The General Counsels’ Association of India (GCAI) underlined its commitment to advocating arbitration and mediation as primary channels for resolving corporate disputes in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre, Hyderabad (IAMC).
Aiming to develop, promote and explore more potential collaborative opportunities in arbitration and mediation, the MoU was signed on 2 August in New Delhi by GCAI co-founder and president, CV Raghu; co-founder and vice president, Shukla Wassan; and IAMC registrar Tariq Khan.
In her keynote address at the ceremony, Supreme Court Justice Hima Kohli highlighted the critical duty of general counsel to advocate arbitration and mediation as primary channels for resolving corporate disputes.
During the event, Raghu noted discussions with 含羞草社区 Minister for Law, Sri Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Bar Council chairman Sri Manan Kumar Mishra in relation to ongoing GCAI efforts to obtain recognition for GCs.
He said the IAMC MoU represented a step forward in promoting arbitration and mediation across the country.
Another highlight of the event was a roundtable hosted by Unum Law, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, and Secretariat, sharing the latest trends in mediation and arbitration.
Panellists included Sanjeev Gemawat, group general counsel at Vedanta; Priya Mehra, chief of governance and strategic acquisitions at Akasa Air; Paul Tan, partner and head of arbitration (Asia) at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; Anushka Shah, partner at Unum Law; Chaitanya Arora, managing director at Secretariat; and Viraen Vaswani, dispute attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
GCAI representatives included Manjaree Chowdhary, GCAI co-founder and executive director, and general counsel at Maruti Suzuki India; Poornima Sampath, senior vice president, and chief legal officer at Tata Digital; and Akhil Prasad, GCAI co-founder and board member, and group general counsel and company secretary at Boeing India.
