Sir Nigel Teare was born on the Isle of Man and was educated at the island's King William College and at St Peter's College, Oxford. Called to the Bar in 1974 by Lincoln's Inn and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1991, he practised both commercial and admiralty law from Quadrant Chambers, of which he eventually became head. He acted as a Lloyd’s Salvage Arbitrator and then as a Lloyd’s Salvage Appeal Arbitrator; became a Recorder in 1997; and sat as a Judge in the Isle of Man as an Acting Deemster of the High Court and then of the Staff of Government (the appeal court) from 2000 to 2006. He was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2002 and as a Judge of the Queen's Bench Division in 2006. He sat in the Commercial Court from 2007, and was the Judge In Charge from 2017 to 2020. He was appointed as the Admiralty Judge in 2013, and was a Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit from 2013 to 2016. After retiring from the Bench in 2020, and he returned to active practice as an arbitrator.

Maintaining his Isle of Man links, Sir Nigel collects Manx paintings. He also enjoys tennis and golf.