Benjamin Hughes FCIArb FHKIArb FSIArb is an independent arbitrator and adjunct professor at National University of Singapore Law School. He is an arbitrator and door tenant of Fountain Court Chambers in London and of The Arbitration Chambers in Singapore. Prior to launching his career as an independent arbitrator, Benjamin practiced international arbitration 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.
Ben left law firm practice in March 2013 to focus on his practice as an independent arbitrator. Since then, he been appointed in over 150 arbitrations with several billion USD in dispute under the rules of the AAA/ICDR, ACICA, AIAC/KLRCA, BAC, CAA, CIETAC, DIFC-LCIA, DIS, HKIAC, ICC, JCAA, KCAB, LMAA, SCC, SCMA, SIAC, UNCITRAL (both administered and ad-hoc) and VIAC, as well as purely ad-hoc arbitrations. He has also acted as emergency arbitrator and as sole arbitrator in expedited and fast track proceedings, and is on the panel of arbitrators of numerous arbitral institutions. Chambers and Partners recognizes Ben as a "Most in Demand Arbitrator" in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Ben's experience as arbitrator spans a broad range of international commercial disputes, including joint venture and shareholder disputes, intellectual property and licensing, media and telecommunications, construction and infrastructure projects, energy and resources, shipping and shipbuilding, automobile and heavy machinery manufacturing, agency and distributorship agreements, military acquisition and procurement contracts, sale of goods and general commercial disputes.
Ben has been appointed as arbitrator in cases seated in Bangalore, Beijing, Delhi, Dubai, Geneva, Guam, Hamburg, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Maui, New York, Seoul, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo and Zurich. He has heard cases governed by the laws of Australia, Austria, BVI, Cayman Islands, China, England and Wales, Fiji, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia (including Sharia), Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UAE and the USA (including New York, California and US territories) and Vietnam, as well as lex mercatoria. He has also handled complex conflict of law and jurisdictional issues, joinder applications, summary dismissal applications and disputes involving multiple contracts and applicable laws.
Ben has taught extensively in the field of international dispute resolution and comparative law, including as associate professor at Seoul National University Law School (2015-2019), and as a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law and the National University of Singapore Law School. He has published numerous articles on international commercial arbitration and serves on the editorial boards of the Asian International Arbitration Journal, the Korea Arbitration Review and the Journal of Korean Law.
Ben was educated in both the civil law and the common law traditions, having studied first at Seoul National University College of Law (all coursework in Korean), and then at NYU School of Law. While at NYU, he spent one semester at the University of Palermo Law School in Buenos Aires, Argentina (all coursework in Spanish). He also studied Chinese (Mandarin) and East Asian history at Harvard University.