Michael Hwang currently practises as a Barrister and Arbitrator.

Michael was educated at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Oxford University, where he was a College Scholar and prizewinner. After completing his legal education, he took up a teaching appointment at the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1968, when he joined Allen & Gledhill (Singapore's largest law firm). He became a partner in 1972, and retired from the firm at the end of 2002 after serving as Head of its Litigation and Arbitration Department for 10 years. Michael has over 40 years of experience in the legal arena. His areas of practice have included banking, finance, company, real property, intellectual property, tort, criminal, administrative and family law as well as a general commercial practice as an advocate and solicitor. 

In 1991 he was appointed a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court, (a full time post equivalent to the office of an acting High Court Judge) for a fixed term which expired at the end of 1992. During his term of office, he dealt with a full caseload across a broad range of civil litigation and 15 of his reasoned judgments are reported in the Singapore Law Reports. Several of these judgments have been referred to with approval by other courts and academic commentators. He returned to private practice at the beginning of 1993. 

In 1997 he was appointed one of the first 12 Senior Counsel ("SC") of the Supreme Court of Singapore (a status equivalent to that of Queen's Counsel in England). 

In 1999, he was elected a member of the American Law Institute, and also served as a Visiting Professor to the National University of Singapore teaching advocacy and commercial arbitration. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the same University, teaching commercial and international arbitration.

Between 2000 and 2003, he served as a Commissioner of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) based in Geneva, a body set up under the Security Council to assess claims against Iraq arising from the First Gulf War. 

In 2000 he was awarded the Public Service Medal (PBM) for his services as Chairman of the Singapore Dance Theatre.

In 2003, he was appointed Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Switzerland

In 2005, he was appointed the Deputy Chief Justice of the Court of the Dubai International Financial Centre.  

In 2007, he was elected as the President of the Law Society of Singapore, with effect from January 2008.

He is a Vice President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), a former Vice Chair of the International Bar Association's (IBA) Arbitration Committee, and a Vice Chairman of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He also serves as a Court member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and a Trustee of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) as well as a Council Member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) based in Lausanne.

Michael has been listed in the 'Euromoney Guide to the World's Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration' (2000), 'Euromoney Guide to the World's Leading Litigation Lawyers'(1999 and 2001), 'AsiaLaw Leading Lawyers Survey' (2000), 'The Asia Pacific Legal 500' (1999 and 2002),'Euromoney Guide to the World's Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers' (2001), 'Euromoney Guide to the World's Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers' (2001), 'IFLR 1000: The Guide to the World's Leading International Business Law Firms' (2000 and 2002) and 'An International Who's Who Legal Series' (2000).

According to 'In Brief' (London based legal publication) (September 1997) "Michael Hwang is recommended by a number of major city firms for his ability and efficiency." 'The Asia Pacific Legal 500' (2001 and 2002) also noted that "Michael Hwang SC [is] regarded as a first-rate litigator." 'The International Who's Who of Commercial Arbitrators' (2005) rated him as "Singapore's leading lawyer for commercial arbitration expertise" and said "Mr Hwang received more nominations from clients and peers in the course of the research than any other commercial arbitration specialist in the country" and was described as "sharp with a good mind" and "number one" by respondents.

"Global Arbitration Review" (June 2006) ranked him as Asia's top arbitrator. 'The Best of the Best 2007' listed him as one of the top 32 international commercial arbitration practitioners in the world. 'Who's Who Legal 2008' describes him as "the most highly nominated individual in (its Singapore) research" a "quite outstanding lawyer" "an illustrious figure" who has "a practical sense and wealth of knowledge." 'Chambers Asia 2008' calls him "a brilliant world class arbitrator" who is "popular,prominent, incisive and decisive."

Michael also holds numerous arbitration appointments, having been involved in many arbitrations and mediations involving a variety of countries both in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. 

He also conducts training courses for arbitrators from time to time under the auspices of the ICC, the  American Arbitration Association  (AAA/ICDR), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators and King's College  London, in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Dubai.