Khaitan & Co, India’s second-largest firm, has added a third partner to its Singapore office, which opened in August last year. Dispute resolution lawyer Kartikey Mahajan joins from the Mumbai office of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co (SAM), where he was a counsel.

Mahajan becomes Khaitan’s first dispute resolution partner in Singapore. The other partners in the office are Anuj Shah, who specializes in M&A and private client work, and Karun Cariappa, a former head of the India practice at Morgan Lewis Stamford.

In an interview with ALB in July last year, Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner at Khaitan, talked about how dispute resolution would be one of the Singapore office’s areas of focus. “International arbitration has become a preferred mode of dispute resolution, with Singapore-seated arbitrations getting an ever-growing lion’s share of that market,” he said. “Today, a majority of SIAC cases involve an Indian party, and many of the disputed contracts are governed by Indian laws. There’s room for us to add even more value to our clients on such matters through our Singapore office, in collaboration with local and global firms.”

Prior to joining SAM in January last year, Mahajan worked with King & Spalding and Kirkland & Ellis in London, and Clifford Chance in Singapore. He has more than 10 years of experience in arbitrations governed by the rules of ICSID, ICC, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, AAA and GAFTA.

In his new role at Khaitan, Mahajan is expected to focus on international arbitration for Indian and foreign clients in cooperation with the firm’s dispute resolution partners based in India.