Naresh Thacker PARTNER & PRACTICE HEAD - DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Overview

Naresh Thacker is a Partner in the Litigation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution practice at ELP. He is a qualified lawyer with the additional attribute of being a Solicitor (non-practicing) in England and Wales.

Naresh has over 25 years of experience in litigation, international arbitration and mediation; particularly in large infrastructure project arbitrations and post M&A arbitrations, corporate litigation, commercial disputes, regulatory and tax disputes and white-collar crimes.

Naresh’s experience in tax disputes span issues relating to indirect tax, including Central Excise, Customs, Service Tax and VAT. On the customs law front, Naresh has advised clients on customs duties implications for importing certain products. He has regularly been working with clients on several customs and export-related matters, where he has represented clients before custom authorities. On the regulatory front he routinely advises and represents clients on foreign exchange related issues and electricity matters. He has successfully represented clients in matters pertaining to economic offences before diverse Tribunals and Courts in India, large number of which have industry wide implications. Such decisions have been widely reported in various legal journals such as ELT, RLT, AIR, TIOL, Taxsutra etc.

Over the years he has handled a number international and domestic arbitration matters as counsel under the Rules of ICC, LCIA, SIAC, UNCITRAL, Swiss Rules and Ad-Hoc proceedings for both domestic as well as multinational clients. He has been part of mediation and conciliatory proceedings at the clients’ behest and has brought them to fruition. Some of his recent matters include advising and representing a client on one of the largest hotel management disputes in the country; and also advising and representing one of the most successful real estate barons in a high-profile dispute.

Naresh is currently active in several professional organizations including The Law Society, UK; London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA); International Bar Association (IBA); and the All-India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP). He is the Vice Chair for American Bar Association’s South Asia/Oceania and India Committee.  Additionally, Naresh is a member of the Executive Committee of the MCIA’s Users Council (Energy & Power). Naresh is the Vice Chair of the IPBA Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee. He is also a member of Legal & Corporate Affairs Committee – Western Region Council under Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and ICC Newly Constituted National Committee- India. He is also the part of ABA’s International Arbitration Committee.

He has been a regular keynote speaker, a moderator and a panelist at several international and national conferences on international arbitration and tax laws organized by LCIA, MCIA, SIAC, ICC IBA, AIFTP, ICCA, Corporate Counsels Association of India, Tax Sutra and the Chamber of Tax Consultants. Additionally, Naresh has also been a panelist at the Engaging Asia Arbitration Summit and the CARDS’ Tour de Arbitration conference. Some of the topics he has addressed in his talks include, ‘Demystifying myths of Institutional Arbitration’, ‘International Arbitration within the Indian landscape’, ‘Cross Border Transactions: Dispute Resolution in India’, ‘The Future of International Arbitration in India’, ‘Expert evidence in international arbitration’, ‘Reining in time as well as costs of arbitration in the Indian scenario’, ‘India’s Arbitration Amendment Bill’ and ‘Asia’s Emergence as a Global Epicentre for Opportunities in Arbitration’.

Naresh is often quoted by prestigious international journals and his articles continue to appear in trade publications around the world such as International Law Offices, India Business Law Journal, and Global Arbitration Review (GAR). He has authored the India Chapter for The Asia-Pacific Arbitration Review published by GAR; and the International Arbitration Global Practice Guide published by Chambers & Partners.

Naresh has been featured as Band 1 for Dispute Resolution and in Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific Guide; recognized as leading lawyer in Tax Controversy Leaders Guide; recognized as distinguished practitioner in Asialaw Leading Lawyers and acknowledged as an expert in World Tax guide. He has been co-opted by GAR as part of their arbitration research tool (ART). Naresh has also been recognized as a Leading Individual for Arbitration and Recommended for Litigation and White-Collar Crimes by Legal500 Asia-Pacific. He is ranked as Litigation Star in the Benchmark Asia Pacific rankings.

