The Team

Partners

from the beginning

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Paul Ratnayeke

Senior Partner

Biography

Paul, the founder of Paul Ratnayeke Associates took the preliminary steps towards pursuing his interests in law by obtaining Honours in Bachelor of Laws at the University of Ceylon (Colombo) and was awarded an Master of Laws degree from the University of London.

Paul was admitted and enrolled as an Attorney-at-law at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1979 followed by the admission and enrollment as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in England and Wales.

He has held Directorships in several companies including public quoted companies, in some of which he has been appointed as a Chairman/Deputy Chairman.

Bar Admissions and Professional Qualifications

  • Attorney-at-Law
  • Solicitor of the Supreme Court in England and Wales
  • Qualified Company Secretary registered at the Registrar of Companies

Education

  • Sri Lanka Law College
  • LL.B (Hons) from the University of Ceylon (Colombo)
  • LL.M from the University of London

Areas of Practice

  • Corporate and Commercial
  • Banking and Finance
  • Employment
  • Aviation/Shipping
  • Insurance
  • M&A/Joint Ventures
  • Corporate restructuring/Project and energy
  • Taxation
  • Intellectual Property
  • Foreign Investment

Email

Phone Number

Nilanthi Pieris

Partner

Biography

Nilanthi has more than three decades of experience as an Attorney-at-law, where she was admitted in 1987, and practice at the Bar, she also joined as a Partner and has been serving the firm since 2002, counting for a period of over twenty years.

She was appointed for the post of Assistant Secretary at the Bar from 1997 to 1999 as well as several other positions.

Nilanthi was appointed to the board as an Independent, Non-Executive Director. She was chairperson of the Related Party Transactions Review Committee and sat at the Audit Committee and Senior Tender Board. Nilanthi was also the Director at SLT Human Capital Solutions (Pvt) limited.

Bar Admissions and Professional Qualifications

  • Attorney-at-Law
  • Notary Public
  • Commissioner for Oaths

Education

  • Sri Lanka Law College

Areas of Practice

  • Civil Appeals- District Court
  • Writ Applications- Court of Appeal
  • Fundamental Rights applications- Supreme Court

Email

Phone Number

Tharini Gunasekera

Associate Partner

Biography

Tharini became part of the firm as an associate lawyer in 2011 and later was appointed as an Associate Partner in 2012. She was admitted to practice as an Attorney-at-law in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 2011.

She is also a registered Notary Public, Commissioner for Oaths, Intellectual Property agent and is a qualified Company Secretary registered at the Registrar of Companies.

Bar Admissions and Professional Qualifications

  • Attorney-at-Law
  • Notary Public
  • Commissioner for Oaths
  • Qualified Company Secretary registered at the Registrar of Companies
  • Intellectual Property Agent

Education

  • Sri Lanka Law College
  • LL.B from the University of London
  • LL.M from the University of Colombo
  • MBA from the University of Northampton

Areas of Practice

  • Corporate Restructuring/ Projects
  • Mergers & Acquisitions/ Joint Ventures
  • Employment
  • Conveyancing
  • Company secretarial
  • Intellectual Property

Email

Phone Number

Hashini Epa

Associate Partner

Biography

Hashini had been admitted to the Bar as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in the year 2010 where she started her legal practice in the Private Bar. She joined Paul Ratnayeke Associates in 2012, where she is currently a partner and supervises the Litigation Department. She makes court appearances for both civil and criminal litigation.

As of 2022, Hashini has successfully completed 11 years of practice as an Attorney-at-Law and is also a Notary Public.

Bar Admissions and Professional Qualifications

  • Attorney-at-Law
  • Notary Public

Education

  • Sri Lanka Law College
  • LL.M in Commercial Law from the University of Colombo
  • LL.M in International Arbitration from University of West London

Email

Phone Number

Areas of Practice

  • Civil and Criminal litigation
  • Family law
  • Testamentary law
  • Partition Actions
  • Land Law
  • Defamation, Rent and Eviction actions
  • Hire purchase Actions
  • Labour Law, injunctions
  • Writ applications
  • Fundamental Applications
  • Money recovery actions
  • Commercial Law

Bar Admissions and Professional Qualifications

  • Attorney-at-Law
  • Notary Public

Education

  • Sri Lanka Law College
  • LL.M in Commercial Law from the University of Colombo
  • LL.M in International Arbitration from University of West London

Areas of Practice

  • Civil and Criminal litigation
  • Family law
  • Testamentary law
  • Partition Actions
  • Land Law
  • Defamation, Rent and Eviction actions
  • Hire purchase Actions
  • Labour Law, injunctions
  • Writ applications
  • Fundamental Applications
  • Money recovery actions
  • Commercial Law

Email

Phone Number

Melanie de Alwis

Associate Partner

Biography

Melanie began her career under the apprenticeship of the President’s Counsel- Mr Rohan Sahabandu and worked under his guidance as a Junior Counsel from January 2002 to March 2004 and thereafter joined Paul Ratnayeke Associates in March 2004, where she eventually became a partner in 2014.

Melanie is a licensed practitioner in the Appellate Courts whose main area of practice is Civil Litigation at the District Courts, Commercial High Court, Civil Appellate High Courts, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and Labour Tribunals. As part of her services, she deals with instructing Counsel in Litigation and Arbitrations, appearing in Courts and advising clients regarding litigation. Her clients include prominent Sri Lankan corporate companies such as Softlogic Finance PLC and Agstar Fertilizers PLC as well foreign companies such as Megalifesciences Ltd and Rohde Nielsen A/S.

Bar Admissions and Professional Qualifications

  • Attorney-at-Law
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Business, Finance and Insurance Law from the Institutes of Advanced Legal Studies of the Sri Lanka Law College.

Education

  • Sri Lanka Law College.

Areas of Practice

  • Civil Appeals- District Court
  • Writ Applications- Court of Appeal
  • Fundamental Rights applications- Supreme Court

Email

Phone Number

Learn All About Our Attorneys

Associate Partners

Brian Lewis

Associate

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0123 - 456 - 780

brian@legit.com

Chas R. Walker

Associate

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0123 - 456 - 780

brian@legit.com

Brian Lewis

Associate

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0123 - 456 - 780

brian@legit.com

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Practice Areas

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