Lord Goldsmith KC

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 casesa practice Chambers & Partners calls “market-leading” across international commercial and investor-treaty disputes. Many of the cases he has argued are now the authorities everyone else cites. He defended Shell in all proceedings up to the Supreme Court in huge mass tort claims alleging claima allegHe 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 Chiba 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.