Fountain Court is delighted to announce that it has recruited as a new member of Chambers Kanaga Dharmananda SC, formerly a partner with Rajah & Tann.  The appointment comes as part of Chambers’ initiative in Singapore with the opening of a new office there in Autumn 2014 – with a particular view to the creation of the International Commercial Court in Singapore. The opening of an office in Singapore is a natural move for Chambers and crystallises our ambitions in the region at a time of great change as well as opportunity, especially in commercial litigation and arbitration.  Other London-based members of Chambers (silks and juniors) will be a regular presence in Singapore.

With a background in Singapore and Malaysia, Kanaga took Silk at the Perth Bar (admitted 1989, called 2006; Senior Counsel 2010) and is listed in reviews as a “bet the company” litigator.  Kanaga will be ideally placed to entrench Fountain Court’s Singapore and wider pan-Asian presence.  Beginning his career at what is now King & Wood Mallesons in Perth and Sydney, Kanaga then moved to Corrs, where he was rapidly promoted to partner.  He then worked with the leading law firm Rajah & Tann as a partner in Singapore, after time with a firm in Malaysia, and with the United Nations in Geneva.  He was previously counsel with Mitsubishi Corporation, Tokyo.  He is a Visiting Fellow at the UWA Law School, teaching International Commercial Arbitration, and is the General Editor of the Australian Resources Law Reports.  Kanaga appears and acts in international arbitrations in and outside Australia, having advised on disputes (under ICC, UNCITRAL, AAA, SIAC, SCC, HKIAC rules) arising in connection with projects in Australia, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, PRC and Africa. He was educated at the Universities of Harvard, Oxford and Western Australia.

Kanaga joins another member of our Chambers, Professor Lawrence Boo – one of Singapore’s leading arbitrators – as our second member based in Singapore.  Lawrence is a former Deputy Chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), is renowned across Asia for his work in arbitration and ADR and teaches international arbitration at the National University of Singapore.

Please find related articles in The Lawyer and the Global Arbitration Review