The article is written by Ayush Verma, a student of Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow.

Dispute resolution is the process of resolving disputes between the parties. It is one of the most widely practised areas in the field of law. It has become a tool to resolve disputes between the disagreeing parties in the Courts.

There are two dominant methods by which disputes are settled in law firms. They are:

1. Litigation
2. Arbitration

In litigation, issues are presented before a court, comprising of a judge or jury, who give their ruling on the issues. And, in Arbitration, dispute between the parties is settled by a neutral third party, called an arbitrator. Based on the pieces of evidence, arbitrator or arbitrators decide the matter.

The article has been written after taking into account the rankings of given firms on different websites and recent awards given to the firms, working in the field of dispute resolution. After assessing the data, a list of firms is taken which can be said to be top law firms in the country in the field of dispute resolution. Though the list is only suggestive, it would be of great help to the students who want to intern in the top dispute resolution firms, and young lawyers who are finding good dispute resolution firms to work into.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

The firm started in 2015 after separating from its parent firm Amarchand Mangaldas & Suresh & Shroff Company. It is one of the most prestigious firms in India. It has over 750 lawyers, including 130 partners and its offices are located in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

The firm is highly experienced in providing successful strategies for resolving conflict situations and disputes of its clients. It provides legal help not only in litigation but also by alternative dispute settlement methods like arbitration, mediation and conciliation.

The firm handles domestic as well as international commercial cases before all courts, tribunals and forums including:

• Joint Venture related disputes
• Rights of the shareholders
• Transaction related to Real Estate
• Tax-related matters
• Competition related matters
• Commercial and infrastructure contracts
• Matters relating to Company Law
• Regulatory matters
• Securities law matters

Key Clients

The firm has represented the Board of Control for Cricket in India with Herbert Smith Freehills in a matter relating to the arbitration over the damage claim of $62.9 million initiated by the Pakistan Cricket Board before the Dispute Resolution Committee of the International Cricket Council. Here the petitioner had alleged the breach of a letter from the client in 2014 tour to Pakistan that did not take place.

Contact details of the firm can be accessed here.

AZB and Partners

The firm was founded in 2004 by Zia Mody along with Bahram Vakil and Ajay Bahl. It has 500+ professionals and its offices are located in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.

The firm has dealt extensively in the resolution of civil, criminal, commercial and constitutional law disputes through litigation in the Supreme Court, High Courts and several other courts and tribunals. It conducts arbitration, mediation and negotiation for its clients within and outside India.

Key Clients

It has represented Reserve Bank of India against Internet and Mobile Association of India where the Bank issued a circular prohibiting banks from either dealing in virtual currencies or providing other services facilitating entities in dealing with the currencies.

It has represented Nissan Motors in an arbitration case against the Indian government under the India-Japan comprehensive economic partnership agreement for claiming the damages and the unpaid valued added tax refunds which were promised by the Tamil Nadu government when Nissan Motors set up a manufacturing plant with Renault in Oragadam near Chennai in 2010.

Other notable clients include ASF-Keystone, Actis, BSES Rajdhani Power, BSES Yamuna Power, ETA Star Holdings, KKR India Asset, IHH Healthcare and Tokheim India etc.

Contact details are given here.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas

The firm was founded in 2015 and is headed by Shardul Shroff as the executive chairman of the firm along with Pallavi Shroff as the managing partner. The firm has over 600 lawyers including 110 partners and its offices are located in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata.

The firm deals in domestic and international arbitrations, commercial & corporate and regulatory disputes in various courts, tribunals, forums, administrative authorities & regulators in India.

Key Clients

It has represented Tata Communications in filing a writ petition for challenging an award passed by the land acquisition collector in the acquisition of land that belonged to the client at Greater Kailash Enclave for construction of a metro station as part of the project of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

It has also represented the National Dairy Development Board and an executive director in filing Public Interest Litigation challenging the director’s appointment that he did not complete a minimum of three years’ service on the date of appointment, which was in violation of an office memorandum of the government.

Other notable clients include Channel Vas Services India, Reebok International, Sterlite Technologies, Tata Sons and Thiess Minecs India etc.

