Sabrina Nanchahal
Barrister
Call 2019
Sabrina’s practice covers the full range of commercial litigation, arbitration and advisory work. She has experience in complex, high-value disputes, often with international elements. She works as part of counsel teams of various sizes, and has appeared as sole counsel in High Court and County Court proceedings.
Sabrina’s current and recent instructions include:
- SKAT v Solo Capital Partners LLP (in administration) and Ors: Acting (with Laurence Rabinowitz KC, Charles Graham KC, Jamie Goldsmith KC and others) for the Danish Tax and Customs Administration in its DKK 12 billion (c. £1.5 billion) fraud claim. The case featured in The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases” for 2024 and has been described by Foxton J as “one of the largest and most complex pieces of litigation to be heard in the Commercial Court”.
- ICC Arbitration: Acting (with Daniel Toledano KC, Nicholas Sloboda and Tamara Kagan) for the investors in a US$ multi-billion dispute with a State and national electricity company arising out of the construction of a power station.
- ICC Arbitration: Acting (with David Cavender KC and Alexander Brown) for the claimants in a dispute with their consortium partners in the context of a state-tender for a first-of-its-kind licence offered to the private sector.
- LCIA Arbitration: Acting (with Simon Colton KC) in a SPA dispute concerning a ‘right of first offer’ provision. Sabrina (with Simon Colton KC) has also appeared in a related application in the Commercial Court seeking a declaration that a ‘Partial Final Award’ was only an order not an award, and, in the alternative, a claim for remission of the Partial Final Award for reconsideration under s. 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996: YDU v SAB, BYH [2022] EWHC 3304 (Comm).
- BRG NOAL GP S.à r.l. & Anor v (1) Stefan Kowski & (2) Bastian Lueken [2022] EWHC 867 (Ch): acted for the successful second defendant (led by Daniel Hubbard) resisting interim prohibitory and mandatory injunctions sought by the claimant Luxembourg entities, inter alia, on the basis that England was not the appropriate forum for the dispute.
- Conocophillips v AkerBP: acted for the defendant (led by Sa’ad Hossain QC and Nicholas Sloboda) in a gas price review dispute.
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Examples of Recent Cases
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Agency
- UNCITRAL arbitration
Assisted Charles Graham QC, Alexander Brown and Daniel Fletcher (during pupillage) in defending claims totalling over £50 million under the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 and for breach of contract or alternatively, in unjust enrichment.
- UNCITRAL arbitration
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Arbitration
- ICC Arbitration: Acting (with Daniel Toledano KC, Nicholas Sloboda and Tamara Kagan) for the investors in a US$ multi-billion dispute with a State and national electricity company arising out of the construction of a power station.
- ICC Arbitration: Acting (with David Cavender KC and Alexander Brown) for the claimants in a dispute with their consortium partners in the context of a state-tender for a first-of-its-kind licence offered to the private sector.
- LCIA Arbitration: Acting (with Simon Colton KC) in a SPA dispute concerning a ‘right of first offer’ provision. Sabrina (with Simon Colton KC) has also appeared in a related application in the Commercial Court seeking a declaration that a ‘Partial Final Award’ was only an order not an award, and, in the alternative, a claim for remission of the Partial Final Award for reconsideration under s. 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996: YDU v SAB, BYH [2022] EWHC 3304 (Comm).
- LCIA arbitration
Assisted Stephen Housemann QC and Nicholas Sloboda (during pupillage) acting for a note trustee seeking to enforce loan participation notes for over US$335 million against a bank. - UNCITRAL arbitration
Assisted Charles Graham QC, Alexander Brown and Daniel Fletcher (during pupillage) in defending claims totalling over £50 million under the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 and for breach of contract or alternatively, in unjust enrichment.
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Banking and Finance
- LCIA arbitration
Assisted Stephen Housemann QC and Nicholas Sloboda (during pupillage) acting for a note trustee seeking to enforce loan participation notes for over US$335 million against a bank.
- LCIA arbitration
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Civil Fraud and Economic Torts
- SKAT v Solo Capital Partners LLP (in administration) and Ors: Acting (with Laurence Rabinowitz KC, Charles Graham KC, Jamie Goldsmith KC and others) for the Danish Tax and Customs Administration in its DKK 12 billion (c. £1.5 billion) fraud claim. The case featured in The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases” for 2024 and has been described by Foxton J as “one of the largest and most complex pieces of litigation to be heard in the Commercial Court”.
- HMRC v General Electric
Assisted Laurence Rabinowitz QC, Nicholas Sloboda and others (during pupillage) in a dispute concerned with the rescission of a settlement agreement for alleged fraudulent misrepresentation. - PIFSS v EFG and 37 other defendants
Assisted Camilla Bingham QC and Eleanor Campbell (during pupillage) acting for EFG in relation to claims in fraud by the claimant for more than US$330 million.
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Commercial Litigation
- SKAT v Solo Capital Partners LLP (in administration) and Ors: Acting (with Laurence Rabinowitz KC, Charles Graham KC, Jamie Goldsmith KC and others) for the Danish Tax and Customs Administration in its DKK 12 billion (c. £1.5 billion) fraud claim. The case featured in The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases” for 2024 and has been described by Foxton J as “one of the largest and most complex pieces of litigation to be heard in the Commercial Court”.
- HMRC v General Electric
Assisted Laurence Rabinowitz QC, Nicholas Sloboda and others (during pupillage) in a dispute concerned with the rescission of a settlement agreement for alleged fraudulent misrepresentation. - Tower Crane Asset Management Holdings Ltd v YorPower Ltd
Assisted Eleanor Campbell (during pupillage) defending a claim relating to allegedly non-compliant diesel generators. - TRW Systems Ltd & ors v Kemet
Assisted Eleanor Campbell (during pupillage) with a claim relating to allegedly defective car components.
