Senior Management
Janhavi Dadarkar
Manoj Ladwa
Akshay Vani
Lawyers
Vickesh Banymandhub
Niranjan Chakraborty
Kimneeta Dhillon
Manan Jaiswal
Tom Rossiter
Dawn Stallwood
Client Care Executives
Glenda Johnson-Taylor
Veena Kothak
Lata Rajan
Mina Tanna
Advisory Board
Nick Coates
Sue Jamison
Julian Stretch
| Our People |
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Janhavi Dadarkar Janhavi is our head of corporate practice.
Manoj is the firm’s founder and chief executive. Following stints in Mumbai and New York, he returned to London and in 2002 founded the firm. Manoj is a transactional lawyer and advises clients on their investment and strategic decisions. Manoj’s specialist areas are structuring international joint ventures and dispute resolution. He is a recognised expert on foreign direct investments in India. He is an accomplished media commentator and is frequently invited to speak at conferences. Manoj has authored over 100 articles and publications. Manoj is a co-founder of Saffron Chase, a leading India focussed government relations and corporate communications consultancy. Manoj is well known for his support for community causes and in 2007 established the MLS Chase Foundation. In 2003 he established the London office of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and served as its head for three years. Manoj served on various trade promotion committees, including those of UKTI and the London Chamber of Commerce. Manoj is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He is dual qualified as an English solicitor and Indian advocate.
Akshay is the managing partner of the MLS Mumbai office. He is dual-qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales and an advocate of the Supreme Court of India with over 15 years of experience. Akshay is also a solicitor at the Bombay Incorporated Law Society. He is a transactional lawyer and advises clients on their investment and strategic decisions. His experience has benefited the full range of commercial concerns from small business start-ups to multinational global conglomerates. His recognized specialties are in India entry strategy and implementation, mergers and acquisition, foreign investments, collaborations, real estate. Akshay also has extensive experience in litigation and dispute resolution. Akshay is fluent in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi.
Vickesh Banymandhub Vickesh is a solicitor in the MLS Chase corporate practice and has over the years been praised for his commitment to delivering what clients want. After attaining an LLM from King’s College London, Vickesh joined MLS in 2006 and has been with the firm ever since assisting with a broad range of clients from publicly quoted companies to new business start-ups. His experience includes advising on cross border commercial transactions such as joint ventures and acquisitions, intellectual property and general corporate governance. Above all, Vickesh brings a fresh commercial approach to transactions whilst keeping the clients objectives at the forefront.
Manan Jaiswal Manan joined MLS’ Mumbai office as an advocate in 2008 after graduating from Nagpur University. He specialises in corporate law, commercial litigation and real estate. Having worked on a range of commercial contracts from shareholders agreements to intellectual property licences he is adept at advising clients on how to protect their interests. As he has also represented clients in the Mumbai High Court, he takes a pragmatic approach to all matters which may become contentious and indeed can give a company the full attention it requires whether the matter is contentious or non-contentious. During his time at MLS he has had the opportunity to work on transactions involving companies from various parts of the world and as a result Manan strives above all to give clear and workable advice, whatever the client’s field or jurisdiction of work.
Kim completed her Law degree at SOAS (University of London) and her Legal Practice Certificate at BPP Law School. Her strengths include strong interpersonal skills, attention to detail and a savvy commercial instinct, honed during legal experience across a number of practice areas, including employment, company commercial, litigation, intellectual property and healthcare. Her passion is in finding commercial solutions to complex problems, ideally with a cross-border element. In her spare time, Kim is a singer/songwriter and guitar player whose talents have seen her playing to audiences across London, as well as on a 6 week tour of South Africa. Kim is also a committed charity worker, with an ongoing interest in youth work in the Seychelles, from where her family originally hails.