Contact details are given here.

Karanjawala & Co.

The firm was founded by Raian Karanjawala and its managing partner, Manik Karanjawala. Its offices are located in Delhi. The firm is well experienced in dealing with dispute resolution matters across different sectors.

Key Clients

It has represented Star India in the writ petition challenging the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s new regulations that fixed the price of TV channels and the price of the content.

It has also represented Adani Enterprises in a dispute over the Chhendipada coal block at the approximate amount of $73.8 million.

Other notable clients include Air Asia International, Go Air, HT Media, Piramal Enterprises, Tata Motors and Tata Singapore Airlines etc.

Contact details are given here.

Agarwal Law Associates

It was established in 1968 by its senior most member Mr. EC Agarwal. It comprises of 7 partners and 21 associates and its offices are located in Delhi.

Key Clients

The firm represented Essar Oil before an International Tribunal against UII (backed by International Re-insurers) wherein Essar Oil was seeking an advance loss of profit claim for the delay caused by a cyclone in construction of its refinery project in Gujarat.

Contact details are given here.

Khaitan & Co.

The firm was founded by Late Debi Prasad in 1911 with the assistance of his brothers Mr. Lakshmi Prasad Khaitan and Bhagwati Prasad Khaitan. It has over 530 lawyers including 115 partners and directors and its offices are located in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.

It offers services across litigation, arbitration, regulatory and pre-disputes advisory assignments. It also offers advice to its clients on matters relating to complex domestic and international commercial arbitration such as pre-arbitration strategy, settlement discussions, representation during arbitral proceedings and recognition and enforcement of awards or challenges.

Key Clients

It has represented Cement Manufacturers’ Association, Ambuja Cements, DCM Shriram, Graphite India and HEG in seeking immunity from the ban on the use and import of petroleum coke in India, which would have led to the shutdown of calcium carbide and graphite electrode manufacturing industries and severely affected the cement industries as well.

It has also represented a Japanese joint venture partner in securing its investment in the joint venture company which could not be completed due to disputes among the joint venture partner in international commercial arbitration and before the National Company Law Tribunal.

Other notable clients include Essar Oilfields Services, GX Technology Corporation, IVL Dhunseri Petrochem Industries and Voestalpine Schienen etc.

Contact details are given here.

Bharucha and partners

It was founded in March 2008. It has over 10 partners and 70 associates and its offices are located in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. 

It has gained wide recognition for its arbitration experience. The firm’s senior partner MP Barucha handles the firm’s dispute resolution practice and has made a mark for his arbitration expertise. The lateral hire of Karthik Somasundaram has added to the firm’s expertise in this area.

Key Clients

It has advised Idea Cellular when it merged with Vodafone in its $23 billion deal, and again when it merged its shareholdings with Indus Towers into Bharti Infratel to create $14.6 billion entity.

Contact details are given here.

Luthra and Luthra Partners Law Offices

It was established in 1990 by its founder and managing partner Rajiv Luthra, who runs the firm along with Mohit Saraf, who is a senior partner of the firm. Its offices are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. It comprises 350 counsels including 78 partners. 

Its dispute resolution practices are one of the largest in India covering numerous sectors in representational and advisory legal services by guiding its clients, individuals and companies, on disputes relating to:

• litigation or arbitration;
• appearances in court and tribunals;
• selection and management of experts; 
• development and execution of strategy; and
• conduct of hearings and settlement negotiations.

Key Clients

It represented the International Air Transport Association in the filing of consumer complaints against the United India Insurance Company which failed to process the loss claims based on its insurance policy before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal.

Other notable clients include Protection Insurance and Regency Creations etc.

Contact details are given here.

J. Sagar Associates

The firm was founded in 1991 by Jyoti Sagar, and was later joined by Berjis Desai on April 1, 2003, by starting its Mumbai office. It has over 300+ lawyers and its offices are located in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi.

The firm has around 30 partners and 100 litigators working in the field of multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary dispute resolution. It has dedicated practice groups for managing disputes in the areas of regulatory & policy disputes, telecommunications, securities law, taxation and competition law.

