Dr Cameron Ford OAM SC

Areas of Practice

• International and domestic commercial arbitration.
• Investor-state dispute settlement.
• Commercial litigation including contract disputes, competition and consumer law, corporations law, construction disputes, partnership disputes, mining law, occupier’s liability, negligence, professional indemnity, equity, trusts and estates, insolvency, planning law and property law.
• Personal injuries and worker’s compensation.
• Administrative law, appeals and judicial review, professional conduct and disciplinary proceedings.
• Investigations and prosecutions of OH&S, environmental and white collar issues.
• Royal Commissions and Tribunals, ICAC investigations.
• Criminal appeals.

Qualifications and experience

International arbitrator on the panels of SIAC, SIArb, ACICA, HKIAC, KCAB, CIETAC and THAC
Bachelor of Laws (Qld) 1987
Master of Laws (Melb) 2012
Graduate Certificate in International Arbitration (NUS) 2010
Master of Arts in Contemporary China (NTU) 2016
Adjudicator, Security of Payment (NT) 2006
Mediator (LEADR) 2008
Specialist Mediator (SIMC) 2022
Fellow, Singapore Institute of Arbitrator (SIArb)
Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
Fellow, Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA)
Member, Resolution Institute
Editor-in-Chief, Northern Territory Law Reports
Executive Editor, Northern Territory Law Journal
Assistant editor, Singapore Arbitration Journal
Chair, SIAC Users’ Committee for Australia and New Zealand
Member, SIAC Users’ Council Executive Committee 
Advisor, Singapore Law Society Publications Committee

Career

Cameron has practised as a solicitor, in-house counsel and barrister since 1987. He spent a number of years at William Forster Chambers before leaving for Singapore where he was most recently a partner in the international dispute resolution group of the American firm Squire Patton Boggs. Cameron’s time as in-house counsel with National Australia Bank, Downer Group and Rio Tinto has been invaluable in revealing more of the practical, commercial concerns faced by business in resolving disputes quickly and efficiently.

As partner in Squire Patton Boggs, Cameron has practised predominantly in international commercial arbitration and investor-state disputes, with his more notable recent cases being:

• $300 million ICC commercial arbitration involving construction of a solar energy plant in South-East Asia.
• Investor-state claim arising out of that commercial arbitration.
• $60 million SIAC commercial arbitration arising from the construction and long-term operation of a hospital in northern Asia.
• Investor-state claim arising out of that commercial arbitration.
• $5 billion SIAC commercial arbitration concerning construction of an LNG plant.
• $500 million SIAC commercial arbitration over construction of cryogenic tanks.
• $20 million ICC commercial arbitration involving the transfer of a mining licence in northern Asia.
• $40 million SIAC commercial arbitration arising out of a contract for mining services in South Asia.
• $500 million claim in the London Commercial Court concerning a mining services contract in Africa.
• $2 million SIAC commercial arbitration following termination of a franchise agreement in South Asia.
• $5 million SIAC commercial arbitration arising from a commodities contract in South-East Asia.

As a barrister at William Forster Chambers, Cameron has practised in all of the major areas of the law and has had a number of cases reported.

In July 2022, he submitted for examination is PhD thesis entitled Towards a Transnational Standard for Security for Costs in International Commercial Arbitration.

Recent publications

• The Lost Precedents of Arbitration (2022) 39(1) Journal of International Arbitration
• Case Note – Cheung Teck Cheong Richard v LVND Investments Pte Ltd (2022) Singapore Arbitration Journal
• Case Note – CLX v CLY (2022) Singapore Arbitration Journal
• The 60th Anniversary of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards [2021] Northern Territory Law Journal
• General Discounting of Security for Costs Discounted [2021] Northern Territory Law Journal
• A guide to investigating construction disputes – CCH Construction Service
• Approaches to Arbitration in Australia and Singapore, with Andrew Foo, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 3 March 2019
• The Law Society Neutral Evaluation and Determination Scheme, Singapore Law Society Gazette, December 2018
• Purpose over process – empowering the SIAC-SIMC arb-med-arb protocol, Singapore Law Society Gazette, June 2018
• Enforcement of foreign judgments and submission to the jurisdiction, Singapore Law Society Gazette, 2016
• [In]security of payment (2010) 1 Northern Territory Law Journal 
• Advocates’ liability for wasted costs (2005) 16 Insurance Law Journal
• The Territories and Kirk v Industrial Relations Commission (2011) 2 Northern Territory Law Journal 
• The court’s duty to ascertain jurisdiction (2011) 2 Northern Territory Law Journal 
• Spirit of civil procedure reforms bites (2012) 2 Northern Territory Law Journal

Contact Details

Dr Cameron Ford OAM SC
William Forster Chambers
26 Harry Chan Avenue
Darwin NT 0800

PO Box 4369
DARWIN NT 0801

Tel: (08) 8982 4700
Mob: =+61 4888 56786
Email: cford@williamforster.com