Former Rodyk & Davidson Singapore partner Ganesh Chandru has joined Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (LKS) in Delhi as an executive partner to head the firm’s international arbitration practice.
The 1994 GLC Madras alumnus Chandru has a master of laws degree from NUS Singapore and was the counsel and assistant registrar for the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) between 2002 and 2007. Chandru was in Singapore for the last 16 years specialising in arbitration, working with various international law firms and Singapore law firms.
Chandru has represented arbitration parties under rules of the SIAC, ICC, LCIA, SCMA, UNCITRAL and in ad hoc arbitrations and litigation. He is also a member of the panel of arbitrators of the SIAC, the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators and the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration. He is qualified to practice in India, Singapore and England & Wales and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.
Chandru told Legally India that at LKS he will focus on international arbitrations seated in India and outside India, especially in Singapore and London, and on arbitration-related court work and commercial litigation matters.
“Indian parties have consistently been the top users at SIAC,” he said and added that “SIAC arbitration is popular with Indian parties because of its time and cost efficiency... At SIAC you can budget your costs well in advance as there is an ad valorem fee scale, the process is quick and an arbitral award can be obtained within 12-18 months, the arbitrators on the panel are excellent and the travel time to Singapore is between four to five hours from most Indian cities.”
LKS senior partner S Seetharaman, who heads the firm’s international arbitration practice, said: “The [international arbitration practice] has been in existence right from the beginning [of the firm] but has been off and on. A case comes up once every few years, of our own clients [from other practices]. It has not been developed as a separate practice. But now hopefully with a person like [Chandru] with his kind of background we hope to develop it in a focussed way.”
LKS opened a third office in the NCR region in May and hired two new partners earlier this year.
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