Law firms

Two corporate partners at L&L Partners have given their notice to resign ahead of today’s court hearing following at least two days of mediation.

The law firm Singh & Associates, which has been on a lateral hiring spree this year, has been raided by the government’s Income Tax Department (ITD) yesterday as part of a raid on its founding partner Manoj K Singh.

19:27: Apologies for the slight delay in updates. The order is out and has told the parties to mediate with Sriram Panchu tomorrow (Saturday 17 October) or by Sunday (18 October) at the latest, but without granting any stay orders to Saraf (which puts him in the position where he is locked out of his firm email and Luthra has notified all clients that they can’t work with him, even on ongoing matters).

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has hired Bhoumick Vaidya, partner at Mumbai solicitors firm Kanga & Co, in as a partner with his team of five.

L&L Partners managing partner Rajiv Luthra has written an email to clients notifying them that senior partner Mohit Saraf was “no longer authorised” to act on behalf of the firm. The email follows the removal of Saraf’s name from L&L’s website and the posting of armed guards outside the doors of the firm’s corporate office in Delhi.

Senior partner Mohit Saraf, who holds a 33.4% equity stake in L&L Partners, has internally announced that managing partner Rajiv Luthra has effectively “retired” and “withdrawn” from L&L Partners and that Saraf would “reconstitute” the firm without him. This latest shot in the war of words follows managing partner Rajiv Luthra’s previously telegraphed announcement that he had Khaitan & Co has announced that all 49 law school graduates whom it had made campus offers to over the past years, would join the firm on 12 October 2020.

L&L Partners senior partner Mohit Saraf has accused managing partner Rajiv Luthra of “misconduct and subterfuge”, “malafide actions” and breaching “fiduciary duties”, in his response to a public 24 hour deadline sent by Luthra in an email on Sunday evening.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has internally announced that the firm “hoped” that staff would “start coming back to work gradually, in a staggered manner” from 19 October.

The managing partner and 66.6% majority equity holder at L&L Partners, Rajiv Luthra, has made an offer to the firm that he would be willing to dilute his equity unilaterally and without the agreement or dilution of 33.4% co-partner Mohit Saraf under a 1999 deed, if the latter does not respond by 6pm today.

Algo Legal has laterally added another partner, Abhinav Bhalaik from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas - alongside Nishith Desai Associates' Richie Sancheti.

Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) investment funds head, Richie Sancheti, who had been with the firm for 13 years, is due to join Algo Legal, we reliably understand.