What we do

Practice Areas

Constitutional Law Civil Law Commercial Law Taxation Administrative and Regulatory Law Banking and Finance Corporate and M&A Labour and Employment Technology, Media and Telecoms Energy and Natural Resources Insurance and Takaful Customs and International Trade Construction and Infrastructure Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights Competition Law

Select a practice area to read more.

Constitutional Law

Constitutional litigation is where the firm made its name. Its lawyers acted in Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif v. President of Pakistan, which restored a dismissed Prime Minister, and in the defence of the 8th and 21st Constitutional Amendments. Today the team brings and defends constitutional petitions before the High Courts, the Federal Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, challenging the validity of laws, taxes and levies.

What we do

Constitutional petitions before the High Courts
Federal Constitutional Court and Supreme Court proceedings
Challenges to the validity of laws, taxes and levies
Fundamental rights
Interim protection against coercive action
Constitutional appeals and reviews

Selected work

Oil and gas: the Federal Constitutional Court held that super tax cannot take oil and gas producers above the tax ceilings in their petroleum concession agreements (PKR 100 billion).

Private clients: the Federal Constitutional Court struck down Section 7E, the tax on deemed rental income, as unconstitutional, for more than 200 individuals.

Capital markets: a constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court resolving conflicting court orders over a pledge of 57.8 million shares (PKR 3.9 billion).

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif v. President of Pakistan: the restoration of a dismissed Prime Minister by the Supreme Court.

Civil Law

The civil practice handles suits, injunctions and appeals from the trial courts and Banking Courts through the High Courts to the Supreme Court. It brings and defends recovery and money suits, enforces decrees through execution and auction, and acts in property and contractual disputes for companies, banks and individuals.

What we do

Civil suits and injunctions
Recovery and money suits
Execution of decrees and auctions
Property and real estate disputes
Contractual disputes
Civil appeals and revisions

Selected work

Banking: execution of a PKR 1.77 billion money decree for a state-owned bank, with the bank’s security now being realised.

Banking: a recovery suit for about PKR 1.2 billion against two ship-breaking partnerships, and the defence of their counter-suit.

Commercial Law

The commercial practice is a first port of call for leading banks, insurers, industrial groups and multinationals when the stakes are high. It handles commercial litigation, domestic and international arbitration and the enforcement of foreign awards and judgments in Pakistan, with particular experience of construction, infrastructure and energy disputes.

What we do

Commercial litigation
Domestic and international arbitration
Enforcement of foreign awards and judgments
Construction and infrastructure (FIDIC) disputes
Energy and oil and gas disputes
Shareholder and joint venture disputes

Selected work

Oil and gas: settled a USD 14 million EPC arbitration over a gas processing facility, with the contractor withdrawing all claims and accepting liquidated damages.

Infrastructure: advice to an international contractor on a FIDIC contract dispute and arbitration strategy (PKR 81 billion).

Commodities: recognition and enforcement in Pakistan of a foreign arbitral award for a multinational agribusiness (USD 2 million).

Taxation

The tax practice acts for multinationals, industry associations, state-owned enterprises and high-net-worth individuals. Its work centres on constitutional challenges to federal and provincial taxes and levies, alongside income tax, sales tax, customs and excise disputes, before tax tribunals, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees, the High Courts of Sindh, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar, and the Federal Constitutional Court.

What we do

Constitutional challenges to taxes and levies
Income tax and super tax
Federal and provincial sales tax
Customs and federal excise
Protection against coercive recovery
Workers’ Welfare Fund and WPPF disputes
Tax advisory opinions

Selected work

Oil and gas: the Federal Constitutional Court held that super tax cannot take oil and gas producers above the tax ceilings in their petroleum concession agreements (PKR 100 billion).

Private clients: the Federal Constitutional Court struck down Section 7E, the tax on deemed rental income, as unconstitutional, for more than 200 individuals.

Insurance: interim protection from the Federal Constitutional Court for 30 insurers against provincial sales tax on insurance (over PKR 15 billion).

