Amrit Kaur Dhanoa

Commercial & Chancery

Amrit accepts instructions across a broad range of commercial and chancery disputes. She is regularly instructed by corporate and commercial clients, ranging from sole traders and private individuals to large businesses and public authorities, and advises and represents clients in complex and high-value disputes.

Her practice encompasses contractual and commercial disputes, company and insolvency matters, construction disputes, commercial fraud, investments and investment schemes, contracts for the sale and hire of goods, partnership and LLP disputes, and personal and corporate insolvency.

Amrit’s experience includes:

• Acted as sole counsel in a multi-day High Court trial in the Technology and Construction Court concerning the enforcement of an adjudication decision.

• Advised a local authority in a construction dispute concerning the interpretation of a JCT Design and Build contract, including issues relating to the treatment of provisional sums.

• Advised and represented a claimant in a cargo and carriage of goods dispute.

• The Official Receiver v Andrew Nathaniel Skeene and Junie Conrad Omari Bowers [2020] EWHC 1252 (Ch): acted for the Defendants in High Court interlocutory proceedings concerning the Official Receiver’s ability to disclose documents obtained in director disqualification proceedings to the Serious Fraud Office.

• Advised on a partnership dispute involving issues of company and insolvency law, including the enforcement of guarantees.

• Robert Gaines Cooper v HMRC – junior counsel acting for HMRC in substantial litigation concerning £30 million in income tax assessments and the application of the Transfer of Assets Abroad and Settlements legislation to complex offshore trust and corporate structures, including issues concerning residence and domicile.

• Acted as sole counsel in a multi-day trial representing an individual in proceedings concerning two account freezing and forfeiture applications under the Criminal Finances Act 2017, advising on the lawfulness of the applications and representing the client at trial.

• Amrit was junior counsel to the Dame Linda Dobbs Review, an independent legal assessment, considering whether issues relating to HBOS Reading were investigated and appropriately reported to authorities following Lloyd Banking Group’s acquisition of HBOS. She worked with leading practitioners in financial crime and financial services regulation, advising on issues of fact, law, and evidence gathering.

Company & Insolvency

Amrit’s company law practice includes shareholder disputes, unfair prejudice petitions and disputes concerning directors’ duties. Her complementary insolvency practice covers corporate and personal insolvency proceedings, in which she advises and acts for companies, individuals, partnerships, LLPs and insolvency practitioners.

Her experience includes matters concerning administration, bankruptcy, liquidation and voluntary arrangements, as well as applications for injunctions to restrain the presentation or advertisement of winding-up petitions, applications to set aside statutory demands, applications for validation orders and directors’ disqualification proceedings.

Amrit has also developed substantial practical experience through her regular involvement with the City Law School’s Company Insolvency Scheme, providing pro bono advice and representation to companies appearing in the winding-up court. She has assisted unrepresented companies with their hearings, developing expertise in providing clear, practical and commercially focused advice under significant time pressure. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she was instrumental in transitioning the scheme from in-person to remote hearings, helping to ensure continued access to legal advice and representation for unrepresented companies.

Amrit has also delivered training to Bar course students on the procedure and practicalities of Company and Insolvency Court hearings and has acted as a judge in mock hearings.

Public & Administrative

Amrit accepts instructions in public and administrative law, including judicial review and public inquiries, and has experience acting for government departments and public authorities in complex and sensitive matters.

Amrit has substantial experience of public inquiry work, having acted as junior counsel on major statutory inquiries involving complex and sensitive issues of public policy and government decision-making. She is experienced in working across the various stages of an inquiry, including the forensic analysis of substantial and often voluminous documentary evidence, advising on legal, factual and evidential issues, preparing for and conducting advocacy at hearings, including the examination of witnesses.

Her experience includes:

• Junior counsel to the Covid-19 Inquiry, including work on Module 2 (Core UK decision-making and political governance), Module 2C (core political and administrative decision-making and governance in Northern Ireland during the pandemic) and Module 9 (Economic response). Amrit has undertaken advocacy and conducted the examination of witnesses in Modules 2C and 9. Her work has also involved analysing substantial documentary evidence and complex issues concerning government decision-making, economic policy and the response to the pandemic, as well as advising on issues of law, fact and evidence and preparing for hearings.

• Junior counsel to the Grenfell Inquiry, acting on behalf of the Cabinet Office, a core participant in the Inquiry. Her work included analysing substantial volumes of material and advising on issues concerning restrictions on publication and disclosure, legal professional privilege and the treatment of sensitive material.

• Robinson and Others v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWCA Civ 859 – assisted in defending a judicial review challenge to the increase in State Pension Age for women under the Pensions Act 1995, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

• Overseas Domestic Workers v Home Office – worked as part of a team acting for the Home Office in claims brought by overseas domestic workers concerning alleged exploitation in diplomatic households and claims for compensation.

Professional Discipline & Regulatory

Amrit accepts instructions in professional disciplinary and regulatory matters, acting for both regulators and professionals. She has experience across the full range of professional disciplinary proceedings, from interim applications and case management through to substantive Fitness to Practise hearings, as well as challenges to regulatory decisions by way of judicial review.

Amrit has appeared on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and has also represented registrants on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing in Fitness to Practise proceedings before the NMC. Her experience includes interim order applications and reviews, as well as lengthy and complex substantive multi-day hearings involving multiple allegations and contested factual and evidential issues.

Amrit has experience of advising on and presenting cases involving issues of professional misconduct, competence and fitness to practise, and is accustomed to managing substantial evidence and complex allegations in a regulatory setting. Her experience acting for both regulators and registrants gives her an understanding of the different perspectives and interests involved in professional disciplinary proceedings.

Amrit has also acted as legal adviser to the disciplinary committee of a political party, advising on disciplinary proceedings and issues arising from the application of its internal rules and procedures.

Mediation & International Arbitration

Amrit is a civil and commercial mediator with experience of a broad range of disputes, including contractual, professional negligence, property and inheritance disputes. She brings her experience as a commercial litigator to her mediation practice, with a particular focus on identifying the key issues in dispute, understanding the commercial interests underlying disputes and supporting parties in achieving commercially sensible resolutions.

Amrit’s arbitration experience spans both substantive and procedural issues arising in international disputes. Her experience includes advising on international arbitration matters, including issues of jurisdiction, governing law, choice of seat and the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards. She has experience of arbitrations conducted under both the ICC and LCIA Arbitration Rules, including involvement in the drafting of pleadings in an LCIA arbitration arising from a complex cross-border construction dispute during her time working at Al Tamimi & Company in Dubai.

Amrit is a member of the Bar Council’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Panel and is actively involved in promoting the use of ADR in the civil justice system. She contributed to, and was instrumental in, the Bar Council’s response to the Ministry of Justice’s 2022 consultation on increasing the use of mediation in civil proceedings. She has also been invited to speak at panels in London and internationally, including in Nairobi, Kenya, on mediation, arbitration, and the role of effective dispute resolution in resolving commercial and civil disputes.

Amrit was a member of the core team that organised the inaugural global international arbitration conference, Future of Technology in Arbitration (2022), where she moderated a session examining the increasing relevance of artificial intelligence to international arbitration. She has also participated as a panellist in chambers’ webinars considering the conduct of arbitrations in the virtual world and has featured on the Forethoughts podcast about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international arbitration and the role of technology in transforming arbitral proceedings.