Practice Expertise
- Dispute Resolution
- Insurance
- Infrastructure & Project Finance
- Maritime, Shipping & Transport
Areas of Practice
- Dispute Resolution
- Insurance
- Infrastructure & Project Finance
- Maritime, Shipping & Transport
- Employment View More
WSG Practice Industries
WSG Leadership
- Dispute Resolution Group - Member
- Employment and Labor Group - Member
- Intellectual Property Group - Member
Profile
Mevan is a litigator and practices in the firm's dispute resolution practice. He advises and represents clients in arbitration, before the DIFC Courts and ADGM Courts and advises on on-shore litigation matters.
Mevan's practice focuses on commercial/contractual disputes, high-value construction disputes, shareholder disputes, company disputes, bankruptcy and restructuring, maritime and shipping, insurance, employment, banking disputes and investment disputes. Mevan also assists clients in structuring joint ventures, franchises, distributorship and registered agencies.
Much of his work involves cross-border elements, and he has represented clients in arbitrations seated in London, Dubai, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Mevan is a Legal 500 EMEA recognised practitioner. Clients' comments include: "Mevan Bandara is charming, massively hard-working, and very clever.", "I worked extensively with Mevan Bandara. Mevan's approach to the situation and guidance really stood out. His approach was to provide solutions to my matter by giving an objective path, rather than to get the business by giving partial one-sided advice. I also valued his in-depth knowledge in financial matters which helped a lot in forming the strategy.", "Mevan Bandara is prompt and available at short notice. He will work towards providing a holistic solution to the client."
Prior to joining Afridi & Angell in 2016, Mevan was in the private bar of Sri Lanka and was employed as a Counsel at one of the leading law firms in Sri Lanka, whilst simultaneously practicing in the Law Chambers of Mr Justice Prasanna Jayawardena, President's Counsel. He was also a visiting lecturer in Business Law at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and an examiner at the Sri Lanka Law College. Mevan was a recipient of the Australian DEEWR (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations) scholarship.
Mevan's practice focuses on commercial/contractual disputes, high-value construction disputes, shareholder disputes, company disputes, bankruptcy and restructuring, maritime and shipping, insurance, employment, banking disputes and investment disputes. Mevan also assists clients in structuring joint ventures, franchises, distributorship and registered agencies.
Much of his work involves cross-border elements, and he has represented clients in arbitrations seated in London, Dubai, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Mevan is a Legal 500 EMEA recognised practitioner. Clients' comments include: "Mevan Bandara is charming, massively hard-working, and very clever.", "I worked extensively with Mevan Bandara. Mevan's approach to the situation and guidance really stood out. His approach was to provide solutions to my matter by giving an objective path, rather than to get the business by giving partial one-sided advice. I also valued his in-depth knowledge in financial matters which helped a lot in forming the strategy.", "Mevan Bandara is prompt and available at short notice. He will work towards providing a holistic solution to the client."
Prior to joining Afridi & Angell in 2016, Mevan was in the private bar of Sri Lanka and was employed as a Counsel at one of the leading law firms in Sri Lanka, whilst simultaneously practicing in the Law Chambers of Mr Justice Prasanna Jayawardena, President's Counsel. He was also a visiting lecturer in Business Law at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and an examiner at the Sri Lanka Law College. Mevan was a recipient of the Australian DEEWR (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations) scholarship.
