INDIA LAUNCH EVENT, ON 21 OCTOBER 2021
.
These introductory remarks featured Messrs. Manish Aggarwal, Vyapak Desai, Rahul Donde and Hafez Virjee. They were delivered at the start of Delos’s India Launch Event, on 21 October 2021. We thank the Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration (AFIA), the Eastern Book Company (EBC), the Indian Arbitration Forum (IAF), the Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU) and Supreme Court Cases Online (SCC) for their support of this event.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
From left to right in the picture above
Manish Aggarwal is a dual-qualified English solicitor and Indian advocate, and partner in the London office of Three Crowns. He has extensive experience of representing clients in commercial and investment treaty arbitrations across a broad range of sectors and in arbitration-related court litigation. His recent experience includes: (a) representing ConocoPhillips in its successful ICSID arbitration against Venezuela arising from the expropriation of its oil and gas assets, securing a historic US$8 billion award; (b) representing three energy companies in an LCIA arbitration against a regional government in the Middle East, securing awards worth approximately US$2 billion and dismissal of counterclaims worth several billion dollars; (c) securing an award in excess of $150 million for a multinational commodity trading company in an UNCITRAL arbitration against an African State arising from a power purchase agreement; (d) successfully representing an infrastructure fund in an ICSID arbitration against Spain under the Energy Charter Treaty in connection with measures adversely affecting renewables; and (e) representing a major global investment company in a post M&A arbitration involving claims for breaches of warranties and indemnities under a share purchase agreement. Manish is consistently ranked as a leading practitioner in arbitration and public international law by major directories such as Who’s Who Legal and Legal 500.
Vyapak Desai heads the International Dispute Resolution and Investigation Practice at the multi-skilled, research and strategy driven international law firm, Nishith Desai Associates. A senior attorney with the firm, Vyapak specializes in bringing in the highest level of analytical and innovative input in cross border, complex contentious matters, corporate/regulatory investigations while also leading the Corporate and Securities practice in the past at the firm. Vyapak’s vast experience includes representing clients as Counsel in a host of complex cases including investment treaty arbitrations, commercial disputes related to shareholders agreements, international trade and contractual disputes across industries such as oil & gas, infrastructure, private equity, Pharma & Healthcare and TMT, in India, and all over the world. Vyapak has also cultivated expertise in bankruptcy, corporate and securities laws as well as in white-collar crimes. Known for his innovative, pragmatic and solution-oriented approach, he is also a trained mediator/conciliator and acts as arbitrator across international jurisdictions such as London, Singapore, Malaysia and India. Expert in Constitutional, Commercial, and International Law, Vyapak has helped shape key insights within these practice areas.
Rahul Donde (Co-Convenor) is Counsel at Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler, Geneva specializing in international commercial and investment arbitration. He has acted as arbitrator, counsel and secretary of the arbitral tribunal in over 30 international arbitration proceedings under both ad hoc (UNCITRAL, Swiss PILA, Indian Arbitration Act, 1996) and institutional arbitration rules (CEPANI, HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, LCIA, SIAC). Rahul has specific experience in disputes relating to energy and natural resources, commercial (agency, distribution, sales, purchase, services agreements) and corporate laws in different jurisdictions. Rahul sits as an arbitrator and is empanelled with all major international arbitral institutions including the HKIAC, ICC, LCIA and SIAC. As counsel, he advises multinational companies in cross-border construction and commercial disputes. Besides, he has considerable experience representing clients in domestic disputes in India, including appearing before various judicial and quasi-judicial bodies such as the Bombay High Court, the Company Law Board and others. Having worked in Switzerland and India for several years, Rahul has expertise in high-value, complex commercial disputes in both common law and civil law systems.
Hafez Virjee (Co-Convenor) is the President and a co-Founder of Delos. Hafez also serves as an independent arbitrator at Virjee Arbitration. He previously acted mainly as counsel. His clients have spanned the range of listed companies, private equity firms, tech start-ups, industrial concerns, State entities and treaty organisations, in disputes across a wide range of sectors and relationships, including shareholder agreements, joint-ventures, agency, M&A, telecommunications, tech, energy, pharmaceutical, construction and defence. Hafez is a solicitor of England & Wales and also qualified in France. He was previously at Dechert in Paris (with a secondment to Dubai in 2015) and prior to that at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. He co-edits the Delos Guide to Arbitration Places (GAP) and regularly writes and speaks on international arbitration and legal risk management. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge (M.A.), the Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas (Maîtrise) and the University of California – Berkeley (LL.M.). He is listed among the Future Leaders of Arbitration by Who’s Who Legal.
