David Russell commenced legal practice in 1974. He is admitted to practise in Australia, England and Wales (Lincoln’s Inn), the Courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre, New York (as a Legal Consultant), New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986.

David currently practices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, London (Outer Temple Chambers), Sydney (Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers), and Brisbane (Sir Harry Gibbs Chambers). He was President of the Taxation Institute of Australia from 1993 to 1995 and of the Asia Oceania Tax Consultants’ Association from 1996 to 2000. He is an Adviser of the Global Tax Advisers Platform.

He has lectured at the University of Sydney for the Master of Taxation course, the University of Queensland for the Master of Laws course and served as an Adjunct Professor of the University of Queensland and the University of Southern Queensland. He is the co-editor of the Oxford University Press Journal, Trusts & Trustees.

David was the inaugural Chairman of the STEP International Client Special Interest Group, Deputy Chair of STEP, and a member of the STEP World Wide Council and various STEP Committees, a co-chair of the United Arab Emirates Chapter of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Section. He is an Academician and Council Member of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law and chairs its Middle East and Africa Regional Membership Committee, a member of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers, a Freeman of the City of London and an Honorary Member of the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong.

David is listed in the Taxation Category in the Australian Financial Review/Best Lawyers review of the Australian Legal Profession in 2008 and all later years and in 2014 was the Tax Institute’s Chartered Tax Adviser of the Year. In 2010 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (with Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon) for his services to Australian-Japan relations. In 2012 David was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for, among other things, ‘service ... to taxation law and legal education’.

In 2016 he chaired the Wealth Management Review Working Group for the DIFC and in 2017 and 2018 he was recognised by Private Client Global Elite 2017 as one of the leading private client lawyers with international reach.

He was a contributing author on Foundations, Limited Liability Partnerships and the Common Reporting Standard Law in the Laws of the DIFC, Vol 3 and on the Operating Law in the Laws of the DIFC, Vol 4. He is also a member of the Editorial Board and acts as Executive Editor for this series.

Outside his practice, he maintains his interest in his family’s rural business, Russell Pastoral Company, and its flagship property, Jimbour.