Jerome Merchant + Partners has hired two lateral dispute resolution lawyers, partner Rhia Marshall and Yashvardhan, a month after hiring Palash Gupta from Singapore as its head of international arbitration.

Marshall has joined in Mumbai as a partner, having worked as an independent litigator after leaving Economic Laws Practice (ELP) in 2019 as an associate partner.

The 2009 ILS Pune graduate specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration for domestic and international companies. According to a JM + P statement:

She has worked on domestic and international arbitrations spanning various sectors including shipping, oil and gas contracts, construction contracts, public private partnership disputes, employee disputes and various other commercial matters. She also has solid experience in handling disputes in the infrastructure sector and large-scale disputes relating to ports and highways

Marshall commented in the release: “I have known the folks at JMP for a long time. They are an excellent set of professionals and the firm has a great work culture.”

Independent Delhi litigator Yashvardhan has joined in Delhi as as an of counsel. He had begun his career at the erstwhile Amarchand Mangaldas in 2008, and then practised in the chambers of senior advocate Dushyant Dave, followed by an independent career in the Delhi high court, Supreme Court and other courts and tribunals.

According to the firm, his commercial litigation and arbitration practice includes:

a strong focus on banking and finance litigation as well as insolvency [for] banks, financial institutions, borrowers and sponsors/promoters in complex commercial disputes as well as insolvency proceedings. Yash has also represented clients in commercial arbitration and other arbitration related court proceedings in disputes arising from complex transactions.

Yashvardhan commented: “I have worked closely with Jerome Merchant + Partners for the past three years and I’m delighted to be formally associated with the firm as an of counsel in New Delhi to build their litigation practice while continuing my chamber practice. I’m sure that our synergy will certainly help us grow together.”

Managing partner Vishnu Jerome said in a statement, having last month vowed to further grow the disputes practice of the firm, which already made up 15-20% of revenues: “With them on board, we will be able to further grow our disputes practice in Mumbai and Delhi.

“Yash and JMP have been associated for a long time now and our clients have immensely benefited through that association, both on account of his expertise and his presence in Delhi. Rhia is known to the firm for many years now and we are very confident that her expertise particularly in infrastructure and energy disputes will strongly enhance the firm’s offering in the disputes space.”