I started out as an Advocate in India in 2005. I am a 4th Generation lawyer from my father’s side. My father is a Senior Advocate practising in the High Court of Kerala. My maternal grandfather was an Advocate and a High Court Judge. My aunt (mother’s sister) is a High Court Judge and uncle (mother’s brother) is an Advocate. My brother is an Advocate. A good number of my cousins and relatives are Advocates practicing in different parts of India.
I joined my father’s practice in 2005. I got an opportunity to argue matters in court on a daily basis right from the get go. I got a lot of encouragement and support from my aunt, who worked in my father’s chambers at that time. I also got to work on a few interesting matters with my uncle during that time. My father was designated as a Senior Advocate by the Kerala High Court in 2007. I assisted him and appeared with him in all matters he handled. A good number of the cases we handled at the time are reported in law journals in Kerala. The highlight of my rather short stint in Kerala was when a case that I worked on without any input from my father or my aunt was reported in almost every law journals in the State. As this happened within four years of my enrolment, I was confident about my prospects as an Advocate in Kerala.
I therefore decided to challenge myself and do something different. In 2009, I was offered a role with a law firm in Dubai on the recommendation of an Advocate (currently a Judge) who I hold in very high esteem. I accepted the job offer and moved to Dubai in 2009. I joined Lutfi & Co Advocates and Legal Consultants, one of the oldest law firms in Dubai founded by Mr. Salman Lutfi, a senior UAE National Lawyer. I was recruited by Mr. Sreehari Vadukumchery, a partner of the firm, and I have been working with him since then.
Dubai was dealing with the after effects of 2008 Global Financial Meltdown at the time I started practice there. The first few years I spent in Dubai had me working on Real Estate disputes, Employment disputes and Construction disputes.
I advised developers and investors on their respective rights and liabilities under various agreements executed by them in accordance with the newly issued Dubai real estate laws, advised them on the steps they may need to take to avoid liability for non performance and in litigation before various courts in the UAE. Similarly, I advised both employers and employees in employment disputes as well as contractors, sub contractors, employers and consultants in construction disputes. I got my first exposure to arbitration in 2009 when I appeared with my senior colleagues Dr. John Turner and Mr. Sreehari Vadukumchery in DIAC arbitrations in real estate disputes. We were successful in the English language arbitrations that we conducted at the time.
During my initial years with Lutfi & Co, I worked with the Arabic litigation team on commercial litigations. I had significant input in the conduct of these matters particularly in preparing the initial pleadings in English (which was translated into Arabic for discussions with the Arabic litigation team), the memoranda to court appointed experts and overall case strategy. I represented clients in commercial arbitration, advised clients on interim measures in arbitrations and enforcement of awards (for domestic and foreign awards) in the UAE. At this stage, I felt that I needed to do something more to progress my career.
Hence, I enrolled with the University of London (External Program) as an LLM student. Around this time, my colleague Mr. Sreehari Vadukumchery suggested that I consider qualifying as an English Solicitor. I applied for and obtained a certificate of eligibility from SRA for this purpose. I worked hard during my weekends and holidays and was awarded my LLM degree specialising in International Dispute Resolution in 2017. I also became a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators around that time. My LLM studies complemented my work as a Commercial Disputes Lawyer so I was able to do this without too much effort. My QLTS studies more difficult to manage along with my practice as the study material had nothing to do with my work at the time. However, with the active encouragement of my wife and parents, I managed to clear my QLTS examinations and register as Solicitor of England and Wales in October 2018.
In December 2015, my colleague Mr. Sreehari Vadukumchery and I established the DIFC Branch of Lutfi & Co Advocates and Legal Consultants. Mr. Salman Lutfi was the director of the Branch and Mr. Sreehari Vadukumchery was an authorised signatory of the Branch. As we were applying for a license as a Designated Non- Financial Business or Profession (DNFBP), we were required to have a designated Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO). I completed a course and became the certified MLRO of the Branch. Our DIFC Branch focussed mainly on transactional advice, DIFC litigation and arbitration. One of the first cases we worked on was an Employment Dispute that we got dismissed for want of jurisdiction. I found DIFC litigation to be challenging and rewarding at the same time. The work I had put in for my QLTS preparations finally ended up being useful while working on DIFC litigation. Working in the DIFC Branch office familiarised me with DIFC laws and the Rules and Procedure of the DIFC Court. I therefore have experience of working on litigation under the UAE Civil Procedure laws as well as under the Rules of the DIFC Court. I have worked on arbitrations under DIAC Rules and advised clients on arbitrations governed by ICC, LCIA-DIFC and UNCITRAL Rules. I have also worked on an Ad-hoc arbitration under the UAE Civil Procedure Law (prior to incorporation of the UAE Federal Arbitration Law). My qualifications and experience has given me a perspective on UAE commercial laws and litigation that, in my not so humble view (if I were humble, I wouldn’t be writing this), warrants publication and discussion.
The lockdowns imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic made our DIFC office unviable. We therefore closed the DIFC office and re-joined the main office in Business Bay in May 2020.
Another consequence of the Covid 19 pandemic was that I took a fresh look at this blog. I purchased this website in 2018 with the intention of publishing my unfiltered views on a variety of topics. As it happens with a busy professional ( I would like to think of myself as one), I did not post anything for over a year. The Covid 19 lockdown gave me some time and I posted one article on American politics in April 2020. I was engrossed in reading the Autobiography of a Yogi after that and the book had me introspecting on the time I have spent on Earth until then. After lengthy introspection (which took up the rest of the lockdown period), I have determined to make better use of my free weekends. Any time not spent with family will now be spent reading and writing. I thought I will start with this lengthy post about myself which I hope at least my parents, my wife and children will read. The reason to start this way was threefold. One- I like to talk about myself. Two- there is no research or effort required in doing this. Three- I intend to do publish a responsible blog whether or not anyone reads it. Everything else I publish is likely to require research or references. This is likely to be the only post that someone can read can read a full story without any cross references. This page is my story as a legal professional. Thank you for coming this far with me.
Happy reading.
Harikrishnan's blog 