Jagdish Menezes

Practice Overview

Jagdish is an experienced commercial litigator and arbitration practitioner with over a decade of experience in high value international arbitrations (investment treaty and commercial), complex commercial litigation, enforcement actions in respect of judgments and awards, and other cross-border disputes. He has acted in proceedings before the English courts and leading arbitral tribunals worldwide, with particular expertise in dealing with complex frauds and corruption-related issues, private equity and banking matters, mining and infrastructure projects, investment treaties and other disputes involving sovereigns.

He has appeared as an advocate before arbitral tribunals on numerous occasions and, more recently, before the English courts. He is regularly instructed on commercial and investment treaty arbitrations conducted under the leading institutional rules, including the ICC, LCIA, SCC, UNCITRAL, SIAC and ICSID rules.

He has been described in the directories as a “tremendous professional” with an “extremely impressive…degree of commitment and mastery of the case and applicable laws of multiple jurisdictions”. He was listed as an ‘Arbitration Future Leader (Non-Partners)’ in the Lexology (Who’s Who Legal) Guide each year between 2023 and 2025. He has also been recognised by the 2020 UK edition of Legal 500 as a key lawyer for commercial disputes, and in the 2024 edition for international arbitration and public international law.

Prior to transferring to the Bar in 2025, Jagdish was an Of Counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, working at its London office for 11 years. In that role, he worked on a wide range of disputes before international arbitral tribunals (investment treaty and commercial) as well as courts in England, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Washington D.C., New York, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, France, The Netherlands, Greece and Tanzania. He has been admitted as a Solicitor-Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience since 2018 and as an advocate by the Bar Council of India in 2013 (now non-practising).

Highlights of his recent experience and instructions at 3VB include:

• Acting for a global private equity fund in a SIAC arbitration concerning a dispute over the terms of an exit from a substantial investment of several hundred million US dollars;
• Acting for a leading global technology company in an SCC arbitration over various distribution agreements;
• Acting on a global enforcement campaign over a US$ 2 billion arbitration award secured by a major oil and gas company against a Middle-East sovereign;
• Acting for an outsourcing services company in a dispute before the Chancery Division of the High Court over the management of certain loan portfolios; and
• Acting in an arbitration claim before the English Commercial Court in respect of the parties’ rival costs claims.

Prior to coming to the Bar, Jagdish’s experience included:

• Acted in multiple LCIA arbitrations and related Court proceedings in England and Hong Kong for a port operator against Djibouti and a Chinese competitor over a Djiboutian port worth US$ 2 billion.
• Acted for Ukraine in a US$ 3 billion dispute over its alleged debt under certain Eurobonds, beneficially owned by Russia, in which the UK Supreme Court ruled in Ukraine’s favour and declined summary judgment for Russia ([2023] UKSC 11).
• Acted for an Indian industrial conglomerate in multiple ICC arbitrations against an American co-venturer.
• Acted for a consortium of investment funds in a US$ 170 million UNCITRAL arbitration over a Bulgarian telecommunications business.
• Acted for the founder of a private equity fund in a US$ 150 million UNCITRAL arbitration over the management of the fund and the exit of a co-founder.
• Acted for a Zambian power company in an UNCITRAL arbitration against a Zambian mining company.
• Acted for an investor in an ICSID arbitration against Georgia over a telecommunications business.
• Acted in a cross-border litigation for a global telecoms company against a Tanzanian high net worth individual that helped uncover and resolve a complex fraud and corruption by judiciary officials.
• Acted for a global mining company in an ICSID arbitration against Ghana and an UNCITRAL arbitration against Tanzania over investment disputes.
• Acted for Cairn Energy plc in a successful enforcement campaign over a US$ 1.2 billion arbitration award against the Republic of India.

Jagdish holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Law and Arts (Honours) from the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad, as well as a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford, where he studied Conflict of Laws, Commercial Remedies, Civil Procedure and International Dispute Settlement. He studied at Oxford on a full scholarship covering tuition fees and living expenses, funded by the British Council and Exeter College. He is also a former winner of the prestigious Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot (2012).

Jagdish is fluent in English, Portuguese and Hindi.