Judith is recognised as one of the leading practitioners in the field of international arbitration. She has conducted cases under numerous sets of rules and subject to many different systems of law. In particular she has experience of arbitrations under the rules of, amongst others, the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, ICSID (including Additional Facility Rules), HKIAC, DIAC, AAA and UNCITRAL. Seats have included Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris, London, New York, Washington, Dubai, Geneva, and Seoul. Judith is regularly selected by institutions, including the ICC and SIAC, for appointments as arbitrator. She has experience of virtual hearings having conducted procedural and merits hearings remotely.

Judith joined Twenty Essex as an arbitrator member, having previously been a partner in the international arbitration group of the global law firm Allen & Overy for nearly 25 years, where she was head of the group for 11 years. She regularly acted as lead advocate and strategic adviser to clients involved in substantial international arbitration cases in both the commercial and investment treaty fields.

She has extensive experience as an arbitrator, both sole and as a member of a panel of three arbitrators. Judith has acted as arbitrator in matters involving joint venture agreements, corporate sale and purchase agreements, construction and infrastructure disputes, energy contracts, manufacturing, distributorship agreements, technology agreements and a variety of other commercial agreements. She also sits as arbitrator on investment treaty disputes.

Judith is Immediate Past President of the LCIA, the first woman to be appointed to the position. She was only the second female solicitor-advocate to be appointed QC and the first with an international arbitration practice.

Professor Benjamin Hughes is an independent arbitrator and adjunct professor of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law.

Prof Hughes has been appointed as arbitrator in over 150 arbitrations with several USD billion in dispute, including ad-hoc arbitrations and arbitrations under the rules of most major arbitral institutions. He has served 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 and Tokyo. He has heard cases governed by the laws of Australia, Austria, BVI, Cayman Islands, China, Egypt, 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 and the CISG. He has also handled complex conflict of law and jurisdictional issues, joinder applications, summary dismissal applications and disputes involving multiple contracts and applicable laws. He has also acted as emergency arbitrator and as sole arbitrator in expedited and fast-track proceedings, and is a panel arbitrator of numerous arbitral institutions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prof Hughes’ experience as arbitrator spans a broad range of 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, sale of goods and general commercial disputes.

Prof Hughes has taught extensively in the field of international dispute resolution, including as associate professor of law at Seoul National University in Korea (2015–2019) and as visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong and the National University of Singapore. Educated in both the civil law and the common law traditions, Prof. Hughes 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 Mandarin in Beijing and East Asian history at Harvard University.