Niranjan is a dual qualified solicitor and Maritime arbitrator and joins the MLS Chase Group after more than 30 years’ experience in various roles advising clients on Shipping, Aviation, International trade and Energy laws. From working in the Indian Navy and private practice to most as a legal consultant to Reliance Industries for their Petroleum Business, Niranjan’s portfolio includes more than 50 arbitration cases and mediations in India, London and New York. Niranjan has an extensive Maritime law practice, which includes advising on litigation, arrest, release and sale of vessels, ship building, chartering contracts, bills of lading, collision, salvage, mortgage, marine insurance, specialised vessels, ship and project finance. He also regularly acts for international lenders on both ship and aircraft financing deals. His variety of experience makes him adept at working with clients across the entire breadth of the marine sector whether it be on behalf of a P&I club, ship owner, charterer or directly negotiating commercial transactions with several parties. Niranjan’s choice of sectors in his professional career mirrors his outdoor pursuits as he is an accomplished deep sea-diver.
Nick is the firm’s Strategic & Finance Director. Nick trained and qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen. He has over 20 years experience of working in the property sector, both at Director level and as a management consultant, including 4 years as the Finance Director for Bath based architects, Stubbs Rich Ltd. His expertise extends beyond finance to other business issues including IT implementation, HR policy development, office relocation, managing business start-ups, major change, growth and exit.
Sue Jamison Sue is a recognised expert in healthcare management consultancy. She has experience of working for UK and internationally leading healthcare and life science companies. Sue has a track record of initiating and implementing strategic development, and exploiting profitable business opportunities between commercial organisations and their target healthcare market. Working with both the private and public healthcare sector, Sue is able to offer a practical and flexible approach to best meet the client’s needs for all aspects of strategic planning, business development, identification of partner and acquisition targets and market entry management. Sue's experience includes various positions over a period of 10 years with Baxter Healthcare and as International Sales and Marketing Director for Smiths Medical. Sue then joined Gyrus, a UK based start-up healthcare company, as their Sales and Marketing Director. Gyrus was subsequently listed on the London Stock Exchange. Sue is also a Non-Executive Director at Weston Area Health Trust, a NHS acute hospital and a member of the UKTI Healthcare Advisory Board and India Strategy Group.
Tom Rossiter Tom is a solicitor who trained and worked in the City before joining a significant regional law firm based in the Thames Valley where he was a partner for 25 years. Tom is vastly experienced in a wide range of commercial property work, including pre-lets, business parks, hotels and leisure, secured lending, property aspects of company sales/acquisitions and of course business leases. He also has extensive contacts in related property professions. In his spare time Tom enjoys sailing, skiing, cycling, opera and theatre and following most sport, including his two sons who are GB rowers. Dawn StallwoodDirector – Commercial This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Dawn joins the MLS Chase team in a consulting role as Director - Commercial, to provide clients with strategic commercial support, particularly focusing on commercial contract negotiation, supply chain management and use of digital media, including social media legal strategies. Dawn is a qualified solicitor and notary public with over 14 years of commercial and legal experience. Prior to joining MLS Dawn worked for a large UK regional law firm, developing their Hotel, Leisure and Travel team as a commercial partner. Both in house (aviation multinational) and in private practice Dawn has established herself as an expert for the aviation, hospitality and travel sectors and is very adept at working with clients in different jurisdictions having completed numerous transactions with clients in India, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. In addition to her role at MLS Chase LLP, Dawn has a portfolio of businesses, non-executive and consulting interests which offer a further dimension to the services MLS Chase is able to provide clients. Dawn is keen on country pursuits and outdoor sport, including clay pigeon shooting, biking, horse-riding, trekking and rowing. She enjoys international travel and experiencing new cultures. Julian Stretch OBEIndia Business Director This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Julian joined the firm’s Board in 2007. He was previously retained by the UK's Department of Trade & Industry (UK Trade & Investment) to provide UK companies with advice and assistance in entering and conducting business in India. From 1995 to 1999 he was Director of International Operations for Vax International Ltd, a British domestic appliance manufacturer. Prior to Vax, he spent 25 years with Rank Xerox Ltd in the UK and overseas. He managed the company's operations in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Julian established Xerox in India where he set up a manufacturing and marketing joint venture with the Modis. Subsequently with Vax he established a joint venture with Videocon - one of India's leading white goods manufacturers. From 1988 to 1992 he was Chairman of the then British Overseas Trade Board's area advisory group for South Asia. He was awarded the OBE for services to exports in 1992. |