Sir Nicholas Underhill

The Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Underhill retired as a Lord Justice of Appeal and Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) in October 2025 and has returned to Fountain Court to undertake work as an arbitrator and in similar roles.

Sir Nicholas Underhill practised as a barrister at Fountain Court from 1977 until his appointment as a High Court Judge in 2006.  He became a QC in 1992.  He had a wide-ranging civil and commercial practice, including banking, insurance, aviation and professional negligence.  He chaired a major ICC arbitration in a dispute between two pharmaceutical companies.  He had a particular expertise in employment law, acting for many banks and financial institutions, and in medical and pharmaceutical product liability work.  He sat as a Recorder and as a deputy High Court Judge in both the Queen’s Bench and Chancery Divisions.

He became a High Court Judge in 2006.  He sat primarily in the Queen’s Bench Division but also in the Chancery Division.  Between 2009 and 2011 he was President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Sir Nicholas was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2013, and became Vice-President of its Civil Division in 2018.  He has presided over appeals covering the full range of the Court’s civil work, including appeals involving all major areas of commercial work and in the employment and pharmaceutical fields.

Since his retirement he has been appointed to the Court of Appeal of Gibraltar.