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7KBW Barristers Chambers - Commercial Barristers Chambers
Background

Aradhya Sethia

Call: England and Wales: 2024; India: 2018

+44 (0)20 7910 8300
seniorclerks@7kbw.co.uk
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Aradhya practises in all areas of commercial litigation and international arbitration, including civil fraud, energy, international trade, financial services, sports, competition law, sanctions, insurance, intellectual property, and professional negligence. He also accepts instructions in commercial cases involving issues of public law and international law. He joined 7KBW as a tenant in September 2025 following the successful completion of pupillage.

Before coming to the Bar, Aradhya taught law at the University of Cambridge, where he also completed his PhD in Law as a Cambridge International Scholar. His legal scholarship has been cited (with approval) by the Supreme Court of India. Aradhya has also served as the Executive Director of the Cambridge Pro Bono Project, leading various research projects in the fields of public law, public international law, and sports law.

He read for the MPhil in Law at the University of Oxford, and completed the LL.M. at Yale Law School as an Inlaks Scholar, serving as an Articles Editor of the Yale Journal of International Law and Resident Fellow at the Yale Information Society Project. His academic work has been published in some of the leading law journals.

He also holds a BA LLB from the National Law School, Bangalore, where he was awarded the Best Outgoing Student prize. He is qualified as an advocate in India, where he previously assisted two Justices of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General.

His current or recent instructions include:

  • London-seated arbitration concerning war risk issues arising from hostilities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (unled).
  • A dispute involving alleged breach of sale agreements in the energy sector (led by David Allen KC).
  • Commission Secretary to a Premier League Commission in The Premier League Board v Leicester City Football Club (chaired by James Drake KC), raising novel issues at the intersection of competition law and sports law.
  • LCIA arbitration concerning breach of intellectual property licensing agreements (led by Jason Robinson KC).
  • A commercial judicial review claim arising from the energy sector, engaging complex questions of domestic public law and public international law (led by David Allen KC).
  • A High Court claim for enforcement of a guarantee arising from restructured loan arrangements (unled).
  • Various ongoing matters in the County Court and London-seated arbitrations (unled).

Expertise

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  • Greensill Bank v. Zurich Insurance: claims of around US$400 million arising from Greensill’s collapse, involving issues of fraudulent misrepresentation and non-disclosure (assisted during pupillage).
  • LMAA arbitration concerning a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation during the sale of a vessel (assisted during pupillage).
  • Instructed in various London-seated arbitrations.
  • Acting (as sole counsel) in a trade dispute arising from hostilities in the Red Sea.
  • SIAC arbitration concerning the claims brought by a major financing company under contracts for the sale of iron ore, alleged to be sham contracts (assisted during pupillage).
  • LCIA arbitration concerning a claim under a trade credit insurance policy for sugar trade (assisted during pupillage).
  • London arbitration concerning a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation during the sale of a vessel (assisted during pupillage).
  • London arbitration arising from soybean trade in China (assisted during pupillage).
  • London arbitration concerning an unsafe port claim arising from a vessel grounding in the Parana River (assisted during pupillage).
  • Urgent application for anti-suit injunctions in the context of a dispute involving an international sale and purchase agreement (assisted during pupillage).
  • LMAA arbitration concerning a cargo claim arising from soybean trade from Brazil to China (assisted during pupillage
  • Virgo Marine v. Reed Smith LLP v. Barclays Bank: raising complex issues concerning the application of US sanctions and the Retained Blocking Regulation (assisted during pupillage).
  • Instructed (led by David Allen KC) in a dispute involving breach of sale agreements and charterparty.
  • Sahara v. Sonara [2024] EWHC 3163 (Comm): US$100 million claim arising from an oil contract between Sahara and Cameroon’s state-owned oil refinery (assisted during pupillage).
  • LMAA arbitration concerning a cargo claim arising from soybean trade from Brazil to China (assisted during pupillage).
  • Instructed (unled) in a claim for enforcement of guarantee in a complex financial transaction involving a range of debt agreements.
  • Virgo Marine v. Reed Smith LLP v. Barclays Bank: raising various legal issues in relation to money held in a client account under a banking contract (assisted during pupillage).
  • Acting in a commercial judicial review (led by David Allen KC).
  • Assisted Inter-American Court of Human Rights in a live matter before the court with a report on States’ rights obligations vis-à-vis polluting activities (as an Executive Director of the Cambridge Pro Bono Project).
  • R v Privacy International 2019 UKSC 22 (assisted Privacy International in-house team as a member of the Yale Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic).
  • Bonavero Fellow, British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
  • Fox International Fellow, Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, Melbourne Law School.
  • Various publications on English and comparative public law (see publications tab).
  • KS Puttaswamy v Union of India AIR 2017 SC 4161 (Supreme Court of India) (as an intern, assisting Attorney General acting for the Government of India): clarified the scope of the right to privacy in Indian constitutional law.
  • Chief Editor, Indian Journal of Law and Technology.
  • Resident Fellow, Yale Information Society Project.
  • ICANN Fellow (2016): Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy, Yonsei University, South Korea (2016).
  • Various publications in leading journals on topics related to internet law and copyright (see publications tab).
  • Virgo Marine v. Reed Smith LLP v. Barclays Bank: a sanction entity alleges that Reed Smith, acting as escrow agent, breached its professional and regulatory duties (assisted during pupillage).
  • LCIA arbitration concerning a political risk insurance claim for losses arising from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan (assisted during pupillage).
  • Assisted with advice on various Directors’ and Officers’ liability policies (during pupillage).
  • Assisted with advice on various professional indemnity insurance policies (during pupillage).

