Mark Beer

Mark Gregory Beer OBE is a British lawyer and businessman who is co-founder of the law firm Seven Pillars Law, as well as chairman of The Metis Institute, and co-founder of the University of Oxford's Deep Technology Dispute Resolution Lab. He is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Global Legal Action Network and was previously President of the International Association for Court Administration. Beer is a member of the Commercial Dispute Resolution Taskforce, part of the UK Government's ‘LawTech Delivery Panel’; advisor to the Board of Resolve Disputes Online; a member of the Innovation Working Group of the Task Force on Justice; a professional associate with Outer Temple Chambers; a member of the faculty at the Legal Technology and Innovation Institute and a member of the International Council of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Beer is the Chairman of the Astana Financial Centre's (AIFC) LegalTech Advisory Council and a member of the AIFC Legal Services Board.

In 2021, Beer was appointed a professor of AI and Law by the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, and has been appointed a member of the Shanghai Arbitration Commission.

Beer is a Visiting Fellow of the University of Oxford, a member of the World Economic Forum's Expert Network for the justice sector and a legal commentator on China's One Belt One Road Initiative.

Education
Beer studied at both King Edward's School, Birmingham and Manchester Grammar School before graduating from University of Oxford in 1993 after studying jurisprudence. He went on to start his legal career with Edge & Ellison, Hatwell Pritchett & Co, Clyde & Co and Mastercard.

Career
Beer was appointed Registrar at DIFC Courts in 2008, and a Small Claims Tribunal Judge and the Chief Executive of the DIFC Courts in 2009. Beer was Registrar at the Dubai World Tribunal from 2009 to 2018. In 2017, Beer was appointed Registrar General to the DIFC Courts by Chief Justice Michael Hwang. Beer was identified as one of the 100 Inspiring Leaders in the Middle East and was involved in a number of transformative projects in Dubai in the legal and justice sectors, having spoken about the future of law and justice and been instrumental in the establishment of the Courts of the Future Forum.

Beer was involved in negotiating the memoranda signed with other courts including those in England and Wales, the Southern District of New York, Singapore, New South Wales and the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan.

Beer was co-Chief Executive and general registrar of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Dispute Resolution Authority, which developed links with China, Kazakhstan, Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, Ras al-Khaimah, Microsoft, the Dubai Judicial Institute, and New York University Abu Dhabi,

Beer was behind the idea to create the DIFC's Dispute Resolution Authority, hosting the DIFC Courts, the DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre, the DIFC Wills and Probate Registry and the DIFC Academy of Law. Beer worked on the development of the Middle East's first specialist Technology and Construction Court.

As the Chief Executive of the DIFC Courts, Beer was credited by Chief Justice Michael Hwang as one of the reasons for the DIFC Courts' success.

Awards and recognition
Beer was awarded an OBE in Queen Elizabeth II's 2013 Birthday honours list, for his work in strengthening relations between the UK and the UAE.