Naresh also features in the Forbes’ list of India’s top 100 lawyers. Naresh also features in the ALB India Top Disputes Lawyers 2022.  He has also featured in the India Business Law Journal’s A List as India’s Top 100 Lawyers. Naresh has been recognized under the Top 50 Disputes Lawyers in Asia 2023 by ALB. He has been recognized as India Lawyer of the Year by Benchmark Litigation APAC Awards 2023. Naresh is also recognized Leading Lawyer for Dispute Resolution in Legal Era 2023 Rankings. He also features in LawWiser’s Lawyers Power League: 100 Leading Law Firm Professionals of 2023.

Prior to ELP, Naresh practiced as an independent counsel on indirect tax and litigation matters.

Recognitions

Asia Law Profiles
    • Distinguished Practitioner for Dispute Resolution
    • We appreciate his experience, knowledge, representation skill, approach, understanding and availability.
    • Naresh is well placed for handling big stakes corporate litigations and leading such litigations from legal and strategic fronts. He is solutioncentric and puts a lot of emphasis on offering innovative solutions and strategic advice on litigation matters.
    • “We value his knowledge, his presentation skills, his preparedness with the matter, his availability, and his approach.”
    • Practice leader Naresh Thacker offers “cost effective, prompt and quality services”.
International Tax Review’s (ITR) World Tax Leaders
    • Highly Regarded – Tax Controversy

India Business Law Journal (IBLJ)
    • IBLJ’s A-list for India’s Top Lawyers

Legal 500
  • Leading Individual for Arbitration
  • Recommended Lawyer for Litigation and White-Collar Crimes
  • ‘Naresh Thacker is a smart litigation lawyer and a leading advocate. He focuses on the real issues and has great knowledge of the Indian courts and the approach that needs to be adopted in Indian arbitrations”.
  • “Naresh Thacker is a go-to guy”
  • “Naresh is a smart litigation lawyer and a leading advocate. He focuses on the real issues and has great knowledge of the Indian courts and the approach that needs to be adopted in Indian arbitrations”.
  • Alok Jain and Naresh Thacker are a pleasure to work with – they are clever, and excellent advocates, both in their written and oral submissions. They leverage their expertise, skills and understanding of Indian legal procedures, as well as their professional relationships, to achieve the best outcome for clients.’

Chambers Asia Pacific
  • “Naresh Thacker is great and very responsive. He works in a challenging system and has been proactive where he can be. He’s very conscious to keep the costs down where possible, very commercial.” 
  • “Naresh is very experienced, has excellent strategic outlook and insight and provides very comprehensive advice on strategy and sometimes out-of-the-box thinking on how to move issues forward.” 
  • “His understanding of the issues, approach and resolution skills are amazing and totally flawless.

Chambers Global
  • Market sources describe him as a “good and prominent litigator” who “handles a lot of disputes at a pan-Indian level.”

Benchmark Litigation's Asia Pacific
  • Litigation Star
  • “Naresh combines high technical legal ability with a real understanding of the construction industry and the arbitration of their disputes.”
  • “Brilliant leadership and commercial acumen.”
  • “Since obtaining a consent order and enforcement works itself has required little direction. But when strategic decisions were needed to be made, Naresh provided a reliable hand.”
  • “Naresh is responsive and has a reliable ‘compass’ to navigate through proceedings.”

Forbes Legal Powerlist – India’s Top 100 Lawyers

Asian Legal Business (ALB)
    • Recognized in Super 50 Disputes Lawyers List in Asia

GAR 100, 2020
  • “Their (Naresh Thacker & Alok Jain’s ) knowledge of the working of various businesses makes communication of business-related disputes and issues easier for a client. We were immediately impressed with their proficiency and accomplishments.”
RSG India Report
  • “Recommended for his ‘excellent service’ and ‘practical and commercial’ advice. He is considered a litigation and arbitration ‘expert’,with a ‘very good’ track record before adjudicating authorities.”
  • Praised for having “great knowledge” of litigation.
  • Naresh provides clients with ‘individual expertise’, ‘commitment’, and excellent ‘understanding of business’.
LawWiser's Lawyers Power League

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