Nitin Nadkarni

Practice Areas

International Arbitration

Construction & Engineering

Infrastructure Projects

Energy & Natural Resources

Media

Income Tax and Customs Disputes

Personal

A lawyer with a reputation for energy, construction, and tax disputes.

Nitin is a consultant and Head of the Firm’s International Arbitration and Tax, Customs & Trade Practices. Nitin’s main area of practice is in international arbitration, with a focus on oil & gas, energy, construction and engineering, and infrastructure projects. Nitin also specialises in income tax and customs litigation and disputes.

Nitin has more than 37 years of experience in representing major governmental organisations, multinational corporations, national and international contractors, sub-contractors, financial institutions and high-profile individuals in arbitration, litigation, income tax, and customs disputes.

Nitin has acted as counsel and sat as arbitrator in disputes arising from projects in or arbitrations seated in Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, London, Switzerland, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Paris, and Algeria under ad hoc and institutional rules such as the AIAC, ICC, SIAC and LCIA rules.

In the first case of its kind in Malaysia, he currently represents the Republic of Zimbabwe before the Malaysian courts, to resist applications by Swiss and German investors to enforce ICSID arbitration awards.

Nitin has also acted as counsel in benchmark income tax disputes on major points of tax law. Remarking that the Tax team has “demonstrated that they are up to date with developments in the law”, Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022 – 2023 notably ranked Nitin as a Band 2 practitioner in Tax Practice. Along with being a Band 1 practitioner in Dispute Resolution: Construction. They have also noted that he is “vastly experienced on construction cases and incredibly intelligent”, and “offers potent advice”.

He has been consistently ranked by Chambers & Partners as a leading lawyer (Band 1 from 2013-2023) who is very polished and sought-after, and by Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a leading dispute resolution, and real estate and construction lawyer who is very highly regarded for construction disputes. The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023 ranked Nitin as a “Leading Individual” in three categories (Dispute Resolution, Real Estate and Construction, and Tax). He has also been recognised as an “Elite Practitioner” by Asialaw 2023/2024 and as a “Litigation Star” for Construction by Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2023. At the 8th Asian Legal Business Malaysia Law Awards held virtually in July 2021, Nitin was named “Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year”, and at Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards 2023, Nitin was recognised as “Malaysia Lawyer of the Year”.

In its January-February 2022 issue, Asian Legal Business, a leading provider of legal news and information for legal professionals in the region, recognised Nitin as one of Asia’s Top 15 Litigators 2022. The second edition of the annual ranking highlights 15 of the region’s outstanding lawyers who have demonstrated their ability to solve complex problems and adapt quickly to changing circumstances, especially since the outbreak of Covid-19. Nitin is the only Malaysian lawyer in the list.

Professional Memberships

Chairman, Arbitration Sub-Committee of the Malaysian Bar Council (2015-2017, 2019-2022)

Co-Chairman, Arbitration and Construction Law Sub-Committee of the Malaysian Bar Council (2017-2019)

Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Fellow, Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators

Panel Arbitrator, Asian International Arbitration Centre

Panel Arbitrator, International Chamber of Commerce Malaysia

Panel Arbitrator, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

Panel Arbitrator, China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission

Panel Arbitrator, Bangalore International Mediation, Arbitration & Conciliation Centre

Panel Arbitrator, Hainan International Arbitration Court

Panel Arbitrator, China Chongqing Arbitration Commission

Accredited Mediator, Malaysian Mediation Centre

Publications

Contributor — Malaysia Secures Arbitration Win In Rebuke To Alleged Sulu Heirs, ALB September Asia (2023)

General Editor — Spotlight on Current Malaysian Tax issues, LHAG (2020)

Contributor — Hishamudin Yunus: Celebrating Judicial Independence, LHAG (2018)

Contributor — The Legal 500 (Legalease): Construction, Country Comparative Guide (Malaysia)

Contributor — The Malaysian Civil Procedure 2013, 2015,2018 and 2021 by Sweet & Maxwell Asia

Contributor — Arbitration in Malaysia, A Practical Guide (2016, Sweet & Maxwell)

Contributor — Arbitration World, International Series (2016, Thomson Reuters)

Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: The Continued March of Private Justice? [2016] Law Review 574