Spotlight on Chris Parker KC

Please can you tell us about your background at the firm and what you like most about the job? 

I joined the firm in March 2001 as a trainee, so it has now been 24 years. Most of that has been in London, but I've also spent time in our Shanghai and New York offices too and (back in the day) in Amsterdam, on secondment to Stibbe. I was there on the day we opened the HSF New York office in 2012 – we've come a long way since then and I'm really looking forward to my first visit to the much larger office on 6th Avenue! 

As for the job – I still love the law (even if my kids would tell me that that makes me sound like a "neek"), but it's the combination of genuine intellectual challenge, variety and the overriding commercial overlay.  And we're lucky enough to work in an area that has always been truly international, not only because it’s (nearly) always more exciting to travel for hearings. In no particular order, I've had hearings in Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Singapore, Dubai, Geneva, Zurich, Lusaka, Lausanne and of course London.  

You co-head Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer's pharmaceutical group. Why is pharmaceutical work interesting and why is arbitration a good fit for disputes in that sector?

You were appointed as Queen's Counsel (now King's Counsel) in 2022 and you're heavily involved in advocacy training at the firm. How did you gain advocacy experience and why do you think it's an important skill for arbitration counsel?  

I threw myself into the training the firm offered and did some pro bono advocacy. But I was obviously still nervous when I was asked if I would like to deliver a small chunk of our opening – particularly as the small chunk was probably the trickiest legal point in our case (fortunately, the Tribunal decided to save their difficult questions for closing). From there, it was about making sure I was ready to grasp any opportunities that came up on my cases. I remember being asked as a senior associate to cross-examine an expert witness the night before he was due to take the stand. It sounds worse than it was – I'd had more advocacy experience by then and knew the case, and the fact the partner trusted me to do it was obviously a real confidence boost.  I had fantastic support throughout from the partners at the firm – including after I became a partner and when I was applying for silk.   

I think it is critical for our arbitration lawyers to train to be advocates, whether or not they want to do oral advocacy in an arbitration (although most of them do, so it's about helping them get the experience and skills to do that). Learning how to think as an advocate – for example, how a tribunal might view a point or what might happen in cross-examination – helps with everything we do, whether it's case strategy, document production or witness statements.  And of course, written advocacy is a central part of any arbitration. 

Can you tell us about a memorable arbitration case you've worked on?  

All my cases are memorable, for different reasons (mostly good). But it tends to be the hearings that stick in the memory – not just for the advocacy and because it is where all the hard work comes together, but also because as a team, we get to focus just on the case. So of course they are periods of intense work, but they are also great fun.   

What do you like to do when you're not working/where's your happy place? 

I'll mostly be with my family – I have two wonderful teenage daughters. We're big Spurs fans, so Tottenham Hotspur stadium can be a very happy place. You might also find us sailing (although not in the UK!), or walking, running or biking in Richmond Park.