Dato Nitin Nadkarni > Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill > Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia > Lawyer Profile

Nitin is a Consultant and Head of the Firm’s International Arbitration and Tax, Customs & Trade Practices. His main area of practice is in international arbitration, with a focus on oil & gas, energy, construction, engineering, and infrastructure projects. Nitin also handles income tax and customs litigation and disputes.

With over 38 years of experience, Nitin has represented major governmental organisations, multinational corporations, national and international contractors, sub-contractors, financial institutions, and high-profile individuals in arbitration, litigation, income tax, and customs disputes.

Nitin has acted as counsel, or sat as an arbitrator, in disputes arising from projects in, or arbitrations seated in, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, London, Switzerland, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Paris, and Algeria under ad hoc and institutional rules.

In the first case of its kind in Malaysia, he currently represents the Republic of Zimbabwe before the Malaysian courts, to resist applications by Swiss and German investors to enforce ICSID arbitration awards.

Nitin has also acted as counsel in benchmark income tax disputes on major points of tax law. Remarking that the Tax team has “demonstrated that they are up to date with developments in the law”, Chambers Asia-Pacific 2025 notably ranked Nitin as a “Band 3” practitioner in Tax Practice, as well as a “Band 1” practitioner in Construction practice. They have also noted that he is “experienced and well versed with legislation and points of law”, and his “depth of knowledge has consistently guided us through intricate GST matters and legal procedures with clarity and precision”.

He has been consistently ranked by Chambers & Partners as a leading lawyer (Band 1 from 2013-2025) who is very polished and sought-after, and by Asia-Pacific Legal 500 as a leading dispute resolution, and real estate, and construction lawyer, who is highly regarded for construction disputes. The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2025 ranked Nitin as a “Leading Partner” in three categories (Dispute Resolution, Real Estate and Construction, and Tax). He has also been recognised as an “Elite Practitioner” by asialaw 2024 and as a “Litigation Star” for Construction by Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2024. Nitin has been recognised in Lexology’s Who’s Who Legal (WWL) 2024 in the field of Construction in Malaysia. At the 8th Asian Legal Business Malaysia Law Awards held virtually in July 2021, Nitin was named “Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year”, and at the Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards 2023, Nitin was recognised as “Malaysia Lawyer of the Year”.

In its January-February 2022 issue, Asian Legal Business, a leading provider of legal news and information for legal professionals in the region, recognised Nitin as one of Asia’s Top 15 Litigators 2022. The second edition of the annual ranking highlights 15 of the region’s outstanding lawyers who have demonstrated their ability to solve complex problems and adapt quickly to changing circumstances, especially since the outbreak of Covid-19. Nitin is the only Malaysian lawyer in the list.