“We were planning to do lots of things together for a long time,” said Pande. “Our concern is to build strong quality clientele and practice.”

“We are getting a few references from our well-wishers and friends, so right now we are pretty busy with certain assignments, but obviously going forward we have to do marketing and to generate work.”

Pande and Prakash, who both graduated Delhi University’s Law Centre II in 2005 and completed LLM degrees in London in 2006 (respectively at University of East Anglia and Queen Mary, University of London), have opened two offices in Noida’s sector 63 and Greater Kailash (GK) with three associates late last month.

Pande, who started his career at FoxMandal Little (as it was then called) in Noida, joining SRGR when it broke away in December 2009 eventually becoming IP head at the firm, is heading up the corporate practice in Noida with one lawyer and a company secretary.

Prakash, who was most recently senior manager legal at Videocon Telecommunications for nearly two years after beginning his career at Anand & Anand, is heading up the IP practice from GK with one associate. The GK office, which would function as the hub of the IP practice and a place to meet clients centrally, were provided to the firm by Prakash’s relative.

Both founding partners own half the equity in the firm but they said that they hoped to induct more equity partners in other practice areas in the coming years.

Commenting on Pande’s departure, SRGR co-founding partner Ravi Bishnoi said: “We wish him all the best.”