Dr Charles Mak is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Bristol. His academic affiliations include Fellowships at the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum at Stanford Law School and the Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law at the City University of Hong Kong. He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Glasgow, an LLM in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from the City University of Hong Kong, an LLM in International Economic Law from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Sussex.

His research expertise spans insolvency law, sovereign debt restructuring, trust law, financial regulation, technology law, and dispute resolution. He contributes to the legal profession as a member of the Trusts and Succession Law Sub-Committee and the Competition Law Sub-Committee of the Law Society of Scotland. Prior to his current role, he taught at the University of Glasgow, Robert Gordon University, and the University of the West of Scotland, and was a visiting scholar at institutions such as Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals and the University of Hong Kong.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (FHKIArb), the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (FAIADR), the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (FRAS), the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (FSAScot), and Advance HE (FHEA). He is also a Scottish Mediation Registered Practitioner.

He has published extensively in reputable journals. His numerous accolades include the III Prize in International Insolvency Studies 2024, the Scottish Universities Law Institute Early Career Fellowship, the Emerging Scholar Award, the YANIL Research Prize (First Prize), the Association of Law Teachers Stan Marsh Prize, and two consecutive STAR Awards from Robert Gordon University Students' Union for his teaching. Most notably, as one of the Principal Investigators, his research team received Robert Gordon University's 'Interdisciplinary Research Team of the Year' award (2025) for their project on leveraging AI to prevent terrorism in prisons. This project was funded by the Home Office Accelerated Capability Environment and the Counter Terrorism Research Lab and selected for a national showcase.

He serves as Chairperson of the Young Members Group at the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution and holds tribunal secretary accreditation from the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. In 2024, he was inducted into the International Insolvency Institute's NextGen Leadership Program (Class XIII) in Singapore.