Automotive: the Sindh High Court allowed 38 customs references, confirming that CKD kit components are exempt from Additional Customs Duty.

Administrative and Regulatory Law

The firm represents companies before Pakistan’s regulators and in judicial review of their decisions, including the Competition Commission of Pakistan, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan. It advises on licensing and compliance and takes regulatory disputes through appellate tribunals to the High Courts and the Federal Constitutional Court.

What we do

Competition Commission and Competition Appellate Tribunal
Power sector regulation (NEPRA)
Oil and gas regulation (OGRA)
Telecoms regulation (PTA)
Securities and banking regulation (SECP and SBP)
Judicial review of regulatory and administrative decisions
Licensing and compliance

Selected work

Banking regulation: successfully defended the central bank’s approval of one bank’s acquisition of another against a challenge by minority shareholders (about PKR 12 billion).

Telecommunications: before the Federal Constitutional Court for a mobile operator on a Competition Commission show cause notice (PKR 500 million).

Industry: the Sindh High Court held that the levy on captive power plants could not be charged retrospectively and ordered refunds or credits, for about 60 industrial companies (about PKR 2 billion).

Consumer goods: an appeal for a multinational before the Competition Appellate Tribunal against an order of the Competition Commission of Pakistan.

Banking and Finance

The banking and finance practice acts for the State Bank of Pakistan and leading commercial and Islamic banks in high-value recovery, enforcement and regulatory litigation, from the Banking Courts and the High Court of Sindh to the Supreme Court. The team brings and defends recovery suits, enforces money decrees, and negotiates settlements, including Shariah-compliant settlements of Ijarah, Istisna and Diminishing Musharakah facilities.

What we do

Recovery suits for financial institutions
Execution of decrees and auctions
Defence of claims against banks
Islamic finance disputes
Central bank and regulatory litigation
Settlements and compromise decrees
Enforcement of foreign judgments

Selected work

Banking regulation: successfully defended the central bank’s approval of one bank’s acquisition of another against a challenge by minority shareholders (about PKR 12 billion).

Commercial and Islamic banks: recovery suits against a petroleum marketing company in the Sindh High Court, concluded by court-approved compromise decrees.

Islamic banking: recovery under Diminishing Musharakah facilities, through a Shariah-compliant settlement and a decree of about PKR 1.9 billion.

Foreign judgments: for a secured creditor bank, intervention in the execution of an English High Court judgment in the Sindh High Court, asserting its priority (USD 9.5 million).

Corporate and M&A

Alongside its litigation practice, the firm has built a dedicated corporate and transactional team. It advises domestic business groups, multinationals, listed companies and international investors on strategic investments, joint ventures, reorganisations, shareholder arrangements, corporate governance, regulatory compliance and domestic and cross-border M&A, drawing on detailed knowledge of Pakistan’s regulatory and licensing framework.

What we do

Domestic and cross-border M&A
Joint ventures and strategic investments
Schemes of arrangement, mergers and de-mergers
Shareholder arrangements
Corporate governance and compliance
Regulatory and licensing advice
Commercial contracts

Selected work

Textiles: the restructuring of eleven entities of a leading textile group through a scheme of arrangement before the Sindh High Court (PKR 500 million).

Warehousing: a family restructuring including the de-merger of a group’s storage business (about PKR 1.5 billion).

Conglomerates: principal legal counsel to the twelve companies of a diversified business group on joint ventures, construction, distribution and procurement contracts and governance.

Pharmaceuticals and technology: ongoing corporate, transactional and regulatory advice to a leading pharmaceutical company and a large software company.

Labour and Employment

The labour and employment practice acts for major commercial banks, the State Bank of Pakistan, telecom companies and state-owned enterprises in employment, pension and industrial relations disputes. It appears before the Federal Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the High Courts, the National Industrial Relations Commission, Labour Courts and specialist tribunals, and advises employers on labour-law exposure across their workforce.

