Antonio Carpio was sworn in as a member of the Supreme Court on October 26, 2001. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University and his law degree from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law, where he graduated valedictorian in 1975. Fresh out of law school, Carpio went into private practice and founded the Carpio, Villaraza and Cruz Law firm. He was also a Professorial Lecturer of the UP College of Law from 1983 until 1992 when he was appointed Chief Presidential Legal Counsel by President Fidel Ramos. Under the Ramos Administration, he worked for major reforms in the telecommunications, shipping, civil aviation, and insurance industries. He was also a member of the Technology Transfer Board of the Department of Industry (1978–1979), a Special Representative of the Department of Trade for textile negotiations (1980–1981), and President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Pasay-Makati Chapter (1985). In 2015, the Department of Foreign Affairs sponsored Carpio on a world lecture tour on the West Philippine Sea dispute. In 2017, he published a book titled, The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.