Mohammed Forrukh Rahman

Practice Areas

Mr. Mohammed Forrukh Rahman is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division (the highest court) and all courts below, and a Barrister-at-Law of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, London. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree with specialization in International Dispute Resolution with merit from the University of London, a Post Graduate Diploma in Laws (PGDipLaw) with specialization in Maritime Law with merit, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Laws (PGCertLaw) with specialization in Commercial and Corporate Law from the same university. Mr. Rahman is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (FHKIArb), a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb), and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (MSIArb). He is a panel arbitrator of the SAARC Arbitration Council (SARCO) and the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), China, and is also a CEDR (UK) Accredited Mediator. He passed his LLB from the University of London in 2002 and his BVC from the University of Law, London, in 2003. Mr. Rahman is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, Paris.

Mr. Rahman has a total of 17 years of work experience as a specialist in the field of dispute resolution, shipping, and cross-border work. For the past 14 years, he has led the firm as its head of chambers/managing head. Mr. Rahman completed his pupillage under the supervision of Mr. Ajmalul Hossain QC, Senior Advocate, of A Hossain & Associates, Dhaka office, and worked in the firm as an associate from 2004 to 2006. He was a Legal Consultant of Power Cell, Power Division, Ministry of Power, Energy & Mineral Resources, and also a member of Legal Counsel, Central Bank Strengthening Project of Bangladesh Bank. He worked in Lee. Khan and Partners, a corporate and finance related law firm (now dissolved), for a short duration in 2003.

Dispute Resolution:

Mr. Rahman leads our Dispute Resolution Division. He has been enrolled as an Advocate of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the highest court in the country, since 2023; also as an Advocate of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh since 2008; and as an Advocate of the District and Sessions Judge Court, Dhaka since 2006. Over the past 17 years as a lead counsel, he has argued numerous cases involving various issues, including banking, natural justice, white-collar crime, debt recovery, insurance, credit information, tenancy, and labor and employment, before various forums, including the High Court, judges’ courts, arbitral tribunals, and other statutory tribunals. Two dozen of his cases have been reported in leading law reports of Bangladesh. In very complex matters, Mr. Rahman also appeared with Mr. Ajmalul Hossain KC, Senior Advocate, before various High Court benches. Their successful teamwork has resulted in a number of reported, groundbreaking decisions setting precedents, such as 69 DLR (2017) 408 and 70 DLR (2018) 409. The notable works of Mr. Rahman are as follows:

1. Successfully argued Natural justice in Amjad Hossain vs. Bangladesh Bank reported in 17 BLC (HC) 188;

2. Successfully argued Insurance related claims in Abdul Jalil vs Artha Rin Adalat reported in 67 DLR 475.

3. Argued for central bank in the high profile “Rana Plaza” case involving negligent liability of the owner, causing tragic death of 1000+ people due to collapse of the defective building.

4. Represented successfully in an arbitration for Knight Frank Development Ltd. in the area of construction & engineering. We represented the developer before the tribunal and argued on legal implications of Joint Venture (JV) Agreements, Mortgage, Power of Attorney (POA) and several contractual terms and conditions involving termination, force majeure, delay, contractual remedies etc.

5. Successfully conducted hearing of writ petition involving gas line connection related disputes through dedicated line 150 psi 12- inch gas line for TM Textiles and Garments Ltd reported in 6 CLR (HCD) (2018) 65,70 DLR (2018) 409.

Shipping:

Mr. Rahman is the head of Shipping Division (Shipping Department; Commercial Department). As a counsel, he appeared before Admiralty Court of High Court Division in several shipping matters e.g. collision, bunker claim, mortgage claim, ownership disputes, charter-party disputes etc. He was the lead counsel in the ground breaking case namely Freight Management and 16 others vs. Bangladesh Bank involving legality of House Bill of Lading. Most notable works of Mr. Rahman are as follows:

1. Successfully argued in the landmark decision given in the matter of Ship Finance and Jurisdiction of Admiralty court between First Security Islami Bank Ltd vs MV Javed and others reported in 69 DLR (2017) 408.

2. Successfully argued in the matter of Freight and Charges involving Maersk Bangladesh Limited vs Bangladesh reported in 4CLC(HCD)79.

