Roobesh heads the litigation department of Juristconsult Chambers. He acts as Counsel for both domestic and international clients in high value and high stakes corporate and commercial disputes as well as in contentious insolvency matters. He is instructed by a wide client-base, which includes individuals, domestic and global business companies, and trusts amongst others.
Roobesh also appears regularly before the Designated Judges of the Supreme Court in matters falling under the International Arbitration Act and the Convention for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards Act, namely in applications for the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.
He is regularly appointed by major clients to advise on litigation arising out of complex transactions and business arrangements and frequently acts on major corporate/shareholder disputes and breach of contract cases. In addition, Roobesh has extensive experience in tax disputes and regularly appears before the Assessment Review Committee.
Roobesh’s approach to the resolution of any dispute is to identify the range of commercial outcomes desired by the client and devise strategies to achieve those outcomes by identifying the most effective way to resolve the particular dispute.
Experience has included advising:
- Acting as Counsel for Okiyo Maritime Corp in an application to set up a limitation fund under the Merchant Shipping Act in the amount of approximately MUR 720,000,000 following the grounding of the vessel MV Wakashio;
- Acted on behalf of Housing Corporation Zimbabwe (Private) Ltd in the enforcement of an arbitral award in the sum of USD 22,000,000 in the jurisdiction of Mauritius, following a construction dispute with the National Social Security Authority in Zimbabwe;
- Acted as Counsel for Arabov Group, leading worldwide diamond exporters, in the enforcement of an arbitral award in the sum of approximately USD 14,000,000 in the jurisdiction of Mauritius;
- Acting as Counsel of AVC Vacation Club in Mauritius in challenging the Mauritius Revenue Authority’s assessment before the Assessment Review Committee following tax losses of USD 18,055,335 which was brought forward by the client on the basis that those tax losses should be considered as bad debts.
- Acted for a group of investors against an investment fund in which they had invested and obtained judgment in the sum of around USD 14,000,000 following a contractual dispute;
- Acted for African Leadership Unleashed Ltd, one of the leading higher education institutions in Africa, in a major cross-border contractual dispute;
- Acting for Ceridian Mauritius in an intellectual property and trademark protection dispute over the use of the name “Dayforce”;
- Acting as Counsel for a leading management company licensed by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, in several applications before the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court against one of its former clients, who has allegedly suffered prejudice in the amount of approximately GBP 3,500,000 following our client’s IT system being the victim of a phishing attack.
- Acted for UK-based company Jemella Ltd in a MUR 100,000,000 tort dispute where the issues pertained to the obligations of parties in pre-contractual negotiations;
- Obtaining a rescission order for a major domestic company before the Supreme Court of Mauritius against the Financial Intelligence Unit following the issue of a restriction order under the Assets Recovery Act;
- Acting as Counsel for Nova Patrimoine Ltd and Laplace Fund LP in defending an application for several disclosure orders under the Data Protection Act;
- Acts as Counsel for GIBB (Mauritius) Ltd in a number of litigation and regulatory matters.
Professional Qualifications
• Called to the Bar of England and Wales at GRAY’S INN (LONDON – United Kingdom) in November 2011
• Called to the Bar of Mauritius in January 2013
Education
• Licence en Droit et Maitrise en Droit des Affaires et de l’Entreprise, Universite Montesquieu, Bordeaux IV, France (2004-2009)
• Graduate Diploma in Law, BPP Law School, London, United Kingdom (2009-2010)
• Bar Professional Training Course, BPP Law School, United Kingdom (2010-2011)
Experience
• Door tenant at Erriah Chambers (January 2013 to December 2020)
• Solo practice since January 2021
Memberships
• Member of the Bar of England and Wales
• Member of the Mauritius Bar Association
• Member of the Gray’s Inn Society, London, United Kingdom
• Member of LEX Africa (2015 – 2020)
Awards and Positions of responsibility
• Ranked in the Top 20 of the CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Commercial Law Essay Competition (2008)
• Panel speaker at the Lex Africa Conference in Lagos, Nigeria in April 2017
• Guest speaker on behalf of Lex Africa at the HLB annual conference in Reunion Island in November 2017
• Panel speaker at the Lex Africa Conference in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania in March 2019