Economic Laws Practice

Economic Laws Practice was formed in 2001. Its arbitration practice was launched four years later, headed by lawyers who had built a reputation in tax disputes work.

In the early days, the firm reports, clients used to say: “We thought you only did tax litigation.” Now they’re likely to say: “Do you know someone who does tax litigation?”

Originally, the practice didn’t deal with disputes worth more than US$20,000. Nowadays, the figure can range from US$10 million to several hundred million dollars. Its clients are in sectors as diverse as mining, commodities, engineering and construction, shipping, insurance, infrastructure, and equipment and services.

It has conducted arbitrations in India, England, Singapore, South Korea, Germany and the US under a variety of international laws and institutional rules.

Network

The practice is led by senior partner Vikram Nankani in Mumbai, where most of the team is based. The firm also has offices in Ahmedabad and Pune.

Who uses it?

The firm has been instructed by some of India’s large business houses – including Tata (in disputes with Aditya Birla Group and Idea Telecom), Hiranandani (in a complex arbitration under Indian law involving a claim for US$700 million) and Reliance.

All of Adani Group’s arbitrations are conducted by ELP, whether in the coal and carbon, commodities or oil and gas.

Multinational clients include engineering and construction group McDermott and Sterlite Technologies, which is a subsidiary of Vedanta oil and gas group, and Malaysian crane manufacturer IMPSA, for whom it is acting in an ad hoc arbitration against Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s largest port. It also counts Indian multinational Welspun and Anglo-Swiss chemicals company Ineos among its clients.

Track record

The firm’s reported successes before the ICC include representing India’s largest metal and mining company in a product liability claim against a German company; a Swiss multinational coal trader in a dispute with a Singapore subsidiary of India’s largest coal trader; and one of the largest Indian engineering companies in a dispute over a US$200 million EPC contract awarded in Singapore.

It also successfully represented India’s largest privately owned port in an ad hoc arbitration under English law against a state-owned insurance company – the first major insurance claim under a port package policy in India – and a manufacturer of oil and gas exploration and production equipment in an ad hoc arbitration with a government enterprise over a contract for the supply of production platforms.

A case on behalf of one of the parties to a US$50 million split that involved a complex web of cross-holdings in shareholdings and properties also led to an ELP victory.

In court, it succeeded in defending the joinder of a third party to an arbitration agreement in a Singapore arbitration by invoking “alter ego” principles. The third party had moved the Indian court to suspend the arbitration.

It also acted for an Indian client in arbitration-related court proceedings in London, securing an important breather in the multi-jurisdictional case that paved the way for a settlement.

Recent events

The practice lost one of its co-founders, Madhur Baya, in August, as he left to set up his own practice, LexArbitri. Associates Amit Vyas and Kirat Nagra joined the firm.

The firm is also understood to have teamed up with DLA Piper to advise largest real estate developers Niranjani and Darshan Hiranandani in a US$700 million dispute with a member of their own family, Priya Hiranandani-Vandrevala, conducted at LCIA India.

It has also won two cases for regular clients Adani Group this year, one at the London Maritime Arbitrators Association and another at the ICC.