What we do

Pension and retirement benefits litigation
Regularisation claims by outsourced workers
Termination and retrenchment disputes
Trade unions and industrial relations
Social security, EOBI and Workers’ Welfare Fund
Labour law advisory

Selected work

Banking: the Sindh High Court dismissed petitions by outsourced workers seeking regularisation as employees of a state-owned bank (PKR 550 million).

Trans-provincial employers: a landmark ruling that the Sindh Workers’ Welfare Fund Act does not apply to establishments operating across provinces.

Banking: represented a state-owned bank and its President before the Supreme Court in pension proceedings concerning more than 6,000 former employees.

Banking: injunctions for two banks against social security demands and a 25% pre-deposit requirement.

Technology, Media and Telecoms

The firm has carried its dispute resolution strength into technology, media and telecommunications, acting for some of Pakistan’s largest telecom operators and for multinationals entering the Pakistani market. It offers regulatory, dispute resolution, advisory and corporate services across the sector.

What we do

Telecom regulatory disputes and PTA appeals
Licensing and licence renewal
Regulatory dues and levies
Quality-of-service enforcement
Interconnection disputes
Competition Commission proceedings
Data security and customer privacy

Selected work

Telecommunications: an injunction from the Sindh High Court for a mobile operator against regulatory demands for live access to its Network Management System, on security and customer privacy grounds.

Telecommunications: before the Federal Constitutional Court for a mobile operator on a Competition Commission show cause notice (PKR 500 million).

Telecommunications: an appeal in the Sindh High Court against a USD 30.2 million regulatory penalty linked to a licence renewal.

Energy and Natural Resources

The firm acts for oil and gas producers, refiners, power generators and electricity utilities, and for the industrial users who depend on them. Its work runs from exploration and production and refining to independent power and electricity supply, and to the levies and cesses charged on energy, before the Federal Constitutional Court, the High Courts, tax forums and arbitral tribunals.

What we do

Oil and gas exploration and production
Refining and petroleum marketing
Independent power producers and electricity supply
Fiscal terms of petroleum concessions
Gas Infrastructure Development Cess and energy levies
EPC and energy project disputes
Protection of Key Point Installations

Selected work

Oil refining: suits over construction within the protected perimeter of a refinery designated a Key Point Installation, which it needed to keep clear for a mandated upgrade (PKR 1.08 billion).

Power: a challenge to the higher withholding tax on dividends from a CPEC coal power project, imposed on only a few power producers.

Electricity distribution: sales tax references on whether extra sales tax on electricity supplied to unregistered consumers falls due when billed or when paid (PKR 360 million).

Oil and gas: succeeded in the Islamabad High Court for two exploration companies on the depletion allowance for income tax, and now defending the appeals in the Supreme Court.

Insurance and Takaful

The firm acts for the Insurance Association of Pakistan and for life, general and family takaful companies in the most significant litigation facing the industry: whether the provinces may tax insurance as a “service” after the Eighteenth Amendment. These cases run in parallel before the Lahore, Sindh and Peshawar High Courts and the Federal Constitutional Court, alongside income tax and regulatory disputes for individual insurers.

What we do

Constitutional challenges to provincial sales tax on insurance
Life, general and family takaful companies
Industry-wide cases through the Insurance Association of Pakistan
Protection against coercive recovery
Income tax disputes for insurers
Workers’ Welfare Fund and social security contributions

Selected work

Insurance industry: seven appeals for the industry association and 30 insurers, now before the Federal Constitutional Court, on whether the provinces can levy sales tax on insurance premiums.

Life insurance and takaful: proceedings in the Lahore High Court against Punjab Revenue Authority notices seeking about PKR 30 billion, issued while an interim order was in force.

Life insurance and takaful: a constitutional challenge for six insurers in the Peshawar High Court to sales tax on insurance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

General insurance: income tax references in the Sindh High Court contending that an insurer falls outside the minimum tax regime.

Customs and International Trade

The customs and trade practice acts for manufacturers, importers and foreign exporters in disputes over the classification, valuation and duty treatment of imported goods, seizures and re-exports, and levies on goods moving through Pakistan. It appears before the Customs Appellate Tribunal, the High Court of Sindh and the Supreme Court, and in commercial disputes arising from cross-border supply contracts.

