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LKS opens in Kolkata with ex-Amarchand Niloy Pyne for 30 headcount target

Pyne: Cal calling
Pyne: Cal calling

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (LKS) is opening an office in Kolkata under former Amarchand Mangaldas partner Niloy Pyne, who left in July 2012 to practice independently.

LKS Delhi joint partner Badri Naryanan confirmed on Monday that the firm was opening in Kolkata but declined to comment further at the time of going to press.

The office is slated for opening within two weeks.

Pyne, who graduated as a lawyer from Delhi University in 1988, was a partner-in-charge at Paras Kuhad & Associates Kolkata from 2006 to 2008, at Khaitan & Partners Kolkata from 2008 to 2010 and a partner at Amarchand Kolkata from 2010 to 2012.

He said: “[We will] rely on the tremendous goodwill and expertise of the firm, in particular Mr Lakshmikumaran, in the field of taxation, and try to use the firm’s substantial expertise in other fields such as corporate, sports and intellectual property as well.”

He added that a small team was lined up to start the firm’s office, which he would aim to have an initial size of around 10 to 12 lawyers.

“For the time being, if you look at all the firms in Kolkata none of them have a strength of more than 40. So the Kolkata market for the time being should not cater to more than 20 or 30 lawyers [in a law firm], even keeping the East and the North East in mind.”

“For Kolkata, 30 is just perfect,” Pyne said about the firm’s possible size in five years.

Last year LKS opened a second office in Delhi and an office in Pune in April, hired former Bharti Enterprises general counsel Vijaya Sampath, and moved to a bigger Bangalore office in June 2012. In May 2013, it promoted litigation practice head Anil Dutt to partner, and hiked fresher base pay to Rs 7.2 lakh.

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