3. Successfully argued in the matter of LC Fraud (Hallmark case) Alvi Spinning Mills Ltd and others vs Govt. of Bangladesh reported in 19 MLR(HCD)277.

4. Successfully argued in the landmark case between Freight Management and 16 others vs. Bangladesh Bank reported in 2 CLR (HCD) 586; 19 MLR (HCD)336 involving the legality of House Bill of Lading/Receive for shipment of Bill of Lading 2 CLR (HCD) 586; 19 MLR (HCD)336,

5. Successfully argued Admiralty and Maritime claim involving Marodi Services vs MV Swift Cro. Reported in 2 CLR(HCD) (2014) 456

International:

Mr. Rahman is the head of the International Division (comprising International Department; IT & IP Department). He has been involved in several cross border contentious matters namely international arbitration, cross border shipping and commercial litigation involving private international law issues, insolvency, acquisition etc and also issues involving International law such as taxation, investment, etc were handled by him. Starting with the most recent, notable works of Mr. Rahman are as follows:

International Department

1. Advised Bunge S. A., Switzerland involving claim for hire by disponent owner in relation to cargo discharged in Bangladesh on different aspect of applicability of local arbitration laws in an international arbitration pending in LMAA.

2. Represented UK P&I Club and the owner of M.V. SUPRAMAX VIVI in a collusion matter which took place in Bangladesh but the Parties chose Singapore are a forum and decided not to appear before Bangladesh Courts. As Bangladesh counsel we worked together with HFW, an international law firm and were actively involved in advising, drafting petition based on private international law principles challenging the jurisdiction of Singapore.

IT & IP Department

1. Assisted client on the infringement of its Trademark and possible steps available under civil/criminal jurisdiction

2. Advised clients from different jurisdictions on several cross border agreement on making software and apps from Bangladesh

Corporate & Finance:

The notable works of Mr. Rahman are as follows:

1. Conducted several due diligence for LDA Capital, involving security laws of Bangladesh, and assisted a US-based client in structuring a complex transaction involving Backstop Liquidity Facility (“BLF”).

2. Advised client in a complex restructuring deal involving privatization and lease of the entire facility of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), once a major foreign exchange earner by exporting golden fibre (jute).

3. Takeover of an OOCL company as part of a global takeover, Corporate reorganization of a major leather company and a major foreign investment company in garments and textiles sector among its shareholders.

4. Was involved in a number of major syndications, project finance transactions for City Bank Ltd and drafting of several laws, circulars, regulation and guidelines for Central bank.

5. Advised Power Cell over procurement matters, drafting PPA, LLA, IA etc for small IPP, IPP and rental projects while he was acting as a Legal Consultant on a fulltime basis for Power Cell, Power Division from 2007 to 2008.

Career

Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division;

Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln’s Inn, London (2003);

LL.M. (International Dispute Resolution) (Uni of Lond);

PGDipLaw (Maritime) (Uni of Lond);

PGCertLaw (Commercial & Corporate) (Uni of Lond);

LLB (Uni of Lond).

Professional Memberships

• Member, International Bar Association.

• Member, New York State Bar Association.

• Member, Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association.

• Member, Dhaka Bar Association.

• Member, Barristers’ Association of Bangladesh.

• Panel Arbitrator, SAARC Arbitration Council (SARCO).

• Panel Arbitrator, Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA).

• Fellow, Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (FHKIArb).

• Member, ICC Commission on Arbitration & ADR, Paris.

• Member, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (MSIArb).

• Member, Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration, (SMCA).

• Associate Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators London, (ACIArb).

• Panel Mediator, Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC).

• CEDR Accredited Mediator, London, UK.

Publications

“Crisis time drafting of commercial contracts” titled Article was published in The Daily Star.

“Judicial Intervention in Administrative Action: Bangladesh Bank Perspective” titled Article was published in The Daily Star.

“Preventing money laundering What should be the mechanism?” titled Article was published in The Daily Star.

“Common International Trade Disputes in Bangladesh” titled Article was published in the BIAC Fifth Anniversary Souvenir.

“Construction and Engineering Related disputes in Bangladesh” titled Article was published in the BIAC Quarterly Bulletin 2017.

“Power Sector Related Arbitration in Bangladesh” titled Article was published in the BIAC’s 6th Anniversary Souvenir.