Robert Dobson is a highly experienced Judge and commercial lawyer with extensive experience in New Zealand.

Robert has worked in law in New Zealand for over 50 years. He was appointed partner of Rudd Watts & Stone (subsequently Minter Ellison Rudd Watts) in 1976, moving to the bar as barrister in 1990. He was appointed a KC in 1998 and was chair of the New Zealand Bar Association 2003-2004.

Robert was appointed as a Judge of the High Court in 2007 and was a member of the Commercial Panel of the High Court from its inception in 2017. Following his retirement from the High Court in December 2020, he was appointed as an acting Judge of the Court of Appeal from February to August 2022. He continues to practice as mediator and arbitrator at Stout Street Chambers in Wellington and to serve as a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Fiji and also as a member of the Court of Appeal of the Pitcairn Island.