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Energy and Natural Resources
- Conocophillips v AkerBP
Acted for the defendant (led by Sa’ad Hossain QC and Nicholas Sloboda) in a gas price review dispute. - ICC Arbitration: Acting (with Daniel Toledano KC, Nicholas Sloboda and Tamara Kagan) for the investors in a US$ multi-billion dispute with a State and national electricity company arising out of the construction of a power station.
- Conocophillips v AkerBP
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Group Actions
- Municipio De Mariana & ors v BHP
Assisted Charles Gibson QC, Daniel Toledano QC, Alexander Hutton QC, Shaheed Fatima QC, Nicholas Sloboda and others (during pupillage) acting for BHP in a US$5 billion claim by over 200,000 individual Brazilian claimants in respect of the collapse of the Fundão Dam in Brazil. - The VW Emissions group litigation
Assisted Charles Gibson QC, Prashant Popat QC, Nicholas Sloboda and others (during pupillage) acting for the Volkswagen Group in the ‘diesel-gate’ claim, brought under the largest ever Group Litigation Order (around 100,000 claimants).
- Municipio De Mariana & ors v BHP
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Injunctions and Interim Applications
- BRG NOAL GP S.à r.l. & Anor v (1) Stefan Kowski & (2) Bastian Lueken [2022] EWHC 867 (Ch)
Acted for the successful second defendant (led by Daniel Hubbard) resisting interim prohibitory and mandatory injunctions sought by the claimant Luxembourg entities, inter alia, on the basis that England was not the appropriate forum for the dispute. The judge also dismissed the claimants’ alternative application under section 25 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 for an injunction in support of proceedings they said they would bring in Luxembourg, and addressed (obiter) the correct test to be applied to the application for interim relief, which was essentially an anti-suit injunction. - Renova Industries Ltd & ors v Emmerson International Corporation & ors
Assisted Eleanor Campbell (during pupillage) with an application for security for costs in respect of service and jurisdiction challenge proceedings in the BVI commercial court under the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court CPR. - Ballacorey Wheat Ltd & another v Mr Brown & ors
Assisted Eleanor Campbell (during pupillage) with an application for security for costs in the High Court of the Isle of Man.
- BRG NOAL GP S.à r.l. & Anor v (1) Stefan Kowski & (2) Bastian Lueken [2022] EWHC 867 (Ch)
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Jurisdiction and Conflict of Laws
- BRG NOAL GP S.à r.l. & Anor v (1) Stefan Kowski & (2) Bastian Lueken [2022] EWHC 867 (Ch)
Acted for the successful second defendant (led by Daniel Hubbard) resisting interim prohibitory and mandatory injunctions sought by the claimant Luxembourg entities, inter alia, on the basis that England was not the appropriate forum for the dispute. The judge agreed with the defendants’ submissions that the governing law of the undertakings was Luxembourg law in accordance with Article 4(3) of the Rome I Regulation. - PIFSS v EFG and 37 other defendants
Assisted Camilla Bingham QC and Eleanor Campbell (during pupillage) acting for EFG in relation to claims in fraud, inter alia under Kuwaiti law, by the claimant for more than US$330 million. - ICC arbitration (London seat)
Acting for the investors (led by Daniel Toledano KC, Nicholas Sloboda and Tamara Kagan) in a US$ multi-billion dispute with a national electricity company and a State arising out of the construction of a power station. The claims are brought under foreign law.
- BRG NOAL GP S.à r.l. & Anor v (1) Stefan Kowski & (2) Bastian Lueken [2022] EWHC 867 (Ch)
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What the Directories Say
Chambers & Partners 2025 - “Sabrina Nanchahal is a pleasure to work with. Junior team members really love working with her and consider her part of the team rather than external counsel; is a very tenacious advocate and a trusted pair of hands; ”is absolutely brilliant. She is extremely sharp and will never miss a trick. She's probably the most advanced junior that I have ever worked with."
Legal 500 2025 (International Arbitration) - 'Sabrina is a brilliant mind, destined for Silk. She has a keen eye for detail, always across every document, and is able to think on her feet in court"
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Education
- University of Cambridge, LLM (First) [2019-2020]
- BPP Law School, Bar Professional Training Course [2018-2019]
- University of Cologne, Bachelor of Laws in English and German Law ("gut") [2016-2018] - Graduated first in class
- UCL, LLB English and German Law (First) [2014-2018]
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Academic Achievements
- Winner, Inter-Inn Mooting Competition [2019]
- Winner, Lincoln's Inn Inter-Provider Mooting Competition [2019]
- Lord Denning Scholarship, Lincoln's Inn [2018]
- Residential Scholarship, Lincoln's Inn [2018]
- Excellence Award, BPP Law School [2018]
- Advocacy Award, BPP Law School [2018]
- Bentham Prize for High Achievement, UCL [2018]
- John Frederic Whitehouse Essay Award, UCL [2018]
- Deutschlandstipendium (Germany scholarship), University of Cologne [2017]
- Winner, ELSA Germany Negotiation Competition [2017]
- Winner, ELSA Cologne Negotiation Competition [2017]
- Winner, UCL Slaughter and May Senior Moot [2016]
- E-fellows Scholarship [2015-2019]
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Languages
- German (fluent)
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Publications
- Sabrina Nanchahal “‘But We’ve Spent the Money’: Defending Overpaid Tax Claims under English and German Law” (2020) Oxford U Comparative L Forum 3 at ouclf.law.ox.ac.uk
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Previous Experience
- Presenter of Brown-Bag Seminar, Max-Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance [February 2019]
- Student Assistant, Institute for International Business Law, University of Cologne [2017-2018]
- Pro-bono, Refugee Law Clinic Cologne [2017-2018]