Michael Polkinghorne is a Franco-Australian dual-qualified lawyer, resident in Paris where he heads White & Case's Paris arbitration group and is co-leader of the Firm's pro bono practice. He has a widely acknowledged range of experience in arbitration and litigation in the areas of energy, telecommunications, project finance and infrastructure. He has served as counsel and arbitrator in arbitrations conducted under most major institutional rules and is the former Australian member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC. He was a council member of the ICC Institute and a member of the ICC Task Force on arbitrations involving state entities. He has covered disputes involving over thirty countries. He has in recent years been involved in a number of mediations, notably in the industrial gas sector, and has served in over two dozen cases as arbitrator (sole, party-appointed or chair), predominantly in the energy sector, under the ICC, LCIA, SCC, Bahrain CDR, FAI, Thai MoJ and UNCITRAL rules. He has also testified as expert witness on international best energy practices.

Michael is also a member of the panel of arbitrators of the BVI International Arbitration Centre, eBRAM (Panel of Arbitrators, Mediators and APEC Neutrals), the Asian International Arbitration Centre, the Asian International Arbitration Centre, OHADA, and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. He has recently been included on the Global Arbitrators and Counsel Lists of the Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes.

Michael has a significant transactional practice, advising clients in the energy and infrastructure development fields. He has advised a number of petroleum clients on projects in South East Asia, the Russian Federation, India, China and West and North Africa.