Interview with: Md. Monzur Rabbi, Senior Partner & Head of Chambers

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Rahman & Rabbi Legal from your competitors?

Our chambers Rahman & Rabbi Legal delivers appropriate and cost-effective solutions for our clients through meticulous planning and punctilious implementation. To us, client comes first and the set of chambers aggressively defends the rights and interests of the clients through tenacity and dedication. We value the trust clients keep upon us and work hard to provide effective representation to meet their diverse legal needs. The foundation of Rahman & Rabbi Legal is based on hard work and devotion. From these two elements, we make a favourable approach to our clients. Apart from the clients with litigation matters, we are always concerned as to whether the disputes of the clients can be solved outside court. Therefore, once we receive appropriate instructions from the clients, we always try to resolve the issues through arbitration or mediation. Client satisfaction is the top priority and our clients usually stay with us for a long period of time.

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is an emerging mechanism to resolve disputes in Bangladesh. We always expect to avoid leniency and procrastination at a dispute, and therefore, we always aim for a speedy dispute resolution. Both the Partners of this set of chambers are highly efficient in resolving disputes through ADR process and they are skilled at both the adjudicative and consensual processes. We have experience of handling a wide variety of civil disputes and proceedings, domestic and international arbitrations, statutory and regulatory proceedings, criminal proceedings in a corporate context and assisting in formulating litigation strategies relating to foreign investments and corporate transactions. Our advice extends across all avenues of dispute resolution, including litigation and arbitration and across diverse sectors such as banking and finance, competition, construction and engineering, corporate, employment and pensions, employee benefits, financial services, fraud and financial crime, group litigation, professional negligence, real estate, restructuring, insolvency, trusts, succession and probate matters. Apart from arbitration and mediation, we have good experience in settlement of negotiations and we have used negotiation to resolve a number of disputes at pre-litigation stage.

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

We have a resourceful library which helps us developing legal research within a short notice. Large volumes of books by well-known authors along with references for legal research are available at our library. For more legal information, we have access on different online legal research services which is very significant for new generation law firms. Technology is something we have always prioritized since we are breathing in Digital Bangladesh. In Rahman & Rabbi Legal, we put the clients before us. We hire efficient associates who are eligible and well-trained to handle big corporate clients. We have separate team of lawyers for Supreme Court, District Court and corporate matters. We believe in transparency and accountability and we maintain client’s privacy very well.

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Availability is the key when keeping clients and lawyer’s relationship intact. We know that in this bustling and rapidly growing economy how busy our clients are and can be, due to which we always encourage our clients to be technologically active. Technology enables us to contact our clients when they are outside the country for other business or personal matters. Technology has also made facile for us to pass information from the chambers to the court or elsewhere. We keep all our records updated in our own server which enables us to search any previous cases we were involved with in a matter of seconds.

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

We have been working on trademark disputes for a reputed multinational company. That company is involved in tobacco business and tobacco trademark matters are very sensitive in our jurisdiction. We have restricted the laws for controlling tobacco product. To stay within the law, tobacco industry needs legal opinion and marketing team needs direction from us. On the other hand, there was a lot of matter relating to the infringement of the brands of tobacco industry which is illegal in our context. In those matters, we helped our clients for closing those brands which brands have infringed the mark.

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Generally, clients look for a stable law firm which can guide them to strategic direction for a better progress. Currently, clients not only want legal advice but also look for strategic advices to create an impact on their marketing, management and administrative matters. In view of that fact, corporate clients want to do their works within the ambit of legal framework for their business stability. In the coming years, Rahman & Rabbi Legal shall focus more on different methods of dispute resolution including the international arbitration for cross-border matters. We are taking international commercial disputes in broader prospective and in case it requires, in future, we may even opt for an office out of the country to ensure facilities to our foreign clients.