David Isaac (lawyer)


David Isaac CBE is a British lawyer and partner at Pinsent Masons. and was appointed as the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2016. He is also chair of the Court of Governors at University of the Arts London, a director of Black Mountains College and a trustee of 14-18 Now. He was previously chair of Stonewall from 2003–2012. He was a director of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and Big Lottery Fund.
Isaac was awarded a CBE in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to equality and diversity and was ranked 36th in the OUTstanding top 100 LGBT executives in October 2018. In July 2020, he was elected as Provost of Worcester College, Oxford an will take office on 1 July 2021.

Early life

Isaac attended King Henry VIII Grammar School in Abergavenny. He went on to study law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and socio-legal studies at Wolfson College, Oxford. He attended the College of Law in Guildford to pass the Solicitors Final Examination..

Pinsent Masons

Isaac is a partner at Pinsent Masons law firm. He was Head of the firm's advanced manufacturing and technology sector from 2014 – 2019 and is Chair of the Pinsent Masons' Diversity and Inclusion group.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Isaac was appointed as Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2016. He said that the Commission would use its legal powers more, do more for disability rights and make sure that human rights were protected during Brexit.

Stonewall

During his time as chair of Stonewall, the charity lobbied to secure legislative change, such as the abolition of Section 28 and the introduction of Civil Partnerships.