Related content

+44 (0)20 7910 8300
seniorclerks@7kbw.co.uk
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Contact our clerks for assistance with choosing the right barrister for your matter.

  • Lost in the war – Judgment in the Russian aircraft claims (Aercap v AIG) (LexisNexis, 2025)
  • ‘Constitutional Particracy: Political Parties and the Indian Constitution’, in The Cambridge Companion to the Constitution of India (Aparna Chandra, Gautam Bhatia, and Niraja Gopal Jayal, eds.) (forthcoming 2026).
  • ‘Constitutional Accountability, Intra-party Processes, and Tortoise Media’, UK Constitutional Law Association Blog (2024).
  • ‘Where’s the Party?: Towards a Constitutional Biography of Political Parties’, 3(1) Indian Law Review 1 (Taylor & Francis 2019)
  • ‘Where’s the Money?: Paths and Pathologies of the Law of Party Funding’, 1 NLUD Journal of Legal Studies 87 (2019)
  • ‘Anti-corruption Bond’, The Indian Express (2018)
  • ‘Troubled Waters of Safe-harbor for Internet Intermediaries’, 12(5) Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 398 (Oxford University Press, 2017)
  • ‘John Doe Orders in Online Copyright Infringement Cases in India’, 12(1) Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, 20 (Oxford University Press, 2017)
  • ‘Rethinking Admissibility of Electronic Evidence’, 24(3) International Journal of Law and Information Technology, 229 (Oxford University Press, 2016).
  • ‘Taxation of Personal Data Collection: A “Taxing” Task’, 3(2) NLUJ Law Review, 53 (2016)
  • ‘Issues in Combating Transnational Corruption’ (India Chapter), Harvard Law and International Development Society (2015) (co-authored).
  • PhD (Law), Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge (2020-2024)
  • MPhil (Law), Exeter College, University of Oxford (2019-2020)
  • LLM, Yale Law School (2017-18)
  • BA LLB, National Law School of India University, Bangalore (2012-17)
  • Executive Director, Cambridge Pro Bono Project (2021-2023).
  • Bonavero Institute Fellow, British Institute of International and Comparative Law (2020).
  • Articles Editor, Yale Journal of International Law (2018).
  • Visiting Scholar, Melbourne Law School (2018).
  • Resident Fellow, Yale Information Society Project (2018).
  • Member, Yale Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic (2018).
  • Judicial Assistant, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud (2017).
  • Judicial Assistant, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat (2016).
  • Editor-in-Chief, Indian Journal of Law and Technology (2016).
  • Editor, National Law School of India Review (2016).
  • Intern, Attorney General for India (2015).
  • Cambridge International Scholarship (2020-2024)
  • Oxford Law Faculty Graduate Scholarship (2019-20)
  • Best Article Prize, Indian Law Review (Taylor & Francis) (2020)
  • Yale Fox International Fellowship (2018-2019)
  • Inlaks Scholarship (2017-18)
  • Lloyd N. Cutler Scholarship (2017-2018)
  • Best Outgoing Student Prize, NLS, Bangalore (2017)
  • Gold Medal in Procedural Laws, NLS Bangalore (2017)
  • H.M. Seervai Medal in Constitutional Law (2015)
  • S.B. Nariman Scholarship (2016)

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For more information please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7910 8300 or [email protected]

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