Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS is a British subject who has been engaged for over 40 years in dispute resolution as a barrister in England, a government lawyer in Hong Kong, a practising Queen’s Counsel in Hong Kong, and a Judge of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List.
Since 1995, Neil has practised solely as an international arbitrator.
Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS has been a full-time practising arbitrator since 1995. During this period he has been involved in several hundred arbitrations as co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator or chairman. These arbitrations have included a wide range of commercial, infrastructural and investment treaty disputes under the rules of the ICC, HKIAC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, SIAC, SCC, ICSID and CIETAC. Mr. Kaplan has also presided over ad hoc arbitrations as well as bilateral investment treaty cases administered by the PCA.
Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1965, Neil has practised as a barrister, Principal Crown Counsel at the Hong Kong Attorney General’s Chambers and served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List.
In June 2001 Neil was awarded a CBE for services to international arbitration. In 2007 he was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR.
As a result of his contribution to the development and growth of arbitration in Hong Kong, Neil is often described as “the father of Hong Kong arbitration”. (See C. Bao and F. Lautenschlager (eds.), Arbitrators’ Insights – Essays in Honour of Neil Kaplan, Sweet & Maxwell 2012, at p. 17, and V. Chong, “The Father of Hong Kong Arbitration”, The Hong Kong Lawyer, December 2012, at pp. 15-24.)
From 1991 until 2004, he was Chairman of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and in 1999-2000 he was President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Since 1995, he has been a Council Member and now Governing Board Member of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and in 2012 he became a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. He is a Chartered Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. Additionally, he is a panellist of several other arbitral institutions including CIETAC.
Neil has published a number of books, articles and chapters in books. See a list of his main publications here.
In addition to conducting arbitrations in England and Hong Kong, Mr. Kaplan has also conducted arbitrations in:
| 1965 | Called to the Bar of England and Wales |
| 1965-1980 | Practised at the London Bar from Chambers at 1 Garden Court, Temple |
| 1979 | Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators |
| 1980-1982 | Deputy Principal Crown Counsel, Attorney General’s Chambers, Hong Kong, with special responsibility for civil litigation |
| 1982 | Queen’s Counsel for Hong Kong |
| 1982-1983 | Principal Crown Counsel (Deputy Law Officer on Civil Side – Acting Solicitor-General and Crown Solicitor on occasions) |
| 1983 | Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in the State of Victoria, Australia |
| 1984 | Returned to private practice at the Hong Kong Bar. Founder and Head of Des Voeux Chambers |
| 1984- | Justice of the Peace for Hong Kong |
| 1984-1987 | Chairman of the Hong Kong Branch, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators |
| 1985- | Council Member of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre |
| 1986 | Admitted to the New York Bar |
| 1988-1989 | Chairman of the Hong Kong Branch, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators |
| 1990-1994 | High Court Judge for Hong Kong (Judge in Charge of Construction and Arbitration List, Member of Judicial Studies Board, Chairman of the Committee to examine court annexed mediation and related topics) |
| 1991 | Bencher of the Inner Temple |
| 1991-2004 | Chairman of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre |
| 1992-1998 | Overseas Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators |
| 1995-2000 | Chairman of the Disputes Review Board for Hong Kong’s new airport at Chek Lap Kok |
| 1995-1997 | Visiting Professor, Faculty of Law, City University of Hong Kong |
| 1995- | Council Member and now Governing Board Member of the Council of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) |
| 1997-2006 | Chairman of the Release under Supervision Board of Hong Kong |
| 1999-2006 | Chairman of the WTO Review Panel for Hong Kong |
| 1999 | Chartered Arbitrator |
| 1999-2000 | President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators |
| 2000- | Deputy Chairman of the Hong Kong Telecommunications Appeal Tribunal |
| 2004- | Honorary Professor, City University Hong Kong |
| 2007-2013 | Chair of Telecommunications (Competition Provisions) Appeal Board of Hong Kong |
| 2009-Feb 2012 | International Arbitration Adviser to Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Hong Kong |
| 2012-Apr 2013 | International Arbitration Adviser to King & Wood Mallesons, Hong Kong |
| 2012- | HK Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration |
| May 2013- | Self-employed International Arbitrator |
| 1964 | Bachelor of Laws degree |
| 1961-1964 | King’s College, University of London (Law) |
| 1956-1961 | St Paul’s School, London |
| 2001 | Awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to international arbitration |
| 2007 | Awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR |
| 1985 | Co-authored chapter on Hong Kong Arbitration for Year Book of International Commercial Arbitration |
| 1986- | Author of numerous articles on arbitration and speaker at various conferences and seminars worldwide. Publications include articles in Journal of International Arbitration, Arbitration, American Review of International Arbitration |
| 1991 | Kaplan, Spruce & Cheng’s Hong Kong Arbitration – Cases and Materials, Butterworths |
| 1993 | ICCA report on Hong Kong’s New Arbitration Law |
| 1994 | Kaplan, Spruce & Moser’s Arbitration in Hong Kong and China, Butterworths |
| 2002 | Alvarez, Kaplan and Rivkin’s Model Law Decisions – Cases Applying the UNCITRAL Model Law, Kluwer |
| 2004 | General Editor of Arbitration in Hong Kong: A Practical Guide, Thomson – Sweet & Maxwell |
| 2011 | Co-authored ICCA’s Guide to the Interpretation of the 1958 New York Convention: A Handbook for Judges, Permanent Court of Arbitration |
| 2013 | Co-authored the Hong Kong Report in ICCA’s International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration, Kluwer |
| 2016 | Winter of Discontent - Pinsent Masons Lecture given on 24 November 2016 |
| 2016 | Decision on Costs – A Mind field for Arbitrators and Uncertainty for Participants – Harbour Lecture given on 19 October 2016 | 2017 | I Rest My Case: Neil Kaplan – A Memoir |
From 1990 to 1994, Neil Kaplan was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong.
During this period, he was the Judge in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List and issued over fifty judgments in arbitration-related cases.
| Tiong Huat Rubber Factory (SDN) BHD v Wah Chang International (China) Co Ltd and Another – 28 November 1990 |
In 2007, a lecture series in honour of Neil Kaplan was inaugurated. The Kaplan Lecture is delivered each year in Hong Kong. These lectures are organised by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre to mark the substantial achievements of Neil Kaplan in the field of international arbitration and his contribution to the development of arbitration in Hong Kong.
Feel free to contact Neil using the form below.
Alternatively, please contact Neil’s Arbitral Clerk:
Ms. Nanxi Ding
Email: nanxi.ding@neil-kaplan.com
+852 5149 0508 (Hong Kong)
Neil Kaplan
Arbitration Chambers Hong Kong
Chinachem Hollywood Centre,
Suite 803,
1 Hollywood Road, Central
Hong Kong