Law firms

Kochhar & Co has sent a legal notice to the makers of Bollywood sequel The State vs Jolly LLB 2 on behalf of footwear empire Bata, asking them to remove and apologise for an allegedly disparaging trailer of the movie in which the reputation of Bata as a brand is allegedly damaged.

As first reported by us in October when battle lines were first being drawn, Desai & Diwanji is continuing to represent ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, who has now, via his company Cyrus Investments, filed in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Tata Sons, with Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas also having been roped in to advise the Tatas.

The Rs 13.56 crore reportedly recovered in a police raid from the office-cum-residence of T&T Law’s managing partner Rohit Tandon allegedly “belonged to” Kolkata-based businessman Parasmal Lodha, who according to News18 was detained “earlier” (no exact time was specified) at the Mumbai airport.

Delhi boutique indirect tax firm Nitya Tax Associates, which was started in June 2015 by ex-BMR Associates indirect tax head Puneet Bansal, has hired Shiva Nagesh from the DLF Group as its second partner.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’ Mumbai partner Ashish Jejurkar, who was hired in 2009 from Luthra & Luthra, will be leaving the firm and moving to Japan, as first reported by Bar & Bench.

Luthra & Luthra has hired Bharat Chugh as a counsel in Delhi, according to its press release as reported Bar & Bench.

PDS Legal lost 10 lawyers and four support staff in its direct tax practice after they followed former PDS partner Deepak Chopra to AZB & Partners, effective 1 December.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) partner Amit Kapur was elected senior partner-to-be by JSA’s equity partners at a meeting in Chennai today.

Juris Prime, which had demerged from Kochhar & Co in Hyderabad last year after four years, merged with the litigation practice of Raja Shekar that operated as Salvaji Legal.

Asian Legal Business (ALB) magazine last month released a listing of Asia’s biggest law firms, including a round-up of the 25 largest Indian firms by total headcounts.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) cannot be relied upon to take the legal services liberalisation process forward, said NLU Delhi vice chancellor (VC) Ranbir Singh on Saturday.

"HR Food Processing, which manufactures and markets dairy products under the brand name Osam, has raised Rs 45 crore (around $6.7m) in its Series B round of funding, it said in a statement. The round was led by Lok Capital-advised Growth Catalyst Partners. HR Food’s existing investor Aavishkaar also participated in this round,” reported VC Circle.

T&T Law Offices in Delhi’s GK-I was raided by a joint initiative of the Delhi police’s crime branch and the income tax department, which found Rs 13.56 crore in cash in new and old currency notes, according to NDTV and the PTI.

Gautam Khaitan, the managing partner of OP Khaitan & Co, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) again for alleged graft in the Choppergate scam, this time together with former Air Force Marshal SP Tyagi and Tyagi’s cousin, reported the The Indian Express and others.

The range of salaries at India's law firms is wider than ever, with a 10-year PQE (post qualification experience) lawyer on remuneration (including bonuses) potentially ranging all the way from Rs 25 lakh per annum to Rs 200 lakh, according to salary data from four legal recruitment consultants compiled by Legally India.