Arbitrator · Mediator · Legal scholar

Kun Fan

Professor of Law at UNSW Sydney. Arbitrator, accredited mediator and domain name panelist, working in English, Chinese and French.

100+

ICC arbitrations supervised

23

Domain name decisions

8

Jurisdictions studied & worked in

3

Working languages

About

Bar admission

New York (2008)

Languages

English · Chinese · French

Doctorate

Ph.D., University of Geneva, summa cum laude

Kun Fan is Professor at the School of Private & Commercial Law, UNSW Sydney, where she teaches and researches mediation, arbitration and comparative legal studies. She joined UNSW in 2019 and was promoted to full Professor in 2026. She was previously Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of McGill University, where she was named Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Scholar in Arbitration & Commercial Law in 2017, and Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has been a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute.

Having studied and worked in China, Singapore, the United States, Switzerland, France, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia, and trained in both the common law and civil law traditions, she brings to each dispute a close understanding of how legal cultures meet.

Alongside her academic work, Professor Fan has acted as arbitrator, counsel, legal expert and tribunal secretary in international arbitrations and domain name disputes. As Deputy Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration, she oversaw more than one hundred ICC arbitrations. She is an accredited mediator of the Hong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association, a domain name panelist of HKIAC, ADNDRC and CIETAC, and a panel arbitrator of the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHIAC), the Zhuhai Arbitration Commission (International Arbitration Court) and the Nanjing Arbitration Commission. See her practice.

Her research, including several funded projects led as principal investigator, focuses on alternative dispute resolution. She is the author of Arbitration in China: A Legal and Cultural Analysis (Hart Publishing, 2013) and has published widely in leading international journals. Her work has been recognised by the China Arbitration Research Institute (Best Research Outputs in Arbitration Theory, 2015), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Support for High-impact Scholarship, 2013–2014) and the Swiss Network for International Studies (Best Thesis in International Studies, 2011). Browse her publications.

Career

Two decades across academia and practice

AcademiaPracticeEducation
200420082012201620202024
2004LL.B.China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing
2005Colin Ng & PartnersLaw firm, Singapore
2005 – 2006LL.M.New York University School of Law
2006 – 2007Research Assistant to Prof. Gabrielle Kaufmann-KohlerUniversity of Geneva
2006 – 2011Ph.D., summa cum laudeUniversity of Geneva
2008Admitted to the New York Bar
2008 – 2009Deputy CounselICC International Court of Arbitration, Paris
2008 – 2009Diplôme d’universitéUniversité Paris XII
2009 – 2016Assistant ProfessorThe Chinese University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law
since 2010Domain name panelistHKIAC and ADNDRC
since 2012Accredited mediatorHong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association
2012 – 2013Visiting ScholarHarvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University
since 2015ArbitratorZhuhai Arbitration Commission — International Arbitration Court
2016 – 2019Associate Professor · Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Scholar (2017)McGill University, Faculty of Law
2019 – 2026Associate ProfessorUNSW Sydney, School of Private & Commercial Law
2026 – presentProfessorUNSW Sydney, School of Private & Commercial Law

Appointments

Academic and professional bodies

Arbitral & mediation panels

Institutions on whose panels Professor Fan sits as arbitrator, mediator or domain name panelist.

Arbitrator
Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHIAC)
 – present
Arbitrator
Nanjing Arbitration Commission
 – present
Domain Names Panelist
CIETAC Online Dispute Resolution Center
2021
 – present
Arbitrator
Zhuhai Arbitration Commission — International Arbitration Court
2015
 – present
Accredited Mediator
Hong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association Limited
2012
 – present
Domain Names Panelist
Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (ADNDRC)
2010
 – present

Academic bodies

Councils, committees and juries in the arbitration community.

Juror
Nappert Prize in International Arbitration
 – present
Executive Council Member
China Academy of Arbitration Law
 – present
Executive Committee Member; Co-Chair, Working Group 1
International Mixed Modes Dispute Resolution (College of Commercial Arbitrators, International Mediation Institute and Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine)
 – present
Academic Council Member
Institute for Transnational Arbitration
 – present
Member
Herbert Smith Freehills CIBEL Centre
 – present

Editorial boards

Journals and publications.

Editorial Board
Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators)
2018
 – present
Contributor
Lexis Practical Guidance — Dispute Resolution
2015
 – 2016
Editorial Committee
International Journal of Business Law
2013
 – 2016
Editor
International Litigation Quarterly (American Bar Association)
2010
 – 2012

Professional memberships

Associations and learned societies.

Member
Meridian 180: Transforming the Transpacific Dialogue
2013
 – present
Member
Young International Council for Commercial Arbitration (Young ICCA)
2013
 – present
Member
European Society for Comparative Legal History
2012
 – present
Member
Asian Law Institute
2010
 – present
Member
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
2009
 – present
Member
Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators
2009
 – present
Member
Chinese European Legal Association
2009
 – present
Member
American Bar Association
2008
 – present
Admitted
New York Bar
2008
 – present
Member
Asian Society of International Law
2007
 – present
Member
Chinese Society of International Law
2004
 – present

Considering an appointment?

Arbitration, mediation, expert opinions and domain name disputes, in English, Chinese or French.