Integrity and Trust

Erriah Chambers was set up in 2002 in response to the demand for Mauritius-based lawyers with international exposure and specialised expertise. Head of Erriah Chambers, Dev Erriah, gives us an insight into how they operate in such a competitive market.

Erriah Chambers acts as a legal adviser and legal consultant to various banks internationally. More than 80% of the chamber’s practice involves advising international clients, multinational enterprises, international law firms, and the top ten accountant firms, and management companies, domestic and international banks. Their lawyers have experience in such fields as international finance, banking law, shipping law, project finance, corporate and commercial law, litigation and debts recovery.

Dev Erriah describes the company values that are part of Erriah Chambers, as well as the approach the company takes to making clients satisfied. ‘At Erriah Chambers, we have a wide client-base which includes individuals, companies and trusts. Our core values are integrity and trust, the encouragement of innovation, teamwork, and the continuing personal development of everyone at the firm.

‘We adopt a systematic approach when undertaking a new project. Firstly, we define the goal of the project which eventually will enable us to devise a strategy and advise accordingly. Secondly, we set a deadline for the project and identify factors or events that are calling for that date. Finally, and most importantly, we communicate regularly with our clients in a professional manner and welcome their feedback in order to improve our service.’

According to Dev, Erriah Chambers has had to adapt to changes in the industry in order to meet the demand of their international clients.

‘The forecast of the industry is extremely different today compared with how it looked just a couple of years ago, when the fundamentals of the oil industry were controlled by cartels. Global economic weakness, more viable alternative forms of energy have all combined to dramatically curtail the need for oil. Our business has not been particularly affected in the sense that we advise and assist foreign companies to use Mauritius as a platform through our global business companies to invest in, inter alia, gas and oil in Africa while taking advantage of the benefits allocated by our laws to global business companies.

‘Mauritius is establishing itself as the main platform to do business in Africa. Our geographical position means that we are a link between Asia and Africa, and investors have not hesitated to use our platform by taking on board all the tax incentives that our laws provide to them. That considerable demand for the Mauritian jurisdiction means that law firms, like ours, have had to partner with foreign law firms and join continental or worldwide legal networks in recent years.

‘We always adapt to changes in our industry. Right now, the change is about the way the legal business is going about like I mentioned above. Two years ago, we have joined the extensive network of LexAfrica, which is an alliance of leading law firms in around 20 African countries, so that we can meet the demands of our international clients.’

As a final thought, Dev outlines the firms plans to expand their business in the future. ‘Our main ambition is to continue expanding, and to stay among the leading law firms of the country because we believe that competent law firms are essential to attract business and investment in a developing country like ours. We expect oil prices to remain low for the near future, although it would not surprise us if volatility returns.’

‘Our philosophy is to put our clients in the absolute best position possible to achieve the result that they want,’ Dev says. ‘We believe that being thoroughly prepared is crucial.’

Company: Erriah Chambers
Name: Dev R. Erriah
Email: [email protected] , [email protected]
Web Address: www.erriahchambers.com
Address: Level 2, Hennessy Court, Cnr of Pope Hennessy & Suffren Streets, Port Louis 11325
Telephone: (230) 2082220