Three dual-qualified lawyers, who set up their own London law firm Candey Parker Solicitors and Advocates a year ago with with four other lawyers and a chartered accountant, launched an India practice on Friday with a new office in the heart of London’s prestigious City financial district.

Abhijit Khandeparker, Ravindra Kumar and Parvez Khan had set up the practice as directors in a limited liability company in April 2011, predominantly targeting Indian corporates on commercial advice and transactions.

Khandeparker, a 2002 Goa University LLB graduate who obtained a masters in business laws (MBL) from NLSIU Bangalore in 2004, was a senior associate at London commercial firm Morgan Walker, which went into liquidation in 2011.

Kumar, a 2001 CLC Delhi University alumnus, specialised in international arbitration and worked as an attorney in the India practice group at the London office of US-headquartered firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw & Pittman, after stints at a number of Mumbai firms and Singhania & Co in London.

Khan practised with a number of independent advocates in Mumbai and later qualified in England and Wales before setting up Candey Parker.

They said that after one year of functioning as an English practice mostly advising Indian banks in the UK, they moved into a new 1,200 square foot office on Friday (12 April) in Ludgate Circus – an address opposite the office of 4,000-lawyer global firm Baker & McKenzie and in the heart of the UK capital’s financial district, the City of London.

Coinciding with their new office the directors are now also formally launching the India practice group.

Dividing attentions

Around three quarters of Candey Parker’s revenues were generated from Indian corporates, whom they primarily advised on English law, but they hoped to also service a greater number UK and European clients on Indian law going forward.

English practice head Khandeparker said: “There is a big Indian community in London and in the UK. The Indian community would always have the comfort of dealing with Indian lawyers. We are offering the same quality of service at a better price […] and the clients get what they want.”

India practice head Kumar told Legally India that he intended to rely mostly on referrals from India, and would look to set up offices in Mumbai and Delhi in the coming months.

Be there, or square

“The City, in London, is within the Square Mile. If [a firm is] based somewhere outside that [square mile], the client does not see you as a serious city practice,” remarked Khandeparker.

Kumar said that Singhania & Co, the only other Indian law firm catering to Indian corporates in the UK, was situated outside the city closer to Westminster.

However, the location added considerably to overheads that also include indemnity insurance, local council rates, taxes, and amenities, as well as the salaries of nine attorneys and one chartered accountant.

Profits are shared between the founders as proportionate to the revenues they individually bring in. “Presently, the profit division is based on a carve-out where we’ve got allocation for the person who refers the work, the partner who supervises the work, the associates who work on the appointment, and expenses of the firm,” explained Khandeparker.

Photo by Gavin