INDIA LAUNCH EVENT, ON 21 OCTOBER 2021
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This fireside chat on ‘The In-House Counsel Perspective on Conducting an Arbitration‘ featured Mr. Rahul Donde, Mr. Abhijit Mukhopadhyay and Ms. Zarina Pundole, moderated by Mr. Promod Nair. Their short bios are available below.
The fireside chat took place as part 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
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.
Abhijit Mukhopadhyay is the President (Legal) and General Counsel of the Hinduja Group and is involved in the Group’s worldwide legal matters based in the Group’s Headquarters in London. He is a Board Director in Group companies in seven countries. Previously, he worked in India as Company Secretary and General Counsel in several major companies. Abhijit graduated in Commerce (Honours), Law from the UK and India and Company and Chartered Secretaryship from India and the UK. Abhijit has been listed in the top 50 legal professionals, top 25 GCs, Legal 500 most powerful lists and also in the list of top 99 General Counsels from 31 countries. The Hinduja Group employs 150,000 people in 60 countries with a global annual turnover of USD 15 billion. Abhijit was the Vice Chairman of the ICC’s Arbitration Commission and a member of its Steering Committee in Paris. He is on the Advisory Council of CCLS, Queen Mary University of London, an Executive Committee Member of the IBF, Confederation of Indian Industry, UK and Liaison Officer of the International Bar Association’s global Corporate Counsel Forum. He has spoken globally and published articles in many countries.
Promod Nair is admitted as both an Advocate in India and as a Solicitor Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience in England and Wales (currently non-practising). He is a dispute resolution specialist, with extensive experience in public international law, international trade law, commercial litigation and arbitration. He has appeared as Counsel and Advocate (often as amicus curiae) in a broad range of commercial litigation and public law matters before the Supreme Court of India and the Karnataka, Bombay and New Delhi High Courts. Promod has acted as counsel or arbitrator in over sixty domestic and international arbitrations, and has conducted arbitrations in various jurisdictions in Asia, Europe and North America and under various institutional rules. Prior to establishing Arista Chambers in 2014, Promod was a partner in the dispute resolution practice at JSA (2011-2014), practised in the international arbitration group at Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills) in London (2007-2011) and as a litigator at Dua Associates (2002-2006). He is named as a leading arbitration practitioner by Global Arbitration Review (2012-2017), ranked in the list of the top 45 global practitioners of arbitration under the age of 45 (Who’s Who Legal 2016-2021) and as one of India’s top 100 lawyers (India Business Law Journal 2016 and 2017). He serves as India’s correspondent for the UNCITRAL CLOUT project, as a member of the UNCITRAL Coordination Committee for India and as coordinator of the Permanent Court of Arbitration India Committee. Promod is a Visiting Lecturer at the National Law School of India where he teaches a course on Arbitration Law and Practice.
Zarina Pundole is currently the General Counsel and Head (Legal) at Shapoorji Pallonji, EPC Division, where she oversees the entire division’s legal operations, litigation and arbitration. A graduate of Government Law College, Mumbai and University of Houston, Texas, she is qualified as a Solicitor in Mumbai and licensed to practice both in Texas as well as New York. Previously, she worked on private equity contracts and practiced corporate law at Wadia Ghandy & Co. in Mumbai and then shifted base to Houston, Texas where her decade-long practice spanned various fields of law, including FCPA, Oil and Gas and commercial law.
