Lord Hoffmann was born in South Africa in 1934. He studied at the University of Cape Town and The Queen's College, Oxford, before taking on the role of civil law fellow at University College, Oxford from 1961 – 1973. He was called to the English Bar at Gray's Inn in 1964 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1977.

Lord Hoffmann was a Judge in the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey from 1980 to 1985. From 1985 to 1992, he served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division. He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1992 and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1995. Since 1998 he has also served as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

His judgments in Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society[1998] 1 WLR 898 and Chartbrook v Persimmon Homes Ltd [2009] AC 1101 are among the leading general authorities in England and the Commonwealth on the interpretation of agreements, while his judgment in Fiona Trust & Holding Corp. v Privalov [2007] UKHL 40 continues to be among the best known decisions relating to arbitration in English case law.

In 2009 he began to accept appointments as arbitrator and has since been described as “legendary”, among the “most in demand” international arbitrators in the world, and “everything that you can possibly want from an arbitrator: he’s merit driven, fast and in control of proceedings.”