Board of Advisors

USLLS ADR BLOG

With over 25 years of experience, Advocate Ratan K. Singh is one of the leading commercial arbitrators in India. He is designated as a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and holds specialisations in general commercial disputes. In addition to this, Mr. Singh has acted as the chair in various high value domestic, as well as international arbitrations. He has also acted as the sole arbiter in over 100 arbitral disputes involving agencies, joint ventures, corporate acquisitions, defence contracts, insurance and other commercial and business transactions.
It is this developed personal profile that led to his appointment as the Director of the Indian Branch of Charter Institute of Arbitrators, UK, a well-respected organization extending its services in over 140 countries. He is also the founder and the current chairman of the Society of Construction Law, India.

Ms. Veena Ralli is a practising advocate at the High Court of Delhi, with about four decades of experience as a lawyer. Ms. Ralli maintains her vast mediation portfolio, having worked hours upon hours on over 1,000 cases. A veteran professional in mediation related disputes, she also holds the position of the Organising Secretary and Senior Mediator at Samadhan, Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre.
Her exemplary leadership skills allow her to guide over 200 empanelled mediators, lending them her expertise for various matters. She has been trained in both rudimentary and advanced mediation, the latter from the University of Utah and the University of Pepperdine, both in the USA. She has been recognized as an accredited Mediator at the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) in Singapore and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London.

Thomas P. Valenti is an Attorney, Mediator, Arbitrator Facilitator and Trainer. Tom is a member of several Bar Associations, including the American, Chicago, Illinois and Indian Bar, and is a co-founder and former Board Member of Mediation Beyond Borders. With a passion for mediation, Thomas is a dedicated and talented Mediator. He is also a Neutral Arbitrator and Mediator for the National Arbitration Forum and Centre For Resolution.
Thomas's accreditations include Conflict Transformation Skills Training, focusing on Systems Dynamics, ABA International Family Mediation Training including Hague Convention Child Abduction cases, Circuit Cook County Annexed Arbitration and Mediation Training Programs. Tom also holds a Mediation Certification at The Institute for Conflict Management and is a Board Member and Trainer at The International Academy of Dispute Resolution. He is also an executive committee member of the ADR section at the Indian Bar Association.

A well-known name in the global arbitration space, he is an attorney who specialises in dispute resolution. He has, recently, left Advani & Co. to set up his chamber practice. Though, he will remain an 'Of Counsel' for Advani & Co. He holds expertise in international commercial arbitration, institution and domestic ad-hoc arbitration, mediation, civil and commercial litigation, and regulatory disputes.
Also, the Panel Counsel for GAIL (India) Limited, Special Counsel for Hindustan Copper Limited and Delhi Development Authority. He also serves as a Joint Secretary of the Society for Construction Law and is appointed as the Co-Chair of the Society of Constriction Law India’s Young Leaders Group. Nominated as a Member from India to the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, he has served as the ‘Regional Chapter Coordinator’ for India - ICC YAF from 2017-2019. He also has numerous publications to his credit, among other accolades.

With more than twenty-four years of experience in teaching, training and research in Law and Judicial education in India and Europe, she also holds a PhD degree in the domain of comparative law and legal anthropology from the University of Ghent, Belgium. She is currently an associate professor at National Law University, Jodhpur Dispute Resolution, in family law and commercial law matters, which constitute her area of teaching.
Her research experience includes being a visiting researcher at the UNIDROIT, Rome and Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she worked on projects relating to private international law, which resulted in significant publications; and a research fellowship at the Catholic University, Brussels.

Recipient of the 2020 M&A award for "Lawyer of the Year - ADR - India" by Finance Monthly, UK, Mr. Divyakant Lahoti is one of the leading Advocates on Record at the Supreme Court of India. A graduate of USLLS, GGSIPU, he is a young yet seasoned professional.
He has served as a Senior Associate at Luthra & Luthra law offices and has worked with major names like Justice R.C. Lahoti, former Chief Justice of India, Fali S. Nariman and K.K. Venugopal in the Indian Legal profession. With knowledge of Arbitration law in various jurisdictions, he is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK (MCIArb). Mr. Lahoti holds several reputed publications, including forming an integral part of an acclaimed book on Indian Perspective to ADR published by Oxford University Press.

DISCLAIMER: The USLLS ADR Blog is for informational and education purposes only, and should not be considered as legal advice. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors themselves, in their personal capacity and do not, in any way or manner, reflects the views of USLLS ADR Blog or the ADR Cell of USLLS, or any other organisation that the authors are presently or previous associated or employed with in any manner. No representations are made on the correctness and accuracy of the opinions expressed as it may vary over time. Third-party links on the posts are only provided for convenience and we take no responsibility for examining and evaluating such links. We are making the USLLS ADR Blog available in our effort to advance the understanding and discussion on issues of contemporary relevance to the dispute resolution laws of India. Legal advice should always be sought from qualified legal practitioners only.