Profile

Christopher Gibson is a Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School in Boston and Director of both the ADR Program and the Business Law and Financial Services Concentration. A leading expert in international dispute resolution, he focuses on arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), particularly in cross-border commercial, technology, investment, and intellectual property disputes. His extensive scholarship explores the intersection of dispute resolution with technology, international business, and investment law.

An active arbitrator, Professor Gibson is affiliated with leading arbitration institutions worldwide and has handled disputes under a wide range of governing laws and procedural rules. He has accepted over 300 appointments as a single, presiding and panel arbitrator, as well as emergency arbitrator. He is a member of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center's "2026 Tech List." He has also been deeply engaged in the global ADR community through leadership roles with organizations such as the Boston International Arbitration Council and the Institute of Transnational Arbitration, and as co-founder of the Foreign Direct Investment International Moot Competition.

Professor Gibson brings decades of high-level practical experience to his work. He has served in prominent international roles, including at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, the United Nations Compensation Commission, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where he helped develop key global dispute resolution frameworks such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). In private practice, including as a partner in in the London office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, he acted as counsel and arbitrator in complex international disputes involving multimillion-dollar claims across diverse industries.

At Suffolk, Professor Gibson is an award-winning teacher and leader, recognized for excellence in teaching and dedication to students. His Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) course has been used so that students have piloted ODR systems in development by the American Arbitration Association (AAA). His work continues to shape the theory and practice of international arbitration and ADR, preparing the next generation of lawyers to navigate complex global disputes. Professor Gibson is qualified as a US lawyer and a Registered Foreign Lawyer in England and Wales. He has authored books, book chapters and numerous articles on arbitration, intellectual property and related technology issues. He is co-author of The Protection of Intellectual Property Rights Under International Investment Law, with Dr. Simon Klopschinski and Dr. Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan (Oxford Univ. Press 2021).

He holds his B.A. from the University of Chicago, a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and J.D. from Boalt Hall Law School, University of California, Berkeley.