Law firms

AZB & Partners Mumbai senior associate Monika Bhonsale has been promoted to the firm’s partnership, according to a press release from the firm.

Start-up law firm MNSA Legal - founded in May 2015 - has tied up with a global law firm network younger than itself - Cathay Associates - in an exclusive referral arrangement in a bid to attract more Chinese and European work.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) has opened an office in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) special economic zone (SEZ), after SEZ rules had recently seen a liberalisation that allows legal services providers to operate from there.

McDonald’s India has approached the Delhi high court seeking to enforce a 13 September London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) partial award to appoint experts to value and sell estranged former managing director Vikram Bakshi's stake in the North and Eastern India local franchise of the fast food giant, reported Mint, the Economic Times and others.

Desai & Diwanji partner Shyam Pandya has joined as an associate partner of Economic Laws Practice (ELP) in its corporate, commercial, private equity and venture capital team in Mumbai, according to a press release from the firm.

RDA Legal has shut down and its founder, NUJS 2006 alumnus Rohit Das, is now focusing solely on counsel practice.

At a smaller meeting called by the commerce ministry on 1 September with legal industry stakeholders, including Society of Indian Law Firms (Silf), the Indian National Bar Association (INBA) and Bar Association of India (BAOI), the three Silf members present reiterated their position that foreign law firms, if they were to enter India, shouldn't be allowed to hire Indian lawyers.

One of Link Legal India Law Services’ most senior partners, Anand Srivastava, has been sponsored by the firm to take a sabbatical for a year from partnership duties to pursue an LLM in the US, in a bid to specialise in disputes.

"Budget-hotel tech company Treebo has raised Series C funding of $34 million led by Hong-Kong based investment firms Ward Ferry Management and Karst Peak Capital. Existing investors SAIF Partners, Bertelsmann India Investments and Matrix Partners also participated in the round," reported Your Story.

Bangalore-headquartered law firm Universal Legal and Mumbai firm IC Legal have merged into IC Universal Legal Advocates & Solicitors, to become a seven-office firm of more than 100 fee-earners, including 15 partners.

"Edtech platform Unacademy has raised series-B funding of $11.5 million (approximately Rs 73.6 crore) led by Sequoia India and SAIF Partners. Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures also participated in the round," reported the Economic Times.

T&T Law managing partner Rohit Tandon is back in jail, having surrendered to the authorities on 6 September after his short interim bail on compassionate grounds was not extended by the Supreme Court.

IndusLaw added former K Law associate partner M Arun Kumar as a partner in its Hyderabad office, to bolster the firm's local real estate and infrastructure practice.

"B9 Beverages Pvt. Ltd has raised around $8 million from venture capital fund Sequoia Capital India Advisors, said Ankur Jain, founder of the company that sells the popular Bira 91 craft beer. With the latest round of funding from Sequoia Capital, B9 Beverages has so far raised around $30 million," reported Mint.

Link Legal India Law Services corporate partner Harish Kumar - who had joined in July 2016 - has left the firm and is in the process of setting up new law firm HSK Legal, according to his Linked-in profile.

Realty Major DLF Limited has entered into an agreement to sell a stake of 33.34% in its rental arm, DLF Cyber City Developers Limited (DCCDL) to Reco Diamond Private Limited, an affiliate of the Singapore sovereign wealth fund, GIC Group, in a multi-stage transaction for an aggregate value of US$ 1.9 billion, as reported by VCCircle and Business Standard.