Advocate’s professional fees adjustable against compensation

In Prem Singh v. C.S. Rathore, the Delhi High Court affirmed a decree that both awarded the client recovery of ₹60,000 and allowed the advocate’s counter‑claim for professional fees of ₹36,000 adjustable against that amount. The Court held that an advocate is entitled to agreed professional fees to be adjusted against compensation, recognising the enforceability of fee arrangements while still protecting clients from overreach.^[5]

Binding Heads of Terms and arbitral claims

In Conscient Infrastructure (P) Ltd. v. Mahesh Kapoor, the High Court held that the Heads of Terms (HoT) prima facie constituted a binding commercial arrangement adequate to disclose a bona fide arbitral claim. It ruled that questions of enforceability and specific performance of the HoT are matters for the arbitral tribunal, signalling a pro‑arbitration stance that favours referral of disputes to arbitration where a credible written arrangement exists.^[5]