Manish Aggarwal
Partner 

Manish is the managing partner of the firm’s office in the Dubai International Financial Centre. He is dual qualified as an English solicitor-advocate and Indian advocate, and has extensive experience of representing corporations and States in commercial arbitrations under common and civil laws, investment treaty arbitrations, and arbitration-related court litigation, across a broad range of sectors. In addition to his counsel work, Manish also has experience acting as arbitrator under various institutional rules.

Manish’s experience includes:

•    representing three Middle Eastern energy companies in a London-seated LCIA arbitration against the Kurdistan Regional Government, and obtaining awards worth approximately US$2 billion and dismissal of counterclaims worth several billion dollars;

•    securing a favourable settlement for a UAE asset management company in an LCIA arbitration arising from post-acquisition claims for breaches of warranties and indemnities under an English law governed share purchase agreement;

•    representing several major energy companies in a €5 billion arbitration against a State-owned entity arising under an English law governed contract in connection with a gas pipeline project;

•    representing JioStar India Private Limited, India’s largest media conglomerate, in a billion-dollar arbitration against Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, arising from an Indian law governed sub-license agreement concerning the broadcasting of ICC cricket events in India;

•    securing a historic c.US$9 billion award for ConocoPhillips in an ICSID investment treaty arbitration against Venezuela arising from the expropriation of oil and gas assets;

•    securing an award in excess of US$150 million for an affiliate of multinational commodity trading company in a London-seated, UNCITRAL arbitration against the Government of Ghana arising from a Ghana law governed power purchase agreement;

•    representing the Republic of Finland in two ICSID investment treaty arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty relating to regulatory measures in the electricity distribution sector; and 

•    representing an affiliate of PETRONAS in an ICSID arbitration against South Sudan under a national investment legislation.

Manish is consistently ranked as a leading practitioner in arbitration and public international law by major legal directories, with clients describing him as “hands down the best lawyer of his generation”. He is among a few selected arbitration practitioners recognised in Global Arbitration Review 45 under 45 and is also ranked in the India Business Law Journal’s list of top international lawyers for India-related matters, with peers describing him as a “highly skilled advocate with a staggering depth of investment law insight”.

Manish is a co-chair of the London Court of International Arbitration’s Young International Arbitration Group with more than 13,000 members. He teaches investment arbitration at programmes run by law schools across the globe, including Queen Mary University’s School of International Arbitration and King’s College Dickson Poon School of Law.