Naseem Sumnani

Advocate & Solicitor LLM, F NMIS

Naseem has more than 25 years of experience in maritime and commercial law. Her core area is litigation, and she appears and conducts trials in civil courts in India. She has been successful in defending numerous crew claims filed before the Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation and suits filed by Mumbai Port Trust for sale deficit etc. She regularly appears before Customs Authorities, Consumer Forums, the Directorate General of Shipping, Principal Officer of Mercantile Marine Department, and various branches within its aegis.

Naseem has also attended to matters before various police authorities and criminal courts in Mumbai and outside. She also has experience in Testamentary matters. She advises concerning payment of death/disability compensation to seafarers and drafts Receipts and Releases.

Naseem is a solicitor and member of the Bombay Incorporated Law Society, holds an LLM in International Business Law from Mumbai University and a Fellowship in Shipping from Narottam Morarjee Institute of Shipping. She is fluent in English, Hindi, Gujarati, and French.

Ashwini Sinha

Advocate B.Sc. LLB (Hons.)

Ashwini has a vast experience of over 14 years in maritime and commercial law. He is a graduate from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar. He focuses mainly on Admiralty matters. He represents various ship owners, charterers, cargo interest and their insurers. He has immense experience and has successfully attended to arrest and release of vessels, anti-suit injunctions, trials of admiralty suits, collisions and limitation of liability suits.

With a notable track record, he has been involved in numerous reported judgments including a significant case before the Bombay High Court where he successfully assisted our clients in the setting up of a limitation fund of INR 78 crores against a claim of INR 1300 crores by the Indian Navy. Additionally, Ashwini adeptly handles charter party arbitrations, customs matters, enforcement of foreign awards and obtaining security towards foreign arbitrations. He also represents clients in disputes under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. He regularly appears before several Indian courts and tribunals.

Sanika Kulkarni

Advocate B.Com, LLB

Sanika handles a variety of P & I claims, with a particular emphasis on crew claims and disbursement of death and disability compensation. Additionally, she has attended to cargo claims, vessel collisions, the arrest/release of vessels and obtaining security in an Indian arbitration. She has assisted in various noteworthy matters like Nordlake and OSL Glory.

Having enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, she has been consistently representing various clients in different courts across India, as well as before the Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation.

Sanika has graduated from SVKM’s Jitendra Chauhan College of Law, Mumbai University, and holds proficiency in English, Hindi, and Marathi languages.

Amala Joseph

Advocate BLS LLB

Amala provides regular advice on crew and cargo claims and arbitrations. She specializes in advising IG Group Clubs and foreign insurers on disbursement of death and disability compensation to seafarers and has successfully settled several crew claims.

Having enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, she handles litigation and regularly represents clients before various civil and criminal courts and other forums including the High Court of Bombay, Sessions and Civil Court, Metropolitan Magistrate Court, and the Employee’s Compensation Commissioner and coordinates litigation in numerous other civil and admiralty jurisdictions.

Amala is a graduate from Vivekanand Education Society’s (VES) College of Law, Mumbai University, and exhibits proficiency in English, Hindi, and Malayalam languages.

Joji Jacob

Advocate B.Sc. LLB

Joji has over 25 years’ experience with various leading international shipping lines and is specialized in handling diverse cargo, port, and customs claims. He provides clients with a focused and pragmatic approach. He attends litigation before various courts and in quasi-judicial matters. He also currently deals with crew claim matters.

He played a key role in successfully defending cargo claims arising out of the shipping incident involving the vessel, “MOL Comfort”. He has a rich experience in successfully handling matters concerning customs, DRI and other central investigative agencies. He has successfully attended to a customs matter involving penalty in several million dollars which got 100% waived off in favour of the Shipping Line he represented, which indicates his ability to successfully attend to such cases.

Kaushin Khan

Advocate LLM (UCT, Cape Town)

Kaushin handles various crew claims. She advises on cargo claims, arrest and release of vessels and obtaining security for foreign arbitrations in India.

She has done B.A. LLB from Rajasthan University, India and an LLM in Shipping Law from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Additionally, she was a part of the Law School Global League Program at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London, UK. She is proficient in English, Hindi, and Urdu languages.