Biography

Mrinalika is an India-qualified lawyer with over 5 years of experience in International Arbitration, Arbitration related Litigation (pre- and post-arbitration), Corporate & Commercial Litigation, Litigation Advisory & General Risk Advisory work. She is adept in Oral and Courtroom Advocacy. Her expertise lies Trial Advocacy and cross-examination is her forte.

She holds a B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) degree from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar. After enrolling at the Bar, Mrinalika trained under the tutelage of Mr. Rohit A. Kapadia (Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court). She has worked as an independent practitioner on the Original Side of the Bombay High Court. She has regularly appeared and argued before Arbitral Tribunals and Courts in Mumbai. Before coming to the MIDS, she worked with Dr. Rishab Gupta, Barrister, Twenty Essex (London & Singapore). She has also assisted several other prominent senior Counsel from the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India in high-value commercial disputes. Notably, she has assisted the former Advocate-General for the State of Maharashtra in sensitive political and constitutional law matters. She has also worked as an Associate at the Mumbai office of M/s. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., a leading Indian law-firm with GAR100 standing.

Mrinalika has a broad range of experience encompassing several high-stake ad hoc international commercial arbitrations and international investment arbitrations (administered by PCA / under the ICSID Convention) involving parties from England, Singapore, Canada, Turkey, Vietnam & South Korea. She enjoys working on disputes pertaining to infrastructure projects and has worked extensively on disputes relating to oil & gas sector exploration / distribution sectors and iron ore mining & steel manufacturing sectors. She has advised clients on cross-border insolvency, M&A litigation, corporate governance disputes, sanctions, shipping and financial frauds.

With a keen interest in International Trade and Investment Law, she has been developing a focus in this area. Mrinalika is also drawn to public-policy & policy research in the field of International Economic Law. She has co-authored a technical report for a policy research project commissioned by the Trade Policy Review (TPR) Division of the WTO, on the mechanics of integrating environmental governance into policy deliberations pertaining to global trade regulation. Titled ‘Greening the Trade Policy Review Mechanism of the WTO’ this report was recently published by the TradeLab Legal Clinic, Geneva.

Aside from law, Mrinalika is a self-taught artist and painter. She enjoys traveling, poetry and theatre. She is trained in method acting, as well as Western and Indian classical dance.