Lord Goldsmith KC is a former Attorney General of the United Kingdom (2001-2007) former Chairman of the Bar of England and Wales and a pre-eminent legal practitioner renowned for his international arbitration and litigation work. Lord Goldsmith KC re-joined Fountain Court on 1 January 2026 as counsel and arbitrator, having previously been a Member of Chambers from 1972 to 2001. Between 2007 and 2025 he practised at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, serving as London Co-Managing Partner and Chair of European and Asian Litigation. He graduated with double First Class Honours in Law from Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, holds a Master’s degree from Cambridge, and an LL.M. from the University of London. Lord Goldsmith KC practised from Fountain Court between 1972 and 2001, specialising in commercial, corporate and international litigation, with a particular emphasis on appellate advocacy. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1987 at the age of 37 and became Chairman of the Bar of England and Wales at 45. He has served as a Crown Court Recorder and Deputy High Court Judge. He has appeared in numerous leading cases before the UK Supreme Court, the House of Lords, the Privy Council and the Court of Appeal, as well as before the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. He has also appeared before courts in overseas jurisdictions, including Singapore and the Caribbean Court of Justice. Lord Goldsmith KC acts as counsel in arbitrations under all major institutional rules, including LCIA, ICC (where he co-chaired the Task Force on Arbitration Involving States and State Entities), SIAC, HKIAC, SCC and in ad hoc proceedings. He recently successfully represented an independent oil company in a claim exceeding US$50 billion against a major oil company concerning pre-emption rights. He also sits as arbitrator and accepts appointments as chair/president, sole arbitrator and party-appointed arbitrator under major institutional rules, including ICSID and ad hoc proceedings.