•  •  Dark Mode

Your Interests & Preferences

I am a...

law firm lawyer
in-house company lawyer
litigation lawyer
law student
aspiring student
other

Website Look & Feel

 •  •  Dark Mode
Blog Layout

Save preferences

Verus promotes Charles De Souza but loses friend & partner Jay Parikh (possibly to SAM) [UPDATE-1]

De Souza
De Souza

Verus Advocates has promoted disputes partner Charles De Souza to its partnership, as one of its senior partners Jay Parikh has left the firm.

De Souza specialises in corporate-commercial disputes, banking litigation and arbitration and had joined Verus in 2011 from Bharucha & Partners.

“We have seen a surge in our disputes practice across our offices,” commented founding partner Krishnayan Sen, with Sen and partner Rishad A Chowdhury having qualified as Supreme Court advocates-on-record and the firm having scored several major litigation mandates in recent years.

The firm will also be in a larger office space from Monday, 4 May, opposite Mantralay near the Bombay High Court on Maharshi Karve Road.

Verus now has 25 fee-earners, including five partners.

Parikh moves on

Meanwhile, partner Jay Parikh has left the firm. He had joined Verus in 2012 with Dipankar Bandyopadhyay from Bharucha & Partners, where both were senior associates.

Parikh
Parikh

Bandyopadhyay will take over leading the corporate practice of the firm from Parikh.

Sen commented that Parikh “has decided to move on to another firm effective 1 June 2015”.

He added: “Jay has been a great partner, a caring senior and a true friend. His departure will create a void which will be difficult to fill; and its sad that we lost him to, what I understand, a big-law firm… We wish him all the very best in his new role; and he will continue to carry a bit of Verus with him, wherever he goes.”

Parikh commented: “It was an exhilarating 3 years after founding Verus. I am taking some time off to think what next. I will always wish Verus well.”

Update 19:51: According to two authoritative sources, Parikh is in advanced stages of discussions to join Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi managing partner Shardul Shroff’s new Mumbai firm, which is expected to be set up after mediations end with Shardul Shroff’s brother and current co-managing partner Cyril Shroff. However, Parikh declined to comment when asked whether he would join Shardul Shroff. We have reached out to Shardul Shroff for comment.

Sen said that Verus’ corporate practice had grown well last year, with the help of partner Siddharth Bhavnani who joined from Dua Associates late last year and had acted for Focal Energy on a solar power project in Madhya Pradesh. Other transactions of the firm included a Rs 1,300 crore debt restructuring opposite Trilegal, advising HDFC mutual fund on a large bond issue by Adani Ports, a large residential real estate transaction in Mumbai, said Sen.

Click to show 38 comments
at your own risk
(alt+c)
By reading the comments you agree that they are the (often anonymous) personal views and opinions of readers, which may be biased and unreliable, and for which Legally India therefore has no liability. If you believe a comment is inappropriate, please click 'Report to LI' below the comment and we will review it as soon as practicable.