Rajesh Pillai KC deals with high-value and complex commercial disputes and has significant international experience. He has deep knowledge of arbitration as counsel, having appeared in matters in a variety of jurisdictions over the last twenty years. He is instructed in important claims on behalf of corporate clients, high net worth individuals and States. He is now available for appointment as an arbitrator.

Rajesh is able to resolve claims involving contractual matters, banking and financial services, mergers and acquisitions, joint-venture and related shareholder claims, commercial fraud, commercial real estate and asset management, art and cultural property, negligence and insolvency. Specific experience is addressed in the sections below.

He regularly works with parties and lawyers from different jurisdictions. He is called to the Bars of England and Wales, New York and the BVI. He is a registered foreign practitioner with the Singapore International Commercial Court and the DIFC Court. He has also appeared in disputes before the ADGM Court.

Rajesh has dealt with systems of law and expert evidence from a variety of sectors. He is adept at handling expert valuation evidence and quantum issues. He is also well used to dealing with arguments and approaches from a variety of different legal and cultural backgrounds. He is alive to the potential for culture clashes and the need for sensitivity in the formal context of an arbitration. Rajesh has been described in the legal directories as one who “understands the complexities of unwieldy disputes in a three-dimensional way.”

Rajesh is also comfortable dealing with applications for urgent or emergency interim relief in the context of arbitration and related court proceedings, including freezing and antisuit injunctions, security for costs and witness depositions.

Rajesh has experience of disputes governed by a range of rules from ad hoc arbitrations to those administered under the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, GCC (Bahrain) and BCCI (Bulgaria). He is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is recommended as counsel for international arbitration in Chambers UK, Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, Legal 500 UK and Legal 500 Asia-Pacific. He has been listed as one of Who’s Who Legal’s Future Leaders in Arbitration.

Rajesh’s international background complements his professional experience. His family is Sri Lankan in origin and he was brought up in England. Rajesh holds undergraduate degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and an LLM from New York University School of Law. He speaks conversational French and Sinhala. He gives regular talks on litigation and arbitration and has published on a variety of disputes topics.

Ranked as a leading silk in International Arbitration in the leading legal directories. The Chambers UK Guide 2022 says that Rajesh “has a great in-depth knowledge of how the system works and can handle large international disputes globally. His advice is extremely sound and he is commercially sound. He’s very sought after and in demand. He has a good blend of diligence and commerciality.”

Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022 describes Rajesh as being “particularly well known for his handling of matters with Indian, Indonesian or Malaysian connections”, as “an up-and-coming silk and one to watch” who is “one of the handful of English Bar barristers who really get India and Indian legal practice.”

The Legal 500 Guide for 2022 says Rajesh has a “Brilliant mix of technical expertise and commercial nous. Manages to cut through and identify the key issues”. Before taking silk, Rajesh was the only junior counsel named in Chambers Asia Pacific’s Spotlight table for the international arbitration bar.