Pallavi Singh Rao

Pallavi is a seasoned dispute resolution lawyer with over 19 years of experience, representing various Indian as well as international clients in a variety of civil, commercial and corporate litigations as well as arbitrations.

She regularly appears before various High Courts and tribunals across India for commercial law and intellectual property matters. Her practice spans commercial litigation, arbitration, startups, specialty finance, fintech, and emerging technology sectors, where she provides strategic counsel on contentious issues and regulatory compliance. She also advises on proceedings involving the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND), Ministry of Finance, Enforcement Directorate, and Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

Relevant Experience:

Dispute Resolution:

Regularly advises various private equity firms, alco-bev giants, leading textile manufacturers and other leading companies in the technology and healthcare sector in relation to licensing/ transfer of IP in respect of numerous M&A transactions/ investment rounds having IP as an important aspect of the transaction.
Advising and representing leading software and web development companies before various High Courts in relation to IP infringement litigations and domain name disputes.
Advising and representing wide range of clients engaged in construction engineering, IT services, as well as public sector undertakings engaged in renewable energy generation, in high stakes arbitration proceedings, including pre and post arbitration litigation, such as grant of interim reliefs pending constitution of arbitral tribunals, appointment of arbitral tribunals, challenge to awards, and enforcement of awards both foreign and domestic.
Advising and representing leading cloud-based technology service provider companies in a range of litigation matters, including electricity-related disputes before various tribunals.
Advising and representing various private and public corporations, before various judicial fora and tribunals in a wide range of disputes with respect to shareholders agreement, infrastructure and construction arbitration, etc.
Advising and representing emerging technology companies and payment system operators before various judicial fora in proceedings initiated by law enforcement authorities.

Law Enforcement Related Advisory:

Advising leading global companies engaged in providing services related to digital assets, business support and payment processing on enforcement related compliances and actions initiated by the Directorate of Enforcement, Director General of GST Intelligence, and other enforcement agencies.

Payments & Fintech Compliance Related Advisory:

Advising leading emerging technology and fintech companies on payments and fintech related compliance, and crypto-related regulatory issues, including advising on Open Network Digital Commerce agreements. She has also advised various leading banking and payment processing companies, OTT platforms, NBFCs, etc. on compliances, foreign portfolio investor licensing procedures, including assisting in obtaining a license to operate as a payment aggregator and establishing a foreign bank branch in India in line with relevant Reserve Bank of India (RBI) laws.

Cyber Security / Cyber Resilience Related Advisory:

Advising leading emerging technology companies operating in areas of business support, access control and connectivity on compliances related to data protection, data privacy and cyber security under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) Act, 2023 and Information Technology Act, 2000.