Ms Rashna Imam > Akhtar Imam & Associates > Dhaka, Bangladesh > Lawyer Profile

Ms Rashna Imam

+8801714136071 rashna.imam@akhtarimam.com

Work Department

Corporate and Commercial Law, Foreign Investment, Litigation (Company and Constitutional), Commercial Arbitration, Labour and Employment, Bangking, Finance, Microfinance and Securities, Education, Telecommunication, Advertisng.

Position

Managing Partner

Career

Professional Qualifications:
2003, Barrister-at-Law, Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, UK
2005, Enrolled as an Advocate by the Bangladesh Bar Council 2003
2010, Enrolled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh

Fellowships / Positions held:
Fellow, Class of 2018, Asia 21 Young Leader
International Fellow, Global Programme for Women’s Leadership (GPWL) 2019
Co-Founder, Academy of Law and Policy (ALAP)
Co-Editor of LCLR (Legal Circle Law Reports), a leading quarterly law report in Bangladesh 
Former Corporate Associate, Baker & Mckenzie, London Office
Former Member of Baker & McKenzie’s India Focus Group
Former Instructor, Company Law, Bar Vocational Course, Bangladesh Bar Council

Profile:
Before joining the firm, Rashna gained expertise as a corporate associate at Baker & McKenzie (London Office) through advising Arcelor Mittal and Schneider Electric on M&A and post-acquisition integration. At the firm, her specializations include corporate and finance, foreign investment and dispute resolution. She advised different entities of Visa Inc. on establishment of a liaison office, payments systems and mobile financial services, British American Tobacco Bangladesh on the scope of trade promotional activities in view of anti-tobacco laws, Department of International Development (DFID), Bangladesh on establishing a Credit Information Bureau for microfinance, Ernst & Young (E & Y) on foreign exchange control laws and closure of branch office and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), the apex trade organisation in Bangladesh, proposed reform of the Companies Act 1994 to create an enabling business environment in Bangladesh and improve Bangladesh’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Rankings. 

She regularly represents her clients before the Supreme Court in judicial review proceedings against decisions of public bodies, in company litigation and in commercial arbitrations under different rules of arbitration (ICC, UNCITRAL, FOSFA, GAFTA, Arbitration Act 2001 of Bangladesh, etc.). She is currently representing ABB India Limited (a leading engineering multinational), as junior counsel in international commercial arbitration proceedings against Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB), the sole, government-owned, electric power transmission organization in Bangladesh, challenging imposition by PGCB of liquidated damages on ABB for alleged contractual violation. The contract was for erection, and commissioning of power substations across Bangladesh. She is also representing the Exclusive General Sales Agent of Gulf Air in Bangladesh in enforcement proceedings by GF of ICC award against the GSA and in litigation arising out of arbitration before the Supreme Court. 

She has made inroads in establishing and enforcing health rights in Bangladesh through public interest litigation (PIL) and advocacy. Her landmark cases in this regard include PIL for establishment of a legal framework for emergency medical servces for road accident victims and protection of good Samaritans, and PIL for formulation of guidelines for prevention of medically unnecessary C-sections, both of which she filed on behalf of the leading NGO, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and the case leading to the judgment directing reform of the Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Act 1999.

Her stellar work through PIL earned her two international recognition/fellowships: Asia 21 Young Leader (2018) and Global Programme for Women’s Leadership (2019).

Languages

English (Highly proficient), Bengali (Native), Hindi (Spoken)

Memberships

Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, UK
Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association
Dhaka Bar Association

Education

Academic Qualifications:
2002, LLB, University of Buckingham, UK
2003, LLM, University of Buckingham, UK
2007, BCL, University of Oxford, UK

Academic Honours:
First Class Honours,  LLB
Good Performance Prize, LLB Finals
Best Performance Prize in Land Law, LLB
Best Performance Prize in Intellectual Property Law, LLB
Merit-based International Students Scholarship, LLB and LLM