Barry Appleton

Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law; Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Center for International Law

Barry Appleton

Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law
Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Center for International Law

Barry Appleton

Contact Information
T 516.932.0151  
E barry.appleton@nyls.edu  

Faculty Assistant
Rosamond White
T 212.431.2127 
E rosamond.white@nyls.edu

Education
University of Cambridge, LL.M. with specialization in International Law 1991; Queen’s University, J.D. 1989; University of Toronto, B.A. with honors 1985

View Professor Appleton's 'Clause & Effect' Substack

Profile

Barry Appleton is Co-Director and Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Center for International Law at New York Law School, where he also serves as a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law. He is also a Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. At NYLS, he teaches international commercial arbitration, public international law topics, and international business transactions. He formerly coached NYLS’s highly regarded teams in both the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.

Professor Appleton is an international lawyer and policy strategist specializing in international economic law, trade, investment, arbitration, and digital economy law. He is the Managing Partner of Appleton & Associates International Lawyers LP, where he has served as lead counsel in many of the most influential decisions in investment treaty arbitration under ICSID and UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. He has advised sub-national and national governments on cross-border regulatory frameworks, WTO compliance, and treaty modernization under NAFTA, USMCA, and other trade instruments.

His recent work focuses on the strategic implications of digital governance, data sovereignty, digital currencies, and algorithmic accountability within national and international trade regimes. Through his legal scholarship and policy commentary, including the widely read Appleton’s Clause & Effect Substack blog—Professor Appleton explores how emergent technologies are reshaping the legal architecture of economic sovereignty. He is a leading voice in addressing how global trade rules intersect with issues such as cross-border data flows, digital taxation, intellectual property sovereignty, and the role of emergency powers in trade enforcement.

He is the Editor in Chief of Investor-State Reports and Appleton’s International Investment Law and Arbitration News and has published extensively on treaty-based dispute settlement, trade and investment governance, and Canada–U.S. legal relations. He is among the top tier of global practitioners in investment treaty arbitration.

Professor Appleton has served as Co-Chair of the ABA International Arbitration Committee, led the Investment Treaty Working Group within the ABA Section of International Law, and represented the American Arbitration Association before UNCITRAL Working Group II negotiations at the United Nations in New York and Vienna.

In addition to his legal and academic contributions, Professor Appleton is active in cultural and philanthropic initiatives, particularly those that support the preservation and promotion of Indigenous cultural expression and the intersection of law, identity, and sovereignty.

Publications

Courses

Advanced Topics in International Public Law

Independent Study – Jessup International Law Moot

Independent Study – Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot

International Arbitration

International Business Transactions

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