A growth in international commercial arbitration in the region has prompted a senior in-house counsel to return to the Bar. Lend Lease Project Management & Construction general counsel Rashda Rana will return to the Bar in February after nearly four years in-house and in private practice.

Rana told ALB the decision to leave Lend Lease was a culmination of factors pushing her towards arbitration. “The growth in international arbitrations, coupled with my own experiences in this area and my ongoing work in the area are the reasons for my move,” said Rana.

Since leaving the Bar to join Holding Redlich as a partner and then Lend Lease the number of disputes in the region and therefore the number of arbitrations has increased significantly according to Rana. During this time Rana has also assisted in the launch of a course at The University of Sydney on commercial arbitration and written a book on international commercial arbitration in the Asia Pacific region (International Commercial Arbitration by Rana and Michelle Sanson was published by Thomson Reuters the publisher of this website). “Since I have been at Lend Lease I have done a couple of things that have led me back to the Bar. I had to choose between arbitration and delving deeper into the corporate world. I decided that what I really wanted to do was arbitration,” Rana added.

As a barrister Rana will be based at the Wentworth Chambers but she will also be operating out of London-based Atkin Chambers. Atkin Chambers have been keen to expand into the Asia Pacific region for some time according to Rana and through her presence in Sydney will be better equipped to represent clients and arbitrate disputes across the region. “It is a lot easier for me to represent clients in Singapore, Hong Kong and of course Sydney than it is for those based in London,” she said.

Having been a barrister in London and Sydney before going into private practice and then corporate law Rana said taking that leap in the middle of her career has been more beneficial than she could have ever imagined. “I have learnt a great deal that I know many of my counterparts will not have learnt. I now understand better the commercial matters facing future clients,” she said.

The replacement general counsel for Lend Lease has yet to be appointed but a search is underway. Whoever it is will need to hit the ground running as the legal firm panel put in place by Rana when she first joined is up for review in July this year.

Related stories:

Advent hires construction specialist formerly with Lend Lease 10 September 2010

In-House Perspective: Rashda Rana, Bovis Lend Lease 12 January 2010