Job Description Head of Litigation & Arbitration

Position: Head of Litigation & Arbitration

Location: Delhi

Function: Legal Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Reporting To: General Counsel / Managing Director

Role Overview:

We are looking for a seasoned Head of Litigation & Arbitration to independently lead the organization's entire litigation and arbitration portfolio.

The ideal candidate must be a pure litigation and dispute resolution professional, with their career predominantly focused on litigation and arbitration matters, including both domestic and international arbitration. The candidate should have extensive hands-on experience in developing litigation strategy, drafting and reviewing pleadings, overseeing court hearings, managing complex disputes, and leading external counsel.

This role will initially be a standalone leadership position, requiring the candidate to independently own the function end-to-end, with the opportunity to build and scale a litigation team over time.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Litigation & Arbitration End-to-End Ownership:

- Own the organization's complete litigation and arbitration portfolio from inception through final resolution.

- Develop and execute litigation and dispute-resolution strategies for complex and high-value matters.

- Personally oversee legal strategy, pleadings, drafting, evidence, submissions, hearings, appeals, settlements, and enforcement proceedings.

- Review and supervise petitions, plaints, written statements, applications, affidavits, appeals, written submissions, rejoinders, and other legal pleadings.

- Assess litigation risks, potential exposure, and commercial implications and advise senior management accordingly.

- Identify opportunities for settlement, mediation, negotiation, and alternative dispute resolution where commercially appropriate.

2. Court & Tribunal Experience:

- The candidate must have substantial experience handling and supervising matters before:

1. Supreme Court of India

2. Delhi High Court

3. NCLT

4. NCLAT

5. District & Commercial Courts

6. Various regulatory and statutory tribunals

7. Other judicial and quasi-judicial forums

- The candidate should be comfortable dealing with complex commercial and corporate disputes and should have strong understanding of litigation strategy across multiple forums.

3. Domestic & International Arbitration:

- Lead and manage domestic as well as international arbitration matters.

- Handle institutional and ad-hoc arbitrations from strategy and initiation through hearings, awards, challenge, and enforcement.

- Experience with leading international arbitration institutions will be preferred.

- Oversee arbitration pleadings, evidence, witness preparation, submissions, hearings, and enforcement proceedings.

- Coordinate with external counsel, senior advocates, international counsel, experts, and other advisors as required.

- Develop appropriate strategies for cross-border disputes and enforcement of arbitral awards.

4. External Counsel Management:

- Identify, appoint, brief, and manage external law firms, senior advocates, arguing counsel, and specialist advisors.

- Prepare comprehensive briefs and establish clear litigation strategy with external counsel.

- Monitor the performance and effectiveness of panel counsel.

- Challenge and negotiate fee proposals and ensure appropriate control over legal costs.

- Manage the litigation budget and overall external legal spend.

- Ensure timely reporting, case updates, risk assessments, and matter reviews from external counsel.

5. Commercial & Corporate Disputes:

- Manage and oversee disputes involving areas such as:

1. Commercial contracts

2. Corporate disputes

3. Shareholder disputes

4. Joint venture disputes

5. Business and contractual claims

6. Recovery and enforcement matters

7. Fraud and misrepresentation-related disputes

8. Insolvency-related litigation

9. Corporate governance disputes

10. Regulatory and statutory disputes

6. Regulatory Litigation:

- Handle or oversee contentious matters involving regulatory authorities.

- Exposure to SEBI and RBI-related litigation, proceedings, investigations, and regulatory disputes will be an added advantage.

- Experience in financial-sector, securities, banking, or corporate regulatory disputes will be preferred.

Candidate Profile:

Mandatory Experience:

- 12+ years of post-qualification experience in Litigation & Arbitration.

- Candidate must have spent their career predominantly in Litigation and Dispute Resolution.

- Strong hands-on experience in both litigation and arbitration.

- Mandatory exposure to domestic and international arbitration.

- Significant experience before the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court, NCLT/NCLAT, and other tribunals.

- Demonstrated ability to independently manage complex, high-value disputes.

- Experience managing external counsel, senior advocates, law firms, and litigation budgets.

Critical Career Requirement:

- Candidates whose careers are primarily focused on Corporate Legal, M&A, Contracts, Corporate Advisory, Transactional Law, or General Corporate work will not be considered.

- The preferred candidate should have a clear and demonstrable track record of being a Litigation & Arbitration specialist throughout their career.

Education & Qualification:

- LL.B. from a recognized university is mandatory.

- Enrollment with the Bar Council of India is mandatory.

- LL.M. in Dispute Resolution, Litigation, Commercial Law, Corporate Law, or Arbitration will be preferred.

- Additional qualifications/certifications in Arbitration, Insolvency, Securities Law, or Dispute Resolution will be an advantage.

Leadership Expectations:

- Ability to run the litigation function independently from Day 1.

- Strong ownership and accountability for all litigation and arbitration matters.

- Ability to work directly with senior management and business leadership.

- Strong judgment regarding litigation strategy, settlement, escalation, and risk.

- Ability to establish litigation processes, reporting systems, panel-counsel frameworks, and governance mechanisms.

- Willingness and capability to build and lead a litigation team as the function expands.

Ideal Candidate:

- The ideal candidate would be a Senior Litigation Partner, Senior Counsel, Litigation Head, Dispute Resolution Partner, or experienced in-house Head of Litigation with 15-20+ years of PQE, who has built their career exclusively or predominantly around complex litigation, domestic arbitration, international arbitration, and dispute resolution.

- The person should be a strong legal strategist and drafter, comfortable handling matters independently, managing senior external counsel, and taking complete ownership of the organization's litigation and arbitration function.

If you are interested then please share your updated resume

Aparna
HR- Recruiter
Handheld: 8210870822