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal, the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the International Court of Justice and the Caribbean Court of Justice. He served as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2007. Chambers & Partners ranks him in Band 1 for Public International Law at the London Bar in its 2026 UK Bar Guide.
R (Jackson and others) v Attorney General (Court of Appeal and House of Lords)
The constitutional law decision of the House of Lords on the power of the House of Commons to override the House of Lords in legislative matters under the Parliament Acts. Successfully led the Government’s case at all levels arguing the cases himself.
Robinson v Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and others (Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland and House of Lords)
Acted for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The case concerned the validity of the election of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
Saadi v United Kingdom (European Court of Human Rights, Grand Chamber)
A case considering, among other things, violations of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Represented the Government.
The Centre for Reproductive Rights (UK Supreme Court)
Acted for the Centre for Reproductive Rights in its successful intervention in the UK Supreme Court concerning the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s challenge to Northern Ireland’s criminal law on abortion.
Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Human Dignity Trust and the International Commission of Jurists (Supreme Court of Belize)
Litigation successfully challenging the constitutionality of laws criminalising homosexuality in Belize, and assistance with similar challenges in other common law countries. Successfully argued the case for the interveners, the CLA Human Dignity Trust and the ICJ before the Chief Justice of Belize.
Hatton and others v United Kingdom (European Court of Human Rights)
A complaint about night flights at Heathrow airport and whether they breached the European Convention on Human Rights. Argued the case successfully for the Government.
Kingdom of Spain v United Kingdom (European Court of Justice)
the Government.
Surkis v Poroshenko 2021 EWHC 2512
Successfully represented the immediate past president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko against claims brought against him in the English courts by Ukrainian oligarchs in relation to nationalisation measures concerning Ukrainian commercial bank Privatbank. The successful defence included issues of State immunity as well as factual issues
Federal Republic of Nigeria v Royal Dutch Shell and ENI 2020 EWHC 347
Successfully represented Royal Dutch Shell in challenging jurisdiction in a claim brought by Nigeria in the English courts for $1.1 billion alleging bribery to secure license to the OPL 245 license. The case included consideration of the Brussels convention on jurisdiction et cetera. The court accepted the defendant’s arguments that the UK lawsuit was a material duplication of parallel criminal and civil proceedings already being tried over the same subject matter in Milan Italy.
Azerbaijan
Represented Azerbaijan in the International Court of Justice in its territorial dispute with Armenia in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh. This was a major international incident with multiple countries involved in what became known as a significant, recent international flashpoint.
Rights Action Centre of Nigeria (African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights)
A claim seeking redress from the Nigerian government for the forcible eviction of 300,000 inhabitants from their homes in the Maroko township near Lagos. He represented the Claimants pro bono before the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in the Gambia.
Lord Goldsmith acts in criminal and quasi-criminal investigations and in the public law challenges that arise from them, including judicial review of search warrants and the validity of warrants before Commonwealth appellate courts. As Attorney General for England and Wales from 2001 to 2007 he had superintendence of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office, and he developed substantial experience in white-collar crime and public law in that office. He chaired the Howard League Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling and sat on the Independent Governance Committee of FIFA, a committee which considered corruption allegations concerning football’s governing body.
Rawlinson & Hunter v Central Criminal Court (Divisional Court)
Acted successfully for the interested party, Vincent Tchenguiz in the judicial review proceedings brought in respect of search warrants relating to a Serious Fraud Office investigation into the collapse of the Icelandic bank, Kaupthing .
Commissioner of Police v Dr Mahesh Sannapareddy (The Supreme Court of Bermuda)
Successfully acted for Dr. Sannapareddy in the Supreme Court of Bermuda, claiming that his arrest and search by the Bermuda Police were unlawful. The context of the events was a dispute between the Government of Bermuda and a former Chief Minister of Bermuda which he claimed was politically motivated. Having succeeded in obtaining the quashing of the warrants and damages for the illegal search he successfully had the decision upheld on appeal to the Court of Appeal of Bermuda.
Lord Goldsmith acts in commercial and corporate litigation for banks, oil and gas companies, government departments and high net worth individuals, with a particular emphasis on appellate advocacy. His work includes claims against auditors and other professionals for negligent advice, the duty of care a parent company owes for the acts of an overseas subsidiary, liability for the criminal acts of third parties, environmental group claims and remediation, nuisance and limitation, takeover and shareholder disputes, pre-emption rights, fraud claims and strike-out applications, the validity of offshore trusts, and questions of forum non conveniens, forum shopping and related actions under the Brussels Convention. He has appeared in the UK Supreme Court, the House of Lords, the Court of Appeal, the Privy Council, the European Court of Justice and the Caribbean Court of Justice, and in trials of foreign law issues heard on expert evidence. Chambers & Partners ranks him in Band 2 for Commercial Dispute Resolution at the London Bar in its 2026 UK Bar Guide, and in Band 2 for Commercial and Corporate Litigation in its 2026 Global and Europe Guides.
