Professor Benjamin Hughes > Fountain Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Professor Benjamin Hughes

Position

Benjamin F. Hughes is an independent arbitrator and adjunct professor of law at the National University of Singapore.  He also serves on the Investment Committees of Omni Bridgeway, a leading funder of international commercial disputes, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hainan International Arbitration Centre.

Since leaving law firm practice in March 2013, Ben has been appointed in approximately 150 international arbitrations with several billion dollars in dispute.  Previously, he practised with Shearman & Sterling (in the US and Singapore), and was the founding co-chair of the international dispute resolution practice group at Shin & Kim, one of Korea’s oldest and largest full-service law firms.

While Ben’s experience as arbitrator spans a broad range of commercial sectors, applicable law, arbitration rules and jurisdictions, he is particularly recognised as a leading arbitrator in the Asia-Pacific region.  He has lived, studied and worked in the region for almost 30 years, and is fluent in Korean and conversant in Mandarin.  In addition, having studied and practised law in both civil and common law jurisdictions, Ben is uniquely suited to hear disputes between parties from various legal and cultural backgrounds.

Career

• Arbitrator, The Arbitration Chambers, Singapore
• Investment Committee Member, Omni Bridgeway
• Board of Directors, Hainan International Arbitration Centre
• International Arbitration Committee, Korean Commercial Arbitration Board
• Editorial Advisory Board, Asian international Arbitration Journal
• Adjunct Professor, National University of Singapore Faculty of Law (2019)
• Associate Professor, Seoul National University Law School (2015-2019)
• Visiting Scholar, National Taiwan University (Spring 2018)
• Visiting Associate Professor, National University of Singapore (Fall 2018)
• Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Fellow, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
• Fellow, Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators

Panel Arbitrator of:

• American Arbitration Association/International Centre for Dispute Resolution
• Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration
• Beijing Arbitration Commission
• China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission
• Chinese Arbitration Association
• Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre
• Japan Commercial Arbitration Association
• Jinan Arbitration Commission
• Korean Commercial Arbitration Board
• Asian International Arbitration Centre
• Shanghai International Arbitration Centre
• Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration
• Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration
• Singapore International Arbitration Centre

Languages

English, Korean, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese (basic).

Education

• JD, New York University School of Law (2002)
• MA course (no dissertation), Seoul National University College of Law (1999)
• MA, East Asian history, Harvard University (1997)
• BA, Trinity University (1989)

Academic Distinctions

• Dean Robert McKay Scholar, NYU School of Law
• Global Legal Fellow, NYU School of Law (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, Korea (SNU College of Law)
• SNU Academic Scholarship, SNU College of Law
• Harvard-Yenching Institute Fellowship, Harvard University
• Fulbright Grantee, Korea
• President’s Academic Scholarship, Trinity University