Bar Admissions
- Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, called to the Bar in 2011
Education
- LL.B. (Hons.) University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2010
Areas of Practice
- Dispute Resolution
- Insurance
- Infrastructure & Project Finance
- Maritime, Shipping & Transport
- Employment
Professional Career
Professional Associations
- Speaker, New Year's Legal Update: Litigation 2.0 - what you need to know about major changes in litigation in the UAE on-shore Courts, Afridi & Angell webinar, 6 February 2023, Dubai
- Speaker, Understanding UAE Corporate Tax Law, TiE Dubai, 28 April 2022
- Speaker, The New Arbitration Law, the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (UAE Chapter), 13 February 2019, Dubai
- Speaker, Federal law No. 6 of 2018 - The New Arbitration Law, seminar organised by Afridi & Angell, 27 June 2018, Dubai
- Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
- DIFC Courts - Part I
- Speaker, New Year's Legal Update: Litigation 2.0 - what you need to know about major changes in litigation in the UAE on-shore Courts, Afridi & Angell webinar, 6 February 2023, Dubai
- Speaker, Understanding UAE Corporate Tax Law, TiE Dubai, 28 April 2022
- Speaker, The New Arbitration Law, the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (UAE Chapter), 13 February 2019, Dubai
- Speaker, Federal law No. 6 of 2018 - The New Arbitration Law, seminar organised by Afridi & Angell, 27 June 2018, Dubai
Articles
Real Estate Dispute: Dubai Court of Cassation Clarifies Conditional Contracts and Manager Liability
By Mevan Bandara |October 2025UAE Introduces New Humanitarian and Sector-Specific Visa Categories
By Mevan Bandara |September 2025UAE Increases Regulation of Influencers and Finfluencers: New Rules for Violations and Penalties of Media Content
By Mevan Bandara |July 2025
- Co-author of the UAE chapter of Arbitration, Lexology Panoramic, 2024
- Co-author of the UAE chapter of Arrest of Vessels, Maritime Law Handbook, 2024, Kluwer Law International
- DIFC Court of Appeal to revisit its jurisdiction to grant freezing orders in support of foreign proceedings, Afridi & Angell Client Alert, 03 April 2024
- New Maritime Law in the UAE, Afridi & Angell Client Alert, 17 November 2023
- Termination of employment in the UAE - can an employer terminate an employee's employment at will? Afridi & Angell inBrief, 31 October 2023
- DIFC Courts to oversee disputes in all Free Zones?, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 20 October 2023
- Recent Amendments to the Arbitration Law, Afridi & Angell Client Alert, 13 October 2023
- New Commercial Transactions Law: Amendment to the Period of Limitation, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 11 October 2023
- Corporate Criminal Liability in the UAE, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 21 February, 2023
- Termination of a Commercial Agency Contract under the (New) Commercial Agency Law, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 30 January 2023
- Are appeals to the court of appeal a matter of right under the new Civil Procedure Law?, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 9 January 2023
- UAE Federal Decree-Law 47 of 2022 on Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 16 December 2022
- Dispute the Changes, Lexis Middle East Law Alert, March / April 2022
- Co-author of Attachment of Assets, Juris Publishing, 2021
- Co-author of the UAE chapter of Banking and Finance, Chambers Global Practice Guide, 2022
- Should you continue to include DIFC-LCIA arbitration clauses or EMAC arbitration clauses in your agreement? Dubai Decree No. 34 of 2021 concerning the Dubai International Arbitration Centre ("Decree"), Afridi & Angell Legal Alert, 27 September 2021
- Yes, its groundbreaking, but what does it mean for you? A rough guide to the implications of Decree 34 for parties in arbitration in Dubai, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 26 September 2021
- Do you have an on-going DIFC-LCIA arbitration? If so, you should tread carefully: Dubai Decree No. 34 of 2021 Concerning the Dubai International Arbitration Centre ("Decree"), Afridi & Angell inBrief, 23 September 2021
- Co-author of Arbitration procedures and practice in United Arab Emirates: overview, Practical Law Global Guide (Thomson Reuters), 2021
- Co-author of the UAE chapter of Shipping, Lexology Getting The Deal Through, 2021
- Co-author of Arbitration procedures and practice in United Arab Emirates: overview, Practical Law Global Guide (Thomson Reuters), 2020
- Co-author of Litigation and Enforcement in the United Arab Emirates, 2019, Thomson Reuters Practical Law Global Guide
- A closer look at Payment Orders under the UAE Civil Procedure Law, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 11 June 2019
- Assessing the Impact of the New UAE Arbitration Law, Lexis Middle East Law, 20 July 2018
- The UAE Federal Arbitration Law: A First Look, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 17 May 2018
- Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes can no longer mediate disputes when a bank is a party to such dispute, Afridi & Angell inBrief, May 2017
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