Caparo v Dickman (House of Lords)
Acted for the successful appellant in the leading case on auditors’ liability and tortious damages for economic loss.
ADT v Binder Hamlyn
At the time, the largest ever award of damages against auditors obtained for negligent advice given during the course of a takeover. See also Law Society v KPMG Peat Marwick.
Mannesmann v Goldman Sachs
Successfully defended Goldman Sachs against a claim to exclude Goldman from the takeover of Mannesmann.
PJSC Tatneft v Bogolyubov and others (Court of Appeal)
Strike-out decision in a major fraud claim successfully overturned. Successfully represented the Claimant in the Court of Appeal.
Okpabi and others v Royal Dutch Shell (Supreme Court)
Liability of a parent company for alleged environmental pollution by an overseas subsidiary. Leading case on jurisdictional challenges under the Brussels Convention. Acted for Shell up to and including the Supreme Court; the litigation is not yet completed.
Jalla and another v Shell International Trading and Shipping Co Ltd (Supreme Court)
Alleged liability in nuisance for pollution. A leading case on limitation. A mass tort claim for alleged oil pollution successful in having it dismissed completely
McKillen v Misland (Cyprus) Investments Ltd and others (Court of Appeal)
Pre-emption and shareholder rights.
Overseas Union Insurance v New Hampshire Insurance (European Court of Justice and House of Lords)
Leading case on the Brussels Convention and forum shopping.
Spiliada Maritime Corp v Cansulex (The Spiliada) (House of Lords)
The leading case in the House of Lords on forum non conveniens.
Sarrio v Kuwait Investment Authority (House of Lords)
Leading case on the Brussels Convention and related actions.
Bille and Ogale proceedings (High Court)
Acting for Shell plc and Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited in group proceedings brought by thousands of individuals resident in Nigeria over oil spills in the Niger Delta between 1988 and the present. The claimants allege that the defendants are liable for damage resulting from the spills, including because they failed to protect their assets from the risk of oil theft and sabotage, and from the damage caused by the illegal refining of oil stolen from their infrastructure. The claims raise novel questions on the nature and scope of the duties assumed by a parent company for the acts of its subsidiary, and on the extent to which a defendant can be liable for the criminal acts of third parties.
Lord Goldsmith acts as counsel in domestic and international commercial arbitrations and in investment treaty arbitrations under all major institutional rules, including LCIA, ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, SCC and UNCITRAL, and in ad hoc proceedings. He has dealt with matters concerning most industries, particularly energy, commercial contracts, fraud and shareholder disputes. His work includes the construction of oil and gas joint operating agreements and pre-emption rights, capital calls and the forfeiture of interests in gas fields, state contracts and the expropriation of state property, the fair and equitable treatment and full protection and security standards under investment treaties, and the application of customary international law where no governing law is prescribed. He also acts in the related court proceedings, including challenges to awards under sections 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, anti-suit injunctions and anti-arbitration injunctions. Chambers & Partners ranks him in Band 1 for International Arbitration: General Commercial & Insurance at the London Bar in its 2026 UK Bar Guide, in Band 1 for International Arbitration in its 2026 Global Guide, and in Band 2 for Arbitration (International) Europe-wide in its 2026 Global and Europe Guides.
British Caribbean Bank Ltd v Attorney-General of Belize (Caribbean Court of Justice)
Decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice in proceedings successfully lifting for the British Caribbean Bank an anti-arbitration injunction imposed by the courts of Belize in relation to an arbitration commenced under a bilateral investment treaty.
Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant JSC v AES Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant LLP (UK Supreme Court)
An arbitration appeal to determine whether the English court had jurisdiction to grant an anti-suit injunction in circumstances where no arbitration is intended or in prospect.
Geogas S.A v Trammo Gas Ltd (The Baleares)
Appeared on behalf of the respondent in the maritime and arbitration law case involving issues of cancellation and damages. He appeared in this matter in both the Court of Appeal and then to the House of Lords.
Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd v Exxon Guyana and CNOOC Guyana
Acted for Hess Guyana Exploration Limited, a subsidiary of Hess Corporation, in a consolidated ICC arbitration against subsidiaries of ExxonMobil and CNOOC under the operating agreement covering the Stabroek Block in Guyana, one of the most significant oil and gas discoveries of the last decade. The dispute, governed by English law, concerned the construction of the pre-emption provisions of that agreement and whether they were triggered by the pending merger between Hess Corporation and Chevron Corporation. Completion of the merger, valued at US$53 billion, was contingent on an award in Hess Guyana’s favour and subject to a longstop date in October 2025. The arbitrations were consolidated in March 2024 and the merits hearing was held in May 2025. The tribunal held in July 2025 that the pre-emption rights were not triggered, and the merger closed on 18 July 2025. Global Arbitration Review described the dispute as among the highest-profile commercial arbitrations of recent years.
