J William Rowley KC has chaired or participated as a tribunal member or counsel in more than 200 international arbitrations, involving more than 50 national or state laws or treaty systems. He is described as ‘one of the elite international arbitrators’ (The New Peace Keepers); a ‘Star Performer’ (Legal Business Arbitration Report); one of London’s ‘Super-Arbitrators’ (Global Arbitration Review); ‘exceptional’, ‘Olympian’, ‘no one ever leaves the chamber with a sense of injustice’, a ‘big character on the scene’ (Chambers UK); a ‘superb’ arbitrator and a ‘sensible chairman’, who is ‘very efficient and extremely charming’, an ‘extremely strong’ arbitrator and a ‘sensible’ chairman (Chambers Global: Most In Demand Arbitrators 2018); and ‘a brilliant arbitrator at the top of his game’ (The Legal 500, UK Bar 2022). Who’s Who Legal includes him on its Most Highly Regarded list, saying that ‘he boasts “a giant reputation” in the international arbitration space’ as ‘a top arbitrator’ who ‘possesses vast experience in handling both commercial and public international law disputes’; he is ‘regarded as one of the leading arbitrators in the world for international disputes’, is ‘widely acknowledged to be “as good as it gets”, particularly for energy disputes’ and ‘in my opinion, the best of the big names of the arbitration space’.
He served as board chairman of the LCIA from 2013 to 2017 and is a former member of the LCIA Court. He is a member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, the ICC Canadian Panel and multiple regional panels (including AAA-ICDR, SCC, DIAC, KLRC, SIAC, HKIAC). He is a former member of the NAFTA 2022 Committee.
He was general editor of Arbitration World from 2004 to 2012. He is chairman of the editorial board for Global Arbitration Review, a former chairman of the IBA Business Section and IBA Antitrust Committee, and co-author of Rowley & Baker: International Mergers – The Antitrust Process. He served as chairman at McMillan LLP from 1996 to 2009, and as chairman emeritus and special counsel from 2009 to 2014.
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