Ravi Aswani

A considerable proportion of Ravi’s work is in the field of International Commercial Arbitration, in connection with disputes arising out of a very wide range of industries and sectors.  He is currently instructed in many such arbitrations which are due to be heard in 2026 and 2027.  Ravi is often instructed as co-counsel with a view to making up a multi-disciplinary international team, and in recent years has been instructed in a number of arbitrations with foreign seats and/or arising out of contracts governed by a law other than English law.

In the past few years Ravi has acted as counsel in both institutional and ad hoc arbitrations under the rules of the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, and UNCITRAL.  He also has a growing practice as an arbitrator

Ravi is currently instructed in a considerable number of large pieces of commercial litigation in the Business and Property Courts, primarily the Commercial Court.

Ravi is instructed in a broad range of disputes which have involved allegations of fraud and corruption as well as breach of contract and tort. Ravi is often instructed in heavy interim matters involving questions of conflict of laws/jurisdiction, procedure and injunctive relief.

Throughout his career, Ravi has been instructed in cases where allegations of deceit / fraud have been a key part of the dispute. In recent years, such cases have included: multi million Euro litigation in the Commercial Court based on breach of documents alleged to have been sham agreements with no intention to create legal relations but rather to satisfy relevant regulatory authorities; an arbitration where it confirmed that the claimant which was seeking damages in relation to an incident involving a leak from its petroleum refinement facility had falsified relevant maintenance records; an arbitration involving allegations of fake complaints of contamination arising from the sale and purchase of a high value cargo, with an alleged distressed sale to a related company which then made normal use of that cargo; several ongoing disputes involving allegations of sophisticated sham arrangements designed improperly to evade sanctions against Venezuela, Libya and Russia; novel money laundering proceedings by the NCA involving commercial law crossover aspects.

All aspects of wet and dry shipping.

Significant experience also in relation to shipbuilding, ship sale and purchase, ship repair, ship management and all aspects of port operation.

Domestic and international disputes arising out of contracts for the sale and / or transport of goods (by air, road and rail as well as by sea), extensive experience of advising under BIFA, CMR and RHA terms, as well as underlying contracts of insurance.

Construction of policies.

Disputes as to coverage and non-disclosure/misrepresentation.

Protection and indemnity policy / marine insurance advice.

Cases of note include advancing a claim disputed by an insurer for non-disclosure arising out of an industrial explosion, and a three week trial representing the defendant insurer which was refusing to pay out on a claim based on matters of misrepresentation and non-disclosure and of illegality.

Disputes arising out of various facility agreements and documentary credits including bills of exchange, letters of credit, performance bonds and guarantees. Recent cases have included multiple multi-million dollar claims in the Commercial Court arising out of alleged non-servicing of long term loan agreements, authorisation of sale with clean title of secured assets, and defending a claim for alleged failure to pay under a secured loans for reasons including misrepresentation by lender, public policy, and supervening foreign revenue control changes (successfully resisting summary judgment which led to a commercial resolution).