Trilegal-grade of work and internship experience, and relatively flat hierarchy. He runs a tight ship though, and fires freshers who don't make the cut. Last year he fired 3 out of the 4 hired, so looks can be deceptive. Let's just say he got very lucky since NDA lost it's TMT team

Can someone tell me if Khaitan's Mumbai TMT hires freshers? Have my internship scheduled in March'23. Already established some rapport with my clg alum working there (A1 to Partner level). Just hope HR doesn't allot me my 2nd preference (BnF) for internship duration. Any help would be appreciated for decision-making purposes as I have another TMT internship scheduled during that time.

Today, almost everything is termed 'TMT'. For instance, most PE / VC transactions relate to the tech / IT sector.

So, you must figure out what kind of TMT work are you looking for. Some of the broad categories are given below (the list is not exhaustive:)

1. Tech product / app launches and compliance.

2. Broadcasting or media related advisory / transactions.

3. Telecom regulatory advisory - work relating to SatCom, advisory on applicability of telecom licenses, etc.

4. Data privacy advisory / contract management.

5. Fintech / crypto / blockchain related advisory.

6. PE / VC or M&A transactions relating to the TMT sector.

7. Disputes relating to the Information Technology Act or the technology sector.

8. Sector specific work, e.g., ed-tech, health-tech, related work.

9. Software licensing, IT procurement and deployment, etc.

10. Gaming law.

I understand that it is difficult to pin-point lawyers or teams that work specifically on one or two of the above. However, certain teams and practices are better known for their specializations (e.g., Jaideep Reddy (Ex-NDA, now Trilegal) for crypto related advisory; Khimani & Associates for all the media / celebrity related work they do; and Ranjana Adhikari (IndusLaw) for gaming related work).

Once you have an idea about the kind of work you would want to do, you will be able to figure out which team should you work with.

Considering that you are finishing / finished law school recently. Any well-known TMT practice, e.g., Trilegal, NDA, IndusLaw or even new-age law firms like Ikigai Law or Spice Route could be good offices to start with.

absolutely shitty culture. not a great place to learn law because all that’s gonna happen is you’re going to be shamed and made to feel inferior simply because your senior wasn’t capable of providing decent context. The team barely has anyone in it and rightly so.

My best friend left law firms for good because of this. It isn’t worth it. You anyways second guess the work you do, you don’t need someone who makes you second guess your work itself.

Ikigai publishes their pay scales:
PA2 - 3.2L-3.6L / month, Bonus 20L
PA1 - 2.9L/ month, Bonus 15.5L
SA2 - 2.4L/ month, Bonus 13L
SA1 - 2.05L/ month, Bonus 11L
A4 - 1.6L/ month, Bonus 5L
A3 - 1.3L/ month, Bonus 3L
A2 - 90k/ month, Bonus 2L
A1 - 70k/ month, Bonus 1.6L

I’ve had the opportunity to work with CAM, spice route and ikigai. In terms of quality spice route and ikigai are no where near CAM. CAM’s grasp of law and their drafting are a class apart. However, I do see there’s an issue with their work culture. It’s a small team and extremely over burdened.

Your next best option is Ikigai. I’ve heard they have an excellent work culture. Do great work on the policy and regulatory front. However, their contract drafting and commercial grasp is abysmal.

Spice route is terrible both in terms of their output and culture.

1. SAM: mostly agree with your comments.
2. Trilegal: Rahul Mathan at the helm ensures a lot of government work but he is less active on client work than before. Generally a well regarded and busy team. Nikhil Narendran is a good partner to work with.
3. CAM: Arun Prabhu is good. But the practice is not the same tier as Trilegal
4. Indus: It is a gaming and entertainment practice led by Ranjana Adhikari from NDA. Well known partner but in the gaming circles.
5. NDA: old tech and media practice with good clients but several good lawyers have left or are leaving the firm. Better work-life than at other big practices. Works in a lot of new areas of tech like crypto, drones etc. Gowree Gokhale is good for media and gaming. Huzefa for new areas and Jaideep Reddy for fintech/crypto. NDA puts a lot of writing on areas of tech.
6. Koan: Only policy work. Not a law firm. Does a lot of reports. Founder has reach in government circles and speaks at a lot of panels.
7: Ikigai: Cutting-edge work in a lot of new areas like cryptos, AI, metaverse. Works with almost all big tech companies, especially in social media, ecom, cloud, satcom. Also has a lot of startup work. Good work culture. Anirudh Rastogi is known for emerging tech/blockhain, Nehaa Chaudhari for policy/data and Aparajita Srivastava for fintech.
8: Saraf: too early in the game to comment.

Ikigai law revised pay is quite generous. Comp figures are in this thread https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/216074-ikigai-law-pay Spiceroute tech team is doing well and growing contrary to what below thread suggests. Trilegal and NDA are possibly the oldest TMT practices in India. Both good on the culture front but lot of departures at NDA. Again there are a lot of chat threads on the topic. Important to look at not just the TMT firms but also which teamm you want to join. A good thread on key tmt partners: https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/179423-best-tmt-partners

1. SAM: Low-key but huge TMT (Regulatory and Policy) Team with some of the biggest clients
2. Trilegal: Bangalore TMT with big clients and a lot of work with government also
3. CAM: Banglore has a decent team and they're building a massive regularly team in Delhi
4. Indus: In process of building a Policy team. Have hired the partner from NDA
5. NDA
6. Koan: Not TMT but policy (with the exception of possibly one or two works with all big tech companies)
7. Ikigai (geared towards small startups but interesting work)
8. Saraf: Rebuilding the policy and regulatory team. Previously had some of the big tech as clients

Hey, just wanted some insight on why you chose to take the sabbatical - unless ofcourse for personal reasons. (I have around 4 years of experience and looking to shift practice areas. Moving from M&A to TMT). Details on your regular work day, which teams to target in Bangalore and Mumbai would be helpful (work wise but more importantly positive culture). Thanks in advance!

I'm on a sabbatical right now and till 3 months ago, this was the landscape. For pure TMT work, you should consider Trilegal and NDA. They're way ahead of the others. Khaitan seems to be a good option nowadays and so is Indus as long as you get their Delhi team. Spiceroute I have heard mixed reviews but maybe worth a try and Ikigai seems to do a lot of promotions but frankly I don't know how much TMT work they actually do.

This comment has been posted by Spiceroute HR or the partner himself. Don't be fooled folks. If you wanna do serious TMT, go to Trilegal, NDA. Spiceroute has this weird concept where they will put you in their fintech team or so called data protection team, which sucks for a lawyer who is starting their career. TMT is niche and you should be doing everything including telecom and media as well which btw they don't do. At spice, you'll not even do technology properly. Speak with ex spice lawyers and they will confirm this.
If you're not too ambitious and are okay with a lower salary, only then join spice

Go to spiceroute if you have no options left. It's not core TMT. They have mostly small startups as clients and no telecom or media clients. Plus they don't have any PA or counsel level employees. Only A0, A1 and a couple of senior associates. I would recommend Kochhar, JSA, Samvad and even MCM over spiceroute.
If you want a full flavour of TMT, then you have to go to either Trilegal or NDA.

I have heard the Trilegal Bangalore team has a decent practice. A couple of friends had interned with this team, and they kind of liked the experience.
NDA and Spiceroute also seem to have a decent TMT practice. Some of my seniors are part of the data privacy team at Spiceroute and they told me they like the work (but they were geeks so I assume they will like anything that has to do with tech).

Other than that, I've heard Ikigai also is pretty active in this sector, but the pay is peanuts (I've read in an other LI thread).

All the best!