Sarthak Malhotra

  • Foreign Attorney
  • T. +82-2-3404-7474
  • F. +82-2-3404-7306
  • E. sarthak.malhotra@bkl.co.kr

Overview

Sarthak Malhotra is a foreign attorney and his main practice areas include international arbitration and litigation. In addition to his broad disputes practice, Sarthak is also a member of the firm's India practice. 

Mr. Malhotra has significant experience representing clients in international commercial and investment arbitration proceedings across various industry sectors. His areas of focus include construction, oil and gas, energy, digital assets, post-M&A disputes, and public international law issues. 

Prior to joining Bae, Kim & Lee, Sarthak was an assistant legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague. He participated in the administration of inter-state, investment, and international commercial arbitrations and other dispute resolution procedures. He also assisted the PCA secretary-general in the appointment of arbitrators. 

Mr. Malhotra is admitted to practice in India. He has extensive experience of appearing before arbitral tribunals, courts and statutory tribunals in India and advising clients on navigating the Indian legal system.

Representative Experience

2023-Present Bae, Kim & Lee LLC
2022-2023 Permanent Court of Arbitration, Netherlands
2017-2021 K.N. Legal, India

Representative Matters

Represented the Republic of Korea in an arbitration under the Swiss/Korea Bilateral Investment Treaty (Schindler v. Korea)
Represented the Republic of Korea in ICSID annulment proceedings (LSF-KEB Holdings v. Korea)
Represented a major corporation in a SIAC arbitration concerning a combined cycle gas turbine power plant project in Southeast Asia (Singapore seat, Singapore law)
Represented a shareholder of a private investment firm in a KCAB arbitration regarding shareholder disputes in the digital assets sector (Seoul seat, Korean law)
Represented an engineering and construction company in its disputes relating to an EPC contract with an Indian counterparty, including court litigation in India

Education

2022 Masters in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS), Geneva (LL.M.)
2017 Gujarat National Law University (B.Com., LL.B., honors)

Selected Activities

Publications
The Mutually Reinforcing Relationship between the VCLT & ISDS: A Roundtable hosted by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (Co-author, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2022)
ICSID Tribunal partially upholds jurisdiction claims under Austria–Poland Encouragement and Protection of Investments Agreement and rejects Achmea's applicability, ITN Issue 4 Volume 11 (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2020)
Legitimate Expectations in Investment Arbitration: A Comparative Perspective (Co-author, Indian Yearbook of Comparative Law 2018, 2019)
Ssangyong v. NHAI: Supreme Court of India Fixing Some Troubles, and Creating Some? (Co-author, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2019)
Intellectuals Forum v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors. (Case Note), International Law in Domestic Courts (Oxford Reports on International Law, 2019)
Mandal v. Deen Dayal Harinagar Hospital and Ors. (Case Note), International Law in Domestic Courts (Oxford Reports on International Law, 2019)
India's Joint Interpretive Statement for BITs: An Attempt to Slay the Ghosts of the Past, ITN Issue 4 Volume 7 (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016)
Standards Applicable to Interim Reliefs in India: A Comprehensive Analytical Investigation, Volume V Issue 1 (Co-author, Indian Journal of Arbitration Law, 2016)
Awards
PCA-MIDS Fellowship (2022-2023)

Qualifications

2017 India