Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has promoted 16 to its partnership, and internally announced the promotion of ex-Cognizant Anand Bhushan as a partner to head up its Chennai office, as was first reported by us on 4 July.

Update 19:33: Shardul Amarchand’s press release has now arrived and it states that after the new promotions Shardul Amarchand is now 85 partners strong:

Executive chairman Shardul Shroff commented in the release: “After the establishment of the firm last year, the partner selection process has been made been participative and broad based. Several rounds of evaluation and discussion by the management board of the Firm were undertaken before such announcements. We are exploring both organic and inorganic growth opportunities as part of our growth strategy and the recent round of promotions recognizes our internal talent.”

Mumbai region managing partner Akshay Chudasama added in the press release: “The broad based selection of these young partners, by the partners of the firm and management board has been truly democratic. The strategic focus on quality rather than quantity is indeed inspiring new young partners inducted to the partnership of the firm.”

Delhi region managing partner Pallavi Shroff added in the statement: “The 16 initial internal promotions reflect our investment in our people and help us make the firm a stronger, dynamic and successful institution. We wish great success to our young partners in their careers.”

Only two of the 16 promotions were not in Delhi, as two corporate principal associates were elevated in Mumbai.

Corporate also made up the largest chunk of promotees, at 10, followed by three new dispute resolution partners in Delhi.

The new non-equity partners promoted today are:

Corporate Delhi

• Anu Susan Abraham
• Avnish Sharma
• Divi Datta
• Ekta Gupta
• Kanishk (NUJS Kolkata 2007, been at Amarchand since graduation)
• Natashaa Shroff (UCL, University of London, 2005)
• Promode Muruguvelu (NUJS Kolkata 2006, joined in 2010 from Tatva Legal)
• Pooja Ramchandani (ILS Law College 2002, employment law head, joined from Mulla & Mulla in 2004.)

Corporate Mumbai

• Anuj Bhasme (had joined from JSA)
• Roopal Kulsrestha (GLC Mumbai 2007, corporate, Mumbai, joined in June 2015 from JSA, )

Dispute resolution Delhi

• Akhil Anand
• Binsy Susan (NLIU Bhopal 2005, joined in 2009 from AZB)
• Ila Kapoor (LSE, London, 2000; Cambridge LLM 2001; joined in 2014 from Kelley Drye & Warren)

IP & tax Delhi

• Charu Mehta (intellectual property)
• Muzammil Husain (Bachelor in Technology, Electronics, Comms, Jamia Millia Islamia 1999; intellectual property; Jamia Millia Islamia, 2004 MBA; 2004 post grad diploma in IPR from Indian Law Institute; 2010 MMH College Delhi LLB, joined in 2006 from PatentMetrix)
• Sandeep Chilana (CLC Delhi University 2005, tax, joined in 2008 from Chilana & Chilana Associates)

Anand Bhushan now confirmed to head up Chennai

In an internal email to the firm, the firm’s chairman Shardul Shroff said: “We have great pleasure to also inform you that we have appointed Mr. GV Anand Bhushan as a partner and head of our Chennai office. Anand was the GC of Cognizant Technology Systems and was in charge of 70 lawyers across AsiaPac. He has already joined the firm on the 1 st of July and has immersed himself in the selection of our permanent office  and its planning and furnishings.

“We wish him loads of luck for his new task.”

Update 19:18: In a press release Bhushan commented: “We will be able to offer significant value to clients looking for solutions in corporate advisory, M&A, private equity, intellectual property, real estate and technology laws. The values and ethos of the firm resonates with my personal outlook and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the firm.”

Read our earlier story on Bhushan’s joining.

According to the press release:

After managing his own firm of Bhushan & Rajaram for 4 years, Anand joined Cognizant Technology Solutions as general counsel responsible for legal, compliance, Government affairs and as a member of the board of Cognizant APAC. He was honoured as the General Counsel of the Year 2014, as an innovation champion for introducing innovative leadership and processes by Cognizant as also further awarded for his outstanding contribution for the growth and development of Cognizant Technology Solutions. He was responsible for managing 70 lawyers over multiple verticals in APAC and North America.

Shardul Shroff, Executive Chairman, commented that “We are delighted that Anand is joining us after a more than 9 year stint in Cognizant. He brings with him tremendous knowledge of legal issues in the technology sector and special contracts besides his skills in managing a vast legal department. We look forward to him strengthening our Technology practice. I am confident he will be a big asset to the Firm.”

To be updated