5 St James Court

The set: 5 St James Court was set up in 2011, with Ravindra Chetty SC as head of chambers. It comprises rising and senior self-employed barristers, who can either be instructed individually or as part of a team. It has constantly been growing in size since its creation. Chambers is a predominantly civil and commercial set, with a strong banking and financial services practice. Members of chambers also advise on complex criminal litigation.

Areas of practice: Members of chambers undertake both transactional and litigation work. They regularly advise and act for a significant number of international banks, financial institutions and businesses. They also undertake international consultancy work. Members of chambers are involved in heavyweight litigation and sizable international arbitration claims. They act before all jurisdictions of the courts in Mauritius, including the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Over the past year, examples of some of the matters in which they have been involved include: international arbitration under the SIAC rules; the insolvency of a group of companies with assets estimated at over US$1bn in issue; litigation involving an investment fund with a claim of more than US$100m; a competition law claim of over US$30m; capital raise of US$500m for a telecommunications company operating in Africa; enquiry in relation to infrastructure projects in Mauritius worth more than US$150m; the restructuring of a local bank; and advising a foreign state in Africa on the restructuring of its financial services sector.