This is the final episode in the second series of The Fountain Court Podcast. The episode is moderated by Stephen Moriarty KC and is a recording of a virtual panel discussion hosted in September 2022 to mark the annual Christopher Bathurst Prizegiving. We therefore apologise for any noise interruptions.

The episode features an internationally focused discussion on the topic of ‘Duty of Care and Professional Liability’. This was the topic that this year’s applicants for the Christopher Bathurst Prize were asked to write about. Each panellist discusses recent developments in the law of professional negligence in their jurisdiction, including the circumstances in which a duty of care would be held to arise, the scope of the duty, causation and limitations to recoverable loss.

Adopting a comparative law approach, the panel considered recent significant decisions of the Singapore and English courts as well as the position under Australian and Indian law.

Joining Stephen in the discussion are:

  • Kanaga Dharmananda SC: Based in Australia, Kanaga is Senior Counsel. He practises from Perth as a door tenant at Fountain Court. He has a broad commercial litigation and arbitration practice, with emphasis on resources, finance, projects, and insolvency matters.
  • Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC: Leigh-Ann is a silk at Fountain Court. Her practice includes insurance and reinsurance, international arbitration, product liability, professional negligence and discipline, administrative and public law and commercial and IT-related disputes. She works both domestically and internationally, including in Asia where she is a Registered Foreign Lawyer with the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) and in the Caribbean.
  • Siraj Omar SC: Based in Singapore, Siraj is Senior Counsel and Director of Dispute Resolution at Drew & Napier. Siraj specialises in complex, high-value commercial litigation and international arbitration. He has an active trial and appellate practice at all levels of the Courts in Singapore and in international arbitrations. For several years now he has sat as one of the judges for the Christopher Bathurst Prize.
  • Zal Andhyarujina SA: An Indian Senior Advocate based in Mumbai and a door tenant of Fountain Court, Zal has a large and diverse commercial practice with a focus on cross border disputes. He practices in the Bombay High Court, The Supreme Court of India and various tribunals including the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

After the webinar, we welcomed guests in person for the first time since 2019 to our Christopher Bathurst Reception and Prize-Giving in Singapore. Stephen Moriarty and Paul Neo, the Chief Operating Officer of Singapore Academy of Law, presented the prize to this year’s Christopher Bathurst winner, Magdalene Ong. The prize is an all-expense-paid two-week internship at Fountain Court in London. We hope to welcome Magdalene to London in 2023. The full news piece can be found here.

For more information on Fountain Court’s international experience, please see here.