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Sir Oliver Popplewell
Sir Oliver is a fully accredited arbitrator and mediator, specialising in high-value employment, sporting and financial services disputes. He brings with him a unique breadth of relevant experience and expertise, gained during a highly successful legal career spanning four decades.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is accredited as a mediator by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). He is also a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Lausanne) and the Sports Dispute Resolution Panel. As a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Disciplinary Panel, he has been closely involved in both MCC and International Cricket Council (ICC) investigations into corruption in sport. In addition, he has wide experience in professional negligence and financial disputes. He is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the City Disputes Panel.
Prior to establishing his current practice in mediation and arbitration, Sir Oliver was one of England's most distinguished High Court Judges. He became the Senior Judge of the Queen's Bench Division, where his cases ranged from murder to insurance and media trials. As the judge in charge of the Defamation list, he presided over cases such as the Jonathan Aitken and Al Fayed libel actions. He conducted the Inquiry into the fire at the Bradford football ground and problems of hooliganism, crowd control and safety at sports grounds. In his judicial capacity, he was also President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Chairman of Accountants' Disciplinary Appeal Tribunal and, as a member of the Wages Council, acquired considerable experience in resolving industrial disputes.
Before being appointed a Judge, Sir Oliver was an extremely successful barrister for over 30 years, called to the Bar in 1951 and becoming a QC in 1969. He acted for numerous media organisations, such as Thames Television, as well as appearing for many major insurance companies in complex insurance claims.
Sir Oliver says that he has great faith in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as a means of settling disputes where appropriate: “The enhanced privacy, informality and speed of ADR proceedings can bring many benefits. Mediation and arbitration both present an option that is less adversarial and, in many cases, less costly than traditional Court proceedings.”
Memberships and appointments
1951 - called to the Bar
1969 - appointed Queen's Counsel
1969 - appointed Recorder of Burton on Trent and Deputy Chairman of Oxfordshire Quarter Sessions
1971 - appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court
1980 - member of the Aarvold Committee on Restricted Patients
1983 - appointed High Court Judge
1985 - appointed Chairman of the Bradford Inquiry into Crowd Control and Safety at Sports Grounds
1986 - appointed President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal
1986 - appointed Vice Chairman of the Parole Board
1995-1996 - appointed President of the MCC
1996 - admitted as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
2000 - admitted as a Chartered Arbitrator and Mediator, LCIA
2000 - appointed a Member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Lausanne)
2000 - appointed a Member of the Sports Dispute Resolution Panel
Publications:
In addition to numerous legal articles and academic papers, Sir Oliver has written two acclaimed non-fiction books:
Benchmark: Life, Laughter and the Law - his autobiography, first published in 2003
Hallmark: A Judge’s Life at Oxford - published in 2009, an account of Sir Oliver’s recent experiences as Oxford University’s oldest-ever undergraduate, having originally graduated in Law from Cambridge in 1950. He gained his BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from Oxford in 2006, at the age of 78. He subsequently went on to achieve a Masters degree in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics in 2008.