What we do

Tariff classification and valuation
Additional customs duty and regulatory duty
Seizure, confiscation and re-export
Customs references and appeals
Special Economic Zone exemptions
Infrastructure cess and import levies
Cross-border supply disputes

Selected work

Automotive: the Sindh High Court allowed 38 customs references, confirming that CKD kit components are exempt from Additional Customs Duty.

Food and beverages: a special customs reference in the Sindh High Court on the tariff classification of consignments that together made up a food processing unit (PKR 359 million).

Technology: the Sindh High Court stopped Customs from auctioning a seized consignment and allowed the importer to argue for re-export of the restricted goods.

Manufacturing: interim relief from the Supreme Court allowing imports to continue, against security, without payment of the Sindh Infrastructure Cess (an estimated USD 3–4 billion).

Construction and Infrastructure

The firm advises contractors, project owners and employers on major infrastructure and construction projects, from the contract through to the dispute. Its work covers FIDIC and EPC contracts, extension of time, variation and delay claims, Dispute Board decisions and performance security, and the arbitration and litigation of construction claims.

What we do

FIDIC and EPC contracts
Extension of time, variation and delay claims
Dispute Boards and arbitration
Performance guarantees and security
Turnkey construction and commissioning contracts
Fit-out and building disputes

Selected work

Infrastructure: disputes for an international contractor under a major bulk water supply project and other FIDIC contracts (PKR 81 billion).

Oil and gas: settled a USD 14 million EPC arbitration over a gas processing facility, with the contractor withdrawing all claims and accepting liquidated damages.

Conglomerates: primary counsel to the twelve companies of a diversified group, including on turnkey construction and commissioning contracts.

Food service: defending a restaurant chain against a contractor’s claims over the fit-out of its head office, on delay, overbilling and defective work (PKR 60 million).

Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights

The firm advises companies, family groups and lenders when businesses are reorganised or come under financial strain. It takes schemes of arrangement, mergers and de-mergers through the High Court of Sindh, and acts for banks in inter-creditor disputes, challenges to debt restructurings and contests over priority between secured creditors.

What we do

Schemes of arrangement before the High Court
Mergers, de-mergers and group reorganisations
Corporate debt restructuring
Inter-creditor and lender disputes
Secured creditor priority and enforcement
Shareholder challenges to restructurings

Selected work

Warehousing: the de-merger of a family-owned group’s storage business, with assets and liabilities passing to a sister company, now before the High Court of Sindh (about PKR 1.5 billion).

Technology: a scheme of arrangement sanctioned by the Sindh High Court.

Islamic banking: defeated two attempts, by another lender and by a minority shareholder, to block the restructuring of a steel manufacturer’s debts; both suits were withdrawn, one with costs.

Banking: asserting a secured creditor’s priority over a petroleum marketing company’s assets against the execution of an English High Court judgment (USD 9.5 million).

Competition Law

The firm defends companies in proceedings before the Competition Commission of Pakistan and on appeal to the Competition Appellate Tribunal and the superior courts, including findings of prohibited agreements and the penalties that follow. It also advises on the competition aspects of mergers and group reorganisations.

What we do

Prohibited agreement and cartel investigations
Show cause proceedings before the Competition Commission
Appeals to the Competition Appellate Tribunal
Constitutional challenges in competition matters
Competition advice on mergers and reorganisations

Selected work

Steel: an appeal to the Competition Appellate Tribunal against a finding of a prohibited agreement with a competitor, and the penalty that followed (PKR 850 million).

Fertiliser: an appeal to the Competition Appellate Tribunal against a finding that fertiliser companies had entered into a prohibited agreement.

Telecommunications: before the Federal Constitutional Court for a mobile operator on a Competition Commission show cause notice (PKR 500 million).

Consumer goods: an appeal for a multinational before the Competition Appellate Tribunal against an order of the Competition Commission of Pakistan.