Brian King is an international arbitration lawyer specializing in commercial and investment disputes. With nearly 30 years of experience in the field, Brian now practices as an independent arbitrator. He serves as presiding, party-nominated, sole or emergency arbitrator in complex commercial and investment cases across industry sectors.
Brian is widely recognized as a leading arbitration practitioner and thought leader. His areas of particular subject matter expertise include:
- Energy
- Construction
- Life Sciences
- Corporate Transactions/JVs/Licensing
- International Investments
Until December 2018, Brian was a senior partner in the international arbitration group at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, based in New York. Over the course of his career, Brian acted as counsel in more than 100 cases, including two of the largest investment arbitrations to date. Alongside his counsel practice, Brian also sat selectively as arbitrator.
Brian publishes frequently on arbitration topics and is a regular speaker at industry and government conferences. Since 2013, he has taught investment arbitration law as an Adjunct Professor at the New York University School of Law. In 2018, Brian accepted a further appointment as a Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence at the law school.
A graduate of Princeton University (B.A., summa cum laude, 1985) and the New York University School of Law (J.D., valedictorian, 1990), Brian clerked for federal judges in New York and Washington, D.C. following graduation. In 1994, he accepted a position as a legal advisor at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. He then practiced at the Dutch law firm Stibbe for three years before joining the Amsterdam office of Freshfields on its founding in 1999. Brian led the international arbitration practice there until his return to New York in 2007.
Brian maintains offices in New York and in London, where he is an arbitrator member of chambers at 3 Verulam Buildings. In addition to his native English, Brian speaks Dutch and reads Spanish and French.
Further information about Brian’s experience, publications, speaking engagements, professional recognition and philosophy is available by clicking these links, or by accessing the downloadable CV.