Combar International

With the UK widely recognized as the leading international centre for legal services and the majority of Combar’s membership regularly undertaking international work, a key part of Combar’s role is to foster relationships with the international legal community. Combar’s strategy is spearheaded by an International Committee and implemented by sub-committees for North America, India, Africa and Offshore. The development of international links offers Combar members the opportunity to build new relationships and deepen existing ones, while providing a multi-jurisdictional forum for the exchange of ideas, developments in the law and regional market insight.

Central to this is our Honorary Overseas Members (HOMs) programme, whereby leading commercial law practitioners in overseas jurisdictions are invited to join Combar. Our much valued HOMs are involved in planning and implementing activity in each region, working with Combar’s committees to create an effective and influential international network. Criteria for becoming an HOM can be found here. Regional activities include:

  • Promoting closer ties, cooperation and information exchange between commercial practitioners in different jurisdictions.
  • Regional events to further develop relationships, in particular through the long-established annual North America Meeting (which alternates between North America and Europe) and the Combar India Roundtable Conference, which has taken place annually since 2016.
  • Funding scholarship and exchange programmes for foreign lawyers.
  • Provision of financial support to legal organisations in the developing world.

International Committee

  • Jeremy Richmond KC, Chair, International Committee
  • Jamie Goldsmith KC, Jamsheed Peeroo, joint Chairs, Africa Committee
  • Sapna Jhangiani KC, Chair and Chintan Chandrachud, Vice Chair, India & Asia Committee
  • Tom Mountford Chair, Andrew Burns KC, Vice Chair, North America Committee
  • Saima Hanif KC, Chair, Gulf Committee
  • George Spalton KC, Quentin Cregan; Hannah Tildesley; Andrew Willins KC, Co-Chairs Offshore Committee

COMBAR’s International Work

Combar barristers are active in courts and arbitration centres across the globe. More than a quarter [1] of the world’s 320 jurisdictions use English Common Law, and several Combar member sets have a permanent presence in international jurisdictions.

Combar barristers also undertake a huge range and quantity of international work from London, both litigation and London-based arbitration. London is the most popular, and widely used, seat for international commercial arbitration. [2] There were 31,514 civil disputes resolved in the UK through arbitration, mediation and adjudication in 2024. In nearly three quarters of the 1055 cases dealt with in the Commercial Court in 2024 over half had at least one party from outside the UK with 373 being completely international; more than 200 foreign law firms from around 40 jurisdictions operate in London. With these numbers in mind, it is no surprise that international exports generated by barristers contributed an impressive £580 million to the UK economy in 2024, with over 2,612 barristers working on international cases, up almost 13% from the previous year.  Combar works to seek to ensure that the international work undertaken by the Bar of England and Wales continues to flourish, both in terms of international work undertaken by commercial barristers in the UK and in terms of commercial barristers appears in courts and arbitrations in jurisdiction all across the globe.

(All stats from UK Legal Services 2025, and the Civil Justice statistics quarterly: October 2024 to December 2024.)

[1] Philip Wood, ‘Governing Law Risks in International Business Transactions’, (December 2022).

[2] White & Case International Arbitration Survey Report 2025.