Prishika Raj

Prishika Raj has extensive experience in commercial and regulatory litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and class action lawsuits, particularly in matters involving securities and financial market regulation.

Prishika joined the firm after earning an LL.M. from New York University School of Law. Before attending NYU, Prishika was a lawyer for the Government of Australia in matters involving securities, taxation, customs and border protection, and the protection of government information. She was a member of the teams that pursued actions against several banks over the alleged manipulation of interbank swap rates, and that secured a major settlement against an Australian bank under anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation.

Prishika’s international law experience includes developing and drafting legislation to execute Australia’s accession to the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements as a Legal Officer at the Australian Attorney-General’s Department. She has served on a committee of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and as a delegate to its working group on investor-state dispute resolution.

Notable Cases

• Visa Inc. in multidistrict antitrust class actions brought by thousands of U.S. merchants.
• Air India Ltd. in its defense against declaratory proceedings in relation to arbitral awards issued against the Republic of India, and proceedings to confirm an arbitral award under the Federal Arbitration Act/NY Convention.
• HSBC U.S. Bank as trustee and various other bank trustees in RMBS putback matters involving millions of dollars of breach of contract claims.
• A large real estate development corporation in its defense against fraud claims brought by lenders.
• PetSmart in a covenants dispute with lenders regarding $8 billion in debt obligations.
• An investment fund in seeking discovery for use in Spanish proceedings in the Southern District of New York and District Court of Rhode Island.
• A former director of large U.S. corporation in breach of fiduciary duty proceedings.
• Pro Bono clients, including a wrongfully convicted client in proceedings against New York State for compensation for unjust conviction, including discovery, deposition preparation, briefing summary judgment motions, and arguing motions in the Court of Claims; a freelance event planner in claiming damages for breach of contract under New York Freelance Isn’t Free Act; and various indigent clients seeking no-fault divorces and child support in conjunction with Her Justice. Prishika also drafted and filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press and other media organizations in support of Kesha Rose Sebert in defamation proceedings in the First Department.

Writings

• “Access to Justice in the ASEAN the Key Role of UNCITRAL,” Incheon Digest (2015) (co-author)
• “Implementation of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements in Australia: Tensions and Challenges,” presented on the Future of Global Contract Law and Australia Panel at the UN Commission on International Trade Law Australia Conference (2015)