Gautham Chandrakumar

Gautham is a senior commercial litigation and international arbitration lawyer. He focuses on financial services, energy, and antitrust disputes, with significant trial experience in over a decade of practice.

Gautham has a broad financial services disputes practice. He acts for financial institutions, including banks, investment firms (across multiple alternative asset classes), collateral managers and bondholders. His experience includes disputes concerning interest rate swaps and futures following major economic events (testing ISDA contractual architecture in unprecedented circumstances), enforcement of terms in security documentation (including in distressed situations), misrepresentation claims relating to complex recapitalisation procedures, jurisdiction disputes arising from cross-border fraudulent schemes, shareholder disputes, and post-acquisition litigation (including seeking mandatory injunctions in performance of SPAs). Gautham also advises investment firms on litigation-risk and liability regarding portfolio companies (such advice contributing to holistic determinations as to whether positions require liquidation). In recent years, he has been involved in complex bankruptcy and restructuring litigation following high-profile insolvencies in the Middle East (including litigation arising from the Abraaj Group and NMC Health insolvencies).

In the energy space, Gautham has acted for state-owned oil & gas companies, mining conglomerates, and commodity trading groups in cross-border mandates. He has acted in international arbitrations arising out of the performance of drilling contracts and joint-operating agreements, with associated High Court and Court of Appeal litigation. He has also acted for listed mining corporates in arbitration relating to the performance of supply contracts, prospecting and mining option agreements, mining waste disposal agreements, and supply contracts. These cases again typically involve related Court proceedings, including seeking or opposing applications for interim relief (including applications for worldwide freezing injunctions). Gautham's energy background has resulted in mandates advising on trade finance issues and associated litigation under collateral management agreements relating to the supply of commodities. He is currently defending Vale S.A. in TCC litigation following the 2015 Fundão Dam collapse in Brazil, considered to be the largest group action ever brought in the English High Court.

Gautham's expertise in antitrust litigation ranges from ad-hoc pre-action mandates advising potential claimants and defendants on competition law breaches to complex, follow-on damages litigation in the High Court and Competition Appeal Tribunal. These cases typically involve economic cartels in the automotive and maritime industries with concurrent proceedings in Europe and the US (thus requiring effective coordination of competition litigation proceedings in jurisdictions globally). In recent years, he has been involved in structuring class actions under the opt-out regime.

As well as his core practice areas, Gautham has developed a contentious trusts practice, recently successfully defending the trustees of Dame Zaha Hadid's Estate in Chancery litigation arising from a claimant trustee's removal application. This was achieved whilst concurrently implementing the administration of the Estate in line with Dame Zaha's Will and Letter of Wishes, with the final agreement seeing the bulk of Dame Zaha's assets being transferred to the Zaha Hadid Foundation, a charitable body focused on supporting architectural education for young people.

Prior to joining White & Case in 2021, Gautham was a senior associate at the London office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.