Law firms

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Lex Counsel and Platinum Partners have advised on a $17.5m (Rs 85 crore) joint venture (JV) deal between the UK's Pearson Group and Delhi-based education company Educomp Solutions.

KSB Partners' legal process outsourcing (LPO) arm Lexplosion is set to more than double its capacity of lawyers within three months, as it aims to roll out a new compliance management product for Indian companies.

Desai & Diwanji has poached a team of four lawyers from Crawford Bayley, taking on one senior associate as a partner.

Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto has outsourced part of its legal work to 12 qualified Delhi lawyers, which has already saved the company $1m (Rs 5 crore) in little more than a month.

Phoenix Legal has denied that it has a best friends tie-up with UK international firm Lovells, after a press report linked the two today.

Thakker & Thakker has made up its first female partner, growing its partnership to a total of five.

Amarchand and US firm Shearman & Sterling jointly advised the Californian venture capital fund Norwest Venture Partners in buying Rs250 crore ($51m) in the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) under new foreign investment rules.

Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe has led Anil Ambani Group company Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) in its multi-million dollar High Court victory against Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries (RIL).

Wadia Ghandy & Co will open up a new office in Chennai within a month, marking the firm's recovery since the Mumbai terror attacks last November when one of its partners was killed.

Luthra & Luthra partners have agreed to completely overhaul their management and partnership structure, which will see up to six current salaried partners enter the newly opened equity on a lockstep system.

J Sagar and Associates (JSA) and Luthra & Luthra have completed the Rs 1,750 crore ($368m) takeover of mining company Dempo Group by London-listed Vedanta Resources subsidiary Sesa Goa.

Amarchand, Ashurst and Luthra & Luthra have restarted their work on the exhumed Oil India initial public offering (IPO), which the government hopes will fill its coffers by up to Rs 2,400 crore ($500m).

A Scottish lawyer has taken his government to Bangalore to convince Indian outsourcing companies to set up call centres in Scotland.

He hopes that a large draw will be the avoidance of protectionist measures such as those recently proposed by US President Barrack Obama.

Trilegal has promoted four partners, raised its associate base salaries by 20 to 30 per cent and paid out unprecedented bonuses this year.

Clifford Chance is seconding the head partner of its India practice group to its best friend AZB & Partners.

Clifford Chance project finance partner Chris Wyman (pictured) will relocate to AZB's Mumbai office this month and will spend at least several months there to improve the integration between the firms.

Wyman said that he would stay "as long as it takes" and added: "It is all about maximising the opportunities – if you just say nice words and do nothing else, you will soon cease to be useful."