Chakrapani is a qualified lawyer enrolled with the Bar Council of India.

Prior to joining Fichte and Co in 2022, he was practising as a trial court lawyer, handling all kinds of Civil and Commercial disputes before the District and Commercial Courts of India. Chakrapani’s work comprised a mix of litigation, arbitration, and pre-litigation legal advising.

His specialization is in international maritime and insurance laws. He represented clients in litigation and arbitration involving carriage of goods by sea, H&M insurance, ship building, cargo damage claims, ship arrests, etc.

Before taking to advocacy, Chakrapani worked as an in-house legal advisor (2010 – 2014) for a major corporate shipping company in India, advising them on claims, litigation, and non-litigation matters. As a result, Chakrapani is adept at strategizing claims at the outset and advising clients on the legal implications and risk assessments associated with such claims.

Interestingly, before the change of career to law, Chakrapani had a seafaring career with rank experience as a Chief Engineer on foreign merchant ships. He has worked (1997 – 2009) for reputed international shipping companies for about 13 years on their tankers and LPG carriers. With domain experience working in the maritime industry, it puts him at natural ease and advantage, both with clients and lawyers alike, in understanding and handling complex technical claims and disputes arising from engineering, maritime, insurance, oil and energy contracts. By virtue of his seafaring experience, Chakrapani is widely experienced in interactions and negotiations with ship owners, P&I Clubs, Flag State authorities, Port State Control, Classification Societies, Port authorities, etc. He is also well versed with Surveys, P&I Inspections, Dry-Dockings, Ship Buildings and Repairs, Marine Accident Investigations, etc. In this regard, he advises clients and counsels as an Expert on the factual and evidentiary value of the technical reports.

Chakrapani studied LLM (International Maritime Laws and Arbitration) (2009-2010) from Swansea University (UK). Furthermore he is a Member of the Institute of Marine Engineers (India),  the Nautical Institute and the Institute of Engineers (India).
AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

• Shipping (Dry and Wet)
• Insurance (H&M and P&I)
• Arbitration
• Engineering Contractual Disputes