Justin Gleeson was educated at the University of Sydney and at the University of Oxford. He has been a solicitor, counsel and Senior Counsel. He was the founding head of Banco Chambers, Sydney. Most recently, he was the tenth Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.  In 2017 he returned private legal practice both in Australia and internationally.

He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and a prolific legal author. His latest book is the joint edited collection Historical Foundations of Australian Law