Robert Spano
Robert is a partner in the London and Paris offices and the Co-Chair of the firm’s Geopolitical Strategy and International Law Practice Group, Artificial Intelligence Practice Group, and of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Practice Group. He is a Barrister before the Courts of England and Wales, a member of the Paris Bar and the Icelandic Bar.
Robert is one of Europe’s leading platform and technology litigators for multinational companies before the Court of Justice of the European Union and leads a multidisciplinary team on regulatory compliance and strategic engagement with regulators in the field of digital rights, online platform regulation, data protection and on the intersection between artificial intelligence and fundamental rights. He is among Europe’s foremost experts on the EU’s Digital Services Act and the EU AI Act. He leads a team that coordinates cross-border disputes with local counsel before the national courts of the United Kingdom and Member States of the European Union.
He is a leading expert in geopolitical strategy and international law, in particular advising multinational companies and sovereigns navigating the interplay between the United States and the law and regulatory structure of the European Union. He is one of the world’s leading authorities in public international law, business and human rights and the law of the European Convention on Human Rights, principles of business and human rights (ESG, environment, social and governance) and governmental affairs and policy, bringing unparalleled experience from senior roles in the judiciary, private practice and academia. Clients have stated that “Robert Spano is a highly authoritative figure in public international law, who draws effectively on his wealth of experience as the former President of the European Court of Human Rights”.
Robert is ranked by Chambers and Partners as a Global Market Leader in Business and Human Rights Law in its 2026 Global Guide, clients emphasising his ability to bring his human rights expertise into the corporate context. He is listed in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom as a leading lawyer for Human Rights and Public International Law. He is also recognised by The Legal 500 UK 2025 for International Arbitration, Public International Law, TMT, Administrative and public law, Data protection, privacy and cybersecurity, ESG and Artificial Intelligence. He is also named to Lawdragon’s 100 Leading AI & Legal Tech Advisors (2024-2026) and 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers lists (2024-2025).
He is the former president of the European Court of Human Rights, the youngest judge ever to be elected to the presidency in the Court’s 60 year history. When leaving the Court his colleagues published a Liber Amicorum in his honour stating that ‘during his term as president he demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities, showing creativity and imagination in improving the functioning of the Strasbourg institution”.
Robert sits on the Panel of Arbitrators and Conciliators of the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and is an honorary bencher of the Middle Temple.