Caroline Xu is a Lawyer in the Dispute Resolution (Construction and Arbitration) team at Ashurst in Sydney, with experience spanning construction law, international commercial arbitration, and complex dispute resolution.

Caroline holds a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Sydney, and was a semi-finalist (equal 3rd of 365 global teams) in the 29th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in 2022.

Caroline's involvement in construction disputes began at Valorum Law Group, a boutique construction and commercial law firm, where she assisted in construction litigations, reviewed evidence and construction contracts, and prepared affidavits, briefs, and adjudication applications. She then interned at the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), where she reviewed maritime arbitration rules and prepared suggested amendments to the AMTAC Rules, and published a case note in the ACICA Review analysing the enforceability of arbitration agreements under theInternational Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth).

Caroline joined Sydney Arbitration Chambers as Paralegal to Doug Jones AO, Janet Walker CM and James Allsop AC from July 2022 to February 2024, where she provided editorial assistance for the International Construction Law Review, conducted legal research for academic publications on complex construction disputes, and assisted with case management in the Chambers' international arbitration practice.

In 2024, Caroline joined Ashurst as a Graduate Lawyer, rotating in the Dispute Resolution (Construction and Arbitration) and Global Loans practice groups. At Ashurst, she co-authored a published analysis of the High Court's decision in Tesseract International Pty Ltd v Pascale Construction Pty Ltd [2024] HCA 24, which confirmed that proportionate liability laws apply in arbitrations in Australia, a development of particular significance for construction arbitrations.

In November 2024, Caroline returned to Sydney Arbitration Chambers as an Associate and Tribunal Secretary, where she acted as formal tribunal secretary on three international arbitration matters and provided informal case management and document management assistance for co-arbitrator matters. She returned to Ashurst in May 2026 as a Lawyer in the Dispute Resolution (Construction and Arbitration) team.

Caroline's experience across arbitral institutions, a boutique construction firm, independent arbitration chambers, and a leading international law firm has given her a practical understanding of the procedural and substantive issues that arise in construction arbitration, and she brings this perspective to her current work in construction disputes.