Gopal Subramanium has become a full tenant at Three Verulam Buildings (3VB).
London, UK – Today, Gopal Subramanium, former Solicitor General of India, has become a tenant at Three Verulam Buildings (3VB). He has been an Associate Member of the Chambers since 2013. Subramanium is a leading global lawyer and international arbitrator, one of India’s most celebrated lawyers, and an accomplished scholar in the fields of law, legal philosophy, jurisprudence, and human rights theory.
Between 2009 and 2011, Subramanium served as Solicitor General of India. During that time, he was also Chairman of the Bar Council of India, where he focused, among other matters, on strengthening and broadening legal education in the profession as well as building bridges between India's legal system and other countries, including the UK.
Having trained under former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, Subramanium was designated a Senior Advocate (the equivalent of a King's Counsel in the UK) suo-motu by the Supreme Court of India in 1993, one of the youngest in India’s history to receive the designation. From 2005 to 2009, he served as Additional Solicitor General of India.
In recognition of his work, he was awarded the National Law Day Award for Outstanding Jurist in 2009, presented to him by the President of India, for his consistent professional excellence and adherence to the highest traditions of the Bar.
Over recent years, he has intensified his professional, academic, and research work in the UK. In 2019, he was elected a Foundation Fellow at Somerville College, University of Oxford. This was followed, in 2021, by his induction into the Chancellor's Court of Benefactors at Oxford University by Lord Patten of Barnes.
In 2021, he was appointed an Honorary Fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), bringing an important international perspective to their academic work. Over the last 60 years, BIICL has provided informed, independent and practical legal ideas to global law communities.
In 2023, he was responsible for bringing together Somerville College, Oxford, and the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law to launch the Bingham Scholarship, which funds graduate-level academic study into law. The scholarship aims to encourage early career legal professionals to delve into a wider range of academic topics that hold a profound impact on the practice and study of law.
Alongside this legal activity, he has founded a multi-disciplinary study centre that provides vital research into mental health illnesses. The study centre hosts lectures from prominent global psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and healthcare practitioners into the challenges and issues facing the field. In 2023, he was made an Honorary Member of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford.
Over the last decade, Subramanium has paired his legal work in India with increasingly global activity. In 2015, he was appointed a Supplementary Judge at the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Tribunal. In 2018, he was elected an Honorary Master of the Bench at Gray’s Inn. In February 2020, he became the first Indian Senior Advocate to appear before the Singapore Court of Appeal. In 2021, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a Member of Gray’s Inn.
He has recently acted as lead counsel in several path-breaking corporate matters for multinational clients, including Amazon, Google, and Novartis, and over the course of his career, Subramanium has worked on matters of great public importance and significance, including:
- Acting as counsel to the Judicial Commission headed by Justice J.S. Verma to enquire into security lapses leading to the assassination of the former Prime Minister of India, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi.
- Acting as prosecuting counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India in the trial of persons accused of setting off a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai.
- Acting as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case involving a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.
- Serving on the JS Verma Commission in 2013, which recommended amendments to Indian laws to safeguard the safety and dignity of women and children.
David Quest KC, Joint Head of Chambers, said: “Gopal is a highly distinguished lawyer with enormous experience as a senior advocate. He has been a much-valued Associate Member at 3VB for many years, and we are now delighted to welcome him as a full member of Chambers in London. He will continue to expand his successful international arbitration practice across a range of disputes.”
Gopal Subramanium said: “It is an honour to join 3VB as a full member after having enjoyed my time so much as an Associate Member of the Chambers. I look forward to continuing to build my international arbitration practice and, given 3VB’s reputation as a first-class set for such matters, it seemed only a natural progression. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues within such a market-leading and pacesetting Chambers.”
For further information about Gopal’s practice, please contact the Senior Practice Managers Stuart Pullum (spullum@3vb.com) and Stephen Penson (spenson@3vb.com).