Key Clients

It has successfully represented the Association of Power Producers, Rattan India, GVK, GMR Group and Coastal Energen in the challenge against the 12th February circular of Reserve bank of India on stressed assets as arbitrary and ultra vires of Article 14 and the Banking Regulation Act.

Other notable clients include Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, SAP India and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation etc.

Contact details are given here.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP)

The firm was set up in 2001 by eminent lawyers from diverse fields. It has 200+ professionals with 54 partners and its offices are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

It has been consistently recognised as a leading Dispute Resolution firm in the country. It deals in disputes across all domains including corporate disputes, commercial disputes, regulatory disputes, tax disputes, domestic and international arbitration and white collar crimes.

It has represented GE India Industrial in the pending customs duty litigation proceedings before various courts and tribunals in India including the Supreme Court and Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Key Clients

It has represented Multiplex Association of India in a dispute against the Karnataka government where the government imposed a uniform price cap of Rs 200 on all films displayed in cinemas in Karnataka. Here the client challenged the price cap since the government, especially the Kannada Cultural and Information Department does not have the power for regulating or restricting prices that are charged by private entities.

Other notable clients include Heligo Charters, Larsen & Toubro Sapura Shipping and Meridian Shipping Agency etc.

Contact details are given here.

Trilegal

The firm was founded in 2000. It has over 300 lawyers and 40 partners and its offices are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Gurgaon.

It has rich experience in settling disputes related to cross border financial and investment disputes before various courts and tribunals. It handles a wide variety of corporate-commercial and regulatory disputes in diverse sectors.

Key Clients

It has represented TerraForm Global Inc. and its Indian subsidiaries in a London seated ICC governed arbitration with Wind World (India) Limited in a dispute concerning operation and maintenance of wind power projects in India.

It has also represented Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) and other MHPS entities before the Madras HC in disputes arising under the terms of certain joint venture agreements. The primary allegation against the MHPS entities was that they had induced the breach of non-compete obligations under these joint venture agreements. 

Other notable clients include General Motors, Tata Communications, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC (TAQA), AugustaWestland and Telenor ASA etc.

Contact details are given here.

Kachwaha & Partners

It is a full service law firm with its offices in Delhi and Mumbai. It is emerging as a leading firm in the area of Dispute Resolution. 

Its practice areas include wide arrays of litigation and arbitration matters, focusing particularly on cross-border work, including acting for large multinational corporations before the ICC. Other areas of focus include general commercial, construction and infrastructure disputes. Its managing partner, Sumeet Kachwha, is a leading individual in dispute resolution and is ranked as one of the top lawyers in India.

Key Clients

It successfully represented Korean conglomerate Daelim in Delhi High Court which enforced an earlier ICC arbitral award of $197 million in the client’s favour.

Contact details are given here.

Nisith Desai Associates

It was established in 1989. Its offices are located in New Delhi, Mumbai, USA (Silicon Valley), Singapore and Bangalore.

It specialises in cross-border work, particularly international arbitrations. It also offers expertise in investment treaty issues as part of the wider dispute resolution practice.

Key Clients

It represented Navigator Capital Advisors in complex arbitration and litigation proceedings, started by Business India Exhibitions and concerning a dispute between the parties on provisions relating to share subscription and debenture share subscription agreements concluded in 2007.

Other notable clients include Enercon Technologies, Fortissimo Capital and Multisphere Power Solutions etc.

Contact details are given here.

If you want to know about the best tax law firms in India, you can see here.

References

• https://www.legal500.com/c/india/dispute-resolution
• https://www.leadersleague.com/en/rankings/litigation-arbitration-international-arbitration-ranking-2019-law-firm-india
• https://www.leadersleague.com/en/rankings/litigation-arbitration-commercial-litigation-ranking-2019-law-firm-india
• https://chambers.com/guide/asia-pacific?publicationTypeId=8&practiceAreaId=467&subsectionTypeId=1&locationId=110
• https://www.asialaw.com/countries/india/in
• http://chamberpractice.com/recommended/recommend.htm
• https://www.vantageasia.com/india-top-law-firms-2019/

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skill.