THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

In Shakespeare’s play "The Merchant of Venice", the young Bassanio needed funds to woo the wealthy Portia. Antonio a merchant, who had previously funded his friend Bassanio’s endeavors, had no money to spare. Antonio asked Bassanio to borrow money from Shylock, a money lender and asked Antonio to stand as guarantor on the security of Antonios expected shipments. Shylock resented Antonio for lending money without charging interest, a gesture which had lowered Venice’s interest rates. Shylock nonetheless lent the money interest free, but insisted on a pound of Antonio’s flesh, if Bassanio failed to repay the debt. The bond was agreed whereby Antonios would be required to give a pound of his flesh in the event they fail to repay the debt. Antonio’s ships were reported lost at sea rendering him unable to honor the debt. Bassanio had by then succeeded in wooing Portia and was a man of means. Bassanio offered twice the principal sum, but Shylock refused and demanded his gory prize. Enter Portia in disguise. She used her knowledge of the law to confound Shylock that he can have the flesh but not a single drop of blood and, in doing so, saved Antonio’s life.

OUR PRACTICE

Just as in the Merchant of Venice, the role of Portia played a vital role to save Antonio’s life, there is often a solution to a seemingly inextricable situation. When cases become contentious, our Firm’s litigation experts provide a wide spectrum of civil and corporate services. Clear interpretation and attention to detail often results in effective resolution of matters.

Our Dispute Resolution team has significant experience in handling various types of disputes which include domestic and international commercial arbitrations, mediation, and conciliation proceedings and litigations across all major Courts, Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals in India. Our team is enthusiastic in formulating innovative and comprehensive strategies so as to ensure that the commercial objectives of the client are met while taking into account ground realities and the complexities of different legislations.

Our team appears before Honorable Supreme Court of India, High Courts of various States, NCLT, NCLAT, Securities Appellate Tribunal and other courts. Tribunals and dispute resolution forums. Our team also appears before various statutory authorities and government bodies such as Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Department of Enforcement (ED), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Competition Commission of India (CCI).

On several occasions, a dispute between parties may entail complex questions relating to law and practice within a particular field. For example, SEBI, FEMA, RERA (including, DCR), CCI and such other special statutes. On such matters, our Dispute Resolution team works in synergy with the other practice areas within our Firm that helps providing domain specific legal services to clients.