Conflict Resolution | Strategic Litigation | Thought Leadership
Justice K. Kannan
Conflicts are best resolved before they become battles.
Only when resolution through dialogue is not possible can we move to litigation that advances justice.
Why Madhyastham?
Madhyastham brings dispute resolution, strategic litigation and thought leadership on law reform into one practice, built on decades on the Bench and at the Bar. Dispute resolution runs predominantly online, so it can begin the moment a matter is raised, without waiting on a hearing date.
Practice Areas
Justice Kannan practises across areas, from resolving disputes through party negotiation to arguing questions of law before the Supreme Court and other Constitutional Courts.
Conflict Resolution
Most disputes are better resolved through dialogue than decided by a judgment. Justice K. Kannan works with parties through mediation, arbitration, negotiation strategy and online dispute resolution. His practice covers commercial and shareholder disputes, as well as matters settled before litigation begins. The aim is a resolution both sides can accept and sustain, guided by a trained mediator and former Judge.
Explore Conflict Resolution →Strategic Litigation
Some matters reach beyond the parties involved. Justice K. Kannan takes up select cases that raise questions of public importance, whether social or professional. These range from reservation, minority rights and social justice to professional ethics in law and medicine, education, and personal law reform. The outcome of each can influence how the law is applied in cases that follow.
Explore Strategic Litigation →Supreme Court Practice
Justice K. Kannan appears and argues select matters before the Supreme Court of India and the constitutional courts. He settles pleadings, written opinions and special leave petitions in matters of importance. Corporates, individuals and instructing counsel from outside Delhi rely on his judgment at the stages where it counts. A junior prepares the groundwork under his supervision.
Explore Supreme Court Practice →Not sure which applies to your situation?
Areas of Expertise organises the practice by the problem you are facing.
Six Books. Ten Classics. One Body of Work.
Justice K. Kannan has authored six books and, for over twenty years, revised ten of India's most established legal texts across medical jurisprudence, succession, criminal law and administrative law.
Medicine and Law: Exploring Areas of Intersection (2nd ed., 2025)
Oxford University Press and Thomson Reuters
A study of law and medicine where they meet —
consent, reproductive rights, telemedicine and
passive euthanasia.
Wills and Succession · Landlord and Tenant
Halsbury's Laws of India, LexisNexis
Two titles in the Halsbury's series, tracing succession law
and the law of tenures through the governing statutes
and the case law that shapes them.
As revising editor since 2005, his work includes Modi's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, Paruck's Indian Succession Act, and the Ratanlal & Dhirajlal commentaries on the Penal Code, Evidence Act and Criminal Procedure Code.
Explore Publications →Ideas Beyond the Courtroom
Justice K. Kannan writes and speaks on the questions shaping Indian law and public life. His
writing spans the Uniform Civil Code, the Cauvery water dispute, reservation, and the effort to
mainstream mediation as a tool of dispute resolution.
Law Reform Centre
Research papers, and proposals on emerging issues from AI and digital evidence to healthcare regulation.
Visit the Law Reform Centre →Knowledge Hub
A searchable library of articles, case notes, and talks, organised by topic: inheritance, medical law, arbitration, mediation.
Browse the Knowledge Hub →Signature Projects
Larger public initiatives underway, from reforming mediation law to widening access to justice.
See Signature Projects →
Judge. Advocate. Mediator. Reformer.
Justice K. Kannan enrolled as an advocate in 1977 and was designated Senior Counsel in 2008. He served as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court from 2008 to 2016, and then as head of the Railway Claims Tribunal in New Delhi. In practice, he advised leading institutions, teaming as a partner with Shri. R. Yashod Vardhan, a Senior Counsel of high standing. He trained in mediation as a JAMS Fellow, with further study at UCLA, Harvard and Stanford. His work today draws mediation, advocacy and scholarship into a single approach: to listen before advising, and to understand before judging.
Read His Full Profile →