Gita Chakravarty
- Called: 2010
- gitachakravarty@fivepaper.com
Profile
Gita specialises in commercial and insolvency law and has been a member of Five Paper since October 2012.
Gita recently acted as junior counsel, to Rachel Sleeman in the widely reported Blavo litigation, successfully representing the Lord Chancellor in the £22m claim against Blavo & Co Solicitors and John Blavo – Lord Chancellor v Blavo and Co Solictors Ltd [2018] EWHC 3556 (QB).
Description of Practice
Insolvency and asset recovery
Gita specialises in corporate and personal insolvency.Gita regularly appears in contested insolvency applications and advises trustees, liquidators, debtors, companies and third parties affected by insolvency. Examples include applications to annul bankruptcy orders, directors’ misfeasance claims and applications relating to voidable transactions.
Gita accepts instructions to appear on applications for freezing injunctions and has experience both of making without notice applications and applications to discharge freezing injunctions on return dates.
Civil Fraud
Gita has advised on and drafted proceedings in relation to fraud, particularly in the context of invoice discounting agreements, general commercial agreements, and company law matters.
Notably, Gita successfully concluded a mediation regarding a high-level invoice fraud committed by a former employee on a well-known food supplier.
Gita has advised on a number of invoice redirection frauds, including advising a bank on its liability in respect of a fraud and, separately, a company on its liability for a second payment in respect of a debt fraudulently redirected by a third party.
Gita has advised a factoring company on the likelihood of recovering a second payment from a debtor fraudulently advised by a supplier to direct payment to it in breach of an invoice discounting agreement and has previously advised on ‘fresh air’ invoices.
Company law
Gita is experienced in shareholder disputes including complex unfair prejudice petitions and urgent injunctions. Gita is frequently instructed in relation to director disputes including the removal and appointment of directors and recovery of assets.
Property
Gita has significant experience of working with lenders, from banks to private lenders, on diverse issues including high-value mortgage possession claims, land registration and priorities. She also has experience of claims against valuers arising out of mortgage lending.
Gita is particularly well placed to advise on issues that cross between insolvency and property disputes.
Banking and finance
Gita has knowledge and experience of all stages of bringing and defending guarantees claims. She has in-depth knowledge of various claims arising from factoring and invoice discounting agreements.
Alternative dispute resolution
Gita advises on ADR whenever appropriate and is experienced in mediation advocacy.
Direct Public Access
Gita is qualified to conduct public access work and is particularly interested in company law and insolvency disputes. Further information can be obtained from Chambers’ clerks.
Other Experience
In 2016, Gita was seconded in-house at the specialist commercial and insolvency firm, Francis Wilks and Jones. In particular, Gita worked on matters relating to banking and finance, guarantees and invoice discounting.
Prior to joining Chambers, Gita was a stagiaire at the European Commission in Brussels where she worked on legislative proposals for European Working Time law.
Gita worked in the legal department of Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited between 2007-2010.
Gita is committed to pro bono work and regularly appears on a pro bono basis for the Bar Pro Bono Unit and the Chancery Bar Litigant in Person Scheme (CLIPS).
Qualifications
The College of Law – Bar Vocational Course. Very Competent
The College of Law – Graduate Diploma in Law. Commendation
The University of Warwick – BA (Hons) English and German. First Class with distinction
Universität Konstanz, Germany – German, history and literature
Scholarships and Prizes
International Grant Programme for the English-Cypriot Bar conference, COMBAR
Queen Mother Major Scholarship, Middle Temple
Blackstone Entrance Exhibition, Middle Temple
First prize, The Zoe Russell Award for German language, The University of Warwick
First prize, The Frankfurt Prize for Translation, The University of Warwick
Languages
Fluent German
Fluent Danish
Basic French
Professional Memberships
The Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR)
The Chancery Bar Association
The London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association (LCLCBA)
R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals