Seth Dua & Associates ramped up its partnership with former HSA Advocates partner Salman Waris, former Vaish Associates principal associate Gautam Chopra and independent competition law practitioner VK Aggarwal.

Aggarwal will head the competition and consumer law practice at the firm. Waris will head the firm’s technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) and intellectual property (IP) practices, and Chopra will head the firm’s tax and international trade practices, according to a press release.

Waris and Chopra will fill the gap left by former partner Rahul Goel, who joined Dhir & Dhir Associates two weeks ago.

Seth Dua co-founding partner Atul Dua, who had previously headed tax at the firm, said: “I actually looked after all these practice areas. I was getting old so, we thought of [bringing in] fresh partners. We needed more specialist people, and also there was no partner with me for tax for a long time.”

He told Legally India he had not worked with the three new partners before but had known Aggarwal for the last 25 years.

Waris graduated as a lawyer from Aligarh Muslim University in 2003, and obtained an LLM in 2004 from the University of Essex, also specialising in media and communications laws, information technology law, and e-commerce law via the University of Oxford's Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy.

He worked at Suri & Co in 2003, at FoxMandal Little from July 2005 to December 2011 – where he was made partner in January 2010, and was with HSA Advocates since January 2012. He said:  “I felt it was a good gel because [Seth Dua's] established TMT practice is rated one of the best and I myself also have a reasonable client following... ” He added that he would aim to leverage the firm's network, provide a better specialised service to his clients and build up the firm's IP practice. 

HSA Advocates managing partner Hemant Sahai commented: “We wish Salman all the best in his future endeavours.”

Chopra who qualified as a company secretary in 1998 and as a chartered accountant in 2001, was a manager with Ernst & Young from 2002 to 2006 and with KPMG from 2008 to 2009 when he joined Khaitan & Co as a senior associate.

Chopra left Khaitan for Vaish Associates in Gurgaon as a principal associate in 2010.

Aggarwal enrolled as an advocate in December 1987, and worked as a law officer in the now-defunct Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) until October 1993 when he started practicing independently.

He practiced before the MRTPC, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. He has also appeared before the Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal.

Seth Dua & Associates partnership now comprises of six partners and two associate partners, beside senior partners Sunil Seth and Atul Dua. The news was first reported by legal website Bar & Bench.