Republic of Korea v Schindler Holding AG
Acted for the Republic of Korea in an UNCITRAL arbitration brought by Schindler, a Swiss company, under the 2005 Agreement on Investment between the Republic of Korea and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The claim arose out of Schindler’s investment in Hyundai Elevator and alleged that Korean financial services and competition agencies had failed to regulate corporate decisions taken by Hyundai Elevator which favoured the head of the conglomerate to Schindler’s detriment. The five-day merits hearing in April 2024 involved four fact witnesses and ten experts, in disciplines ranging from Korean administrative law to the valuation of call options. It raised the role and ambit of Korean financial regulators under Korean law, and the scope of the fair and equitable treatment and full protection and security standards, including how far they extend to the conduct of domestic regulators. The tribunal dismissed all claims, worth US$218 million and awarded costs to Korea of 9.6 billion Won (approximately US$7m) . The South Korean Justice minister breaking the news to national and international media declared it a “100 percent victory for the Korean government”
Petroleum Exploration (PVT) Ltd
Acting for Petroleum Exploration (PVT) Limited, an oil and gas company based in Pakistan, in its challenge in the English courts under sections 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 to an award issued in March 2025 following an ICC arbitration against Frontier Holdings Limited and Spud Energy PTY Limited. The underlying dispute concerned alleged failures to meet capital calls and other obligations under five joint operating agreements covering five natural gas fields in Pakistan, the forfeiture of interests in those fields, and breaches of a related settlement agreement. The challenge is that the sole arbitrator exceeded his jurisdiction on certain findings and that the award was affected by serious procedural irregularities.
Two confidential investment treaty arbitrations
Recently instructed to lead in two confidential investor arbitrations, each against a European state.
Lord Goldsmith acts in commercial, constitutional and treaty disputes in the offshore jurisdictions, for governments, shareholders, investors and trustees. His work includes expropriation and compensation claims arising from nationalisation, the amendment of constitutions to entrench nationalisations and to curtail the courts’ power to protect fundamental rights, protections under bilateral investment treaties, anti-arbitration injunctions imposed by local courts, the validity of charitable trusts, and constitutional and human rights challenges before Commonwealth appellate courts. He is admitted permanently in Belize and the British Virgin Islands and has been admitted on a case-specific basis in St Kitts and Nevis, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar and The Bahamas. He has appeared before the Privy Council, the Caribbean Court of Justice, the Supreme Court of Belize and the Bermuda Court of Appeal. Chambers & Partners ranks him for General Business Law: Dispute Resolution in Belize in its 2026 Global Guide, as expertise based abroad from the UK, and has done so for eleven years.
Attorney General of the Cayman Islands v Wahr Hansen (Cayman Court of Appeal and Privy Council)
Whether an offshore trust was a valid charitable trust. Lord Goldsmith was brought in to argue at the court of appeal after the case had been lost in the first instance, he both won the appeal and upheld it in the privy council. Here he successfully represented the administrator of the estate of Norwegian shipowner Anders Jahre in the Caymans court of appeal and Privy Council challenging the validity of trusts established in the Cayman Islands – reported at 2000 UKPC 37.
Zuniga and others v Government of Belize
A constitutional challenge to legislation in Belize said to breach international treaties, international human rights law, the rule of law and international principles of arbitration.
BTL Employees' Trust
Acted successfully for a shareholder in Belize Telemedia Limite
Acted successfully for a shareholder in Belize Telemedia Limited concerning the renationalisation of BTL without compensation, and the amendment of the Belize Constitution to enshrine the nationalisations and to curtail the courts’ power to protect fundamental rights, including the right to property.
d concerning the renationalisation of BTL without compensation, and the amendment of the Belize Constitution to enshrine the nationalisations and to curtail the courts’ power to protect fundamental rights, including the right to property.
Chambers has ranked him for sixteen consecutive years.
Selected Essays and Articles
Speeches and Conference Papers
Fountain Court is delighted to announce that Sir Nicholas Underhill has rejoined…
Sian Huckett
Deputy Senior Clerk
+44 (0)20 7842 3764
Click here to email
Chris Kent
Team Leader
+44 (0)20 7842 3771
Click here to email
Erin Nicholls
Team Leader Assistant
+44 (0)20 7842 3708
Click here to email
Chambers has ranked him for sixteen consecutive years.
Selected Essays and Articles
Speeches and Conference Papers
Search
Menu
