A judgment is only reported when it is of significance, meaning that it has resulted in a change of law – there are over 100 reported judgments where Zaiwalla & Co has been one of the solicitors.
Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors, Europe’s first international law firm established by a person of Asian origin over 35 years ago, the renowned arbitrator who also holds the prestigious title of Freeman of the City of London Mr Sarosh Zaiwalla, has been conferred Best International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year at the prestigious Legal Era Awards 2017.
With the legal sector counted among the Indian economy’s sunrise sectors, the Legal Era Awards are the most coveted awards ceremonies among the country’s booming business law community honouring the brightest stars of the legal universe. With a meticulous judging process lasting over three months, the Best International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year Award is one of the event’s most coveted and competitive accolades. Zaiwalla & Co defeated stiff competition to receive the award, away from some of the top ten biggest global firms including DLA Piper and Baker & McKenzie. Other law firms who were shortlisted for the award include: Herbert Smith Freehills, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, White & Case LLP, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Stephenson Harwood LLP, Squire Patton Boggs Singapore LLP, Baker & McKenzie and Reed Smith LLP.
Zaiwalla & Co. benefits from a broad range of expertise spanning sanctions, arbitration and litigation, along with a strong international specialist team in the laws of Russia & CIS, China, India, Middle East and Iran. With international commercial arbitration being one of the most active elements of Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitor’s practice, the firm was conferred the award based on the company’s globally renowned and expert legal heritage, especially in the area of international arbitration under Mr Sarosh Zaiwalla’s leadership. This is also a key area of expertise, that is of even more demand, following UK’s hard BREXIT.
As the firm’s Senior Partner overseeing all the firm’s activities, Mr. Sarosh Zaiwalla began his career in shipping law and arbitration which later expanded to sanctions, litigation and mediation. In a career that extends over three decades, Mr. Sarosh Zaiwalla and the firm have achieved several feats in the area of arbitration:
- Sarosh Zaiwalla participated in over 1,200 international litigations and arbitrations in the fields of Energy, Maritime and Construction either in the function of Solicitor, Counsel, Party-Appointed Arbitrator or Sole Arbitrator
- A judgment is only reported when it is of significance, meaning that it has resulted in a change of law and there are over 100 reported judgments where Zaiwalla & Co has been one of the solicitors
- He is a former member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC, Paris, (1990 – 2002)
- He is also a CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) Accredited mediator
- In October 2002, he was given India’s Annual National Law Day Award by the Indian Prime Minister for his outstanding contribution to the field of International Arbitration Law
- In June 2008, he was appointed an Arbitrator to the Panel of Arbitrators by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board
- He was appointed to an Arbitration Panel by the Russian Federation in a US$400m dispute concerning the exploration of a coal mines in India
- He was appointed Sole Arbitrator by the President of the Law Society of England and Wales to determine a US $multi-million commercial dispute concerning parties from Israel
- Zaiwalla & Co Solicitors were one of the first firms to enter China in the 1990s and have acted for the Chinese Government in its first five arbitrations in London.
- In 2011 Sarosh Zaiwalla was appointed as Representative of the Union of Comoros to the International Maritime Organisation
Speaking about the award and the firm’s success story Mr Sarosh Zaiwalla, Founder & Senior Partner, Zaiwalla & Co says: “We are delighted and honoured to be conferred the Best International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year by Legal Era Awards. This is recognition of the monumental efforts our team of solicitors and arbitrators have been undertaking internationally over the past 30 years. We accept this award as a motivation to our journey ahead, and hope to be back year on year as a tough competitor to the basket of exceptionally proficient international firms pushing the legal boundaries case by case.
The legal sector in India is undergoing a phenomenal transformation and we see immense potential between the UK and India in what lies ahead. With UK’s hard exit from the EU, the UK is undergoing a change in its economic and political dynamics. This is an exciting period, especially for UK’s collaboration with India, with India having the opportunity to continue its position of being a strategic partner and ally to the UK post the breakup. The legal space, owing to the commonalities, has a lot to offer in this bilateral promise between the two countries.”
Zaiwalla and Co. has been at the forefront of handling major cases in India which include the acting for the President of India in over three hundred Indian shipping maritime arbitration cases in London at a time when the nation was facing an economic crisis and had limited foreign exchange. The firm’s other distinguished clients include The Gandhi Family, The Bachchans, The Ruler of Dubai, The Dalai Lama, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Iran’s largest private bank, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as well as the Russian Federation. Some of the recent high profile cases handled by the firm include representing Bank Mellat & Bank Tejarat – Iranian Private Banks against western sanctions, Petropars – Iranian Oil & Gas, Alexander Dobrovinsky – Prominent Russian Businessmen and Robert & Vincent Tchenguiz – London Based Property Billionaires. The firm had also hired a young barrister named Tony Blair, affording Mr Blair in 1983 the only occasion in which the three-time Prime Minister appeared in the Law Report.
