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Folks working at tier 1 firms and boutique firms, if you’re happy, please do share the name of your partner. People seem to be hesitant to do this but this is literally all positive feedback. These teams have got to exist. As an ex-tier 1 associate, I refuse to believe everyone at every office is as miserable as I was and still decide to stick on. Curious to know which partners have been able to inculcate a healthy work environment. (Never mind the hours - that cannot change. If you had sane hours it’s likely your team just doesn’t have that much work. Just my opinion.)
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Not sure about MS, since I have never personally worked with him, but I have heard a lot of indifferent things. The other M in corporate law firms (Mohi Gogia) at S&R is a great mentor.
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Smruti Shah - CAM. Has bulk of work but very approachable and understanding.
Have worked with Smruti. Nice person, professional and sharp. Backs her team. The team has a lot of work but are still approachable, empathetic. This flows from the partner.
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Indus Bangalore in general has a very good vibe. Seemed like a very non-toxic place.
Manan is a very patient and approachable person. I personally liked interacting with him.
In Delhi office its Arun Kumar.. coolest partner to work with. Sadly, I don't do projects
Lol, no. It’s not good. So many exits in the last 3-4 months. They haven’t been able to retain their associates who got overworked. The pressure is unfortunately high with tight deliverables and expectations to work on weekends all day long. They expect work to be your life. In fact some new joiners laterals have left before completing 6 months! Shows where the team is headed to. Partners pressurise a lot and one of such partner pressurising is the person you named above. Everyone knows how he calls up early in the morning and doesn’t appreciate the associates’ work.
People are quitting the team in less than two months! Forget six!
True. One of them is also famous for marking other Partners / bcc HR while sending stinkers. Quite toxic and not surprising that every associate (SA/PA) dreaded working for him
He’s the person who gets up at 5 AM. He’s a senior partner and not a staffing partner.
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The ex-KCO duo - Arun Scaria and Rishabh Bharadwaj - absolute gems. Also responsible for holding the fort together at KCO Bangalore - their absence is being felt.
William and Sumithra in the Mumbai office were great. So was apurva jayant (I think she left though)
William is great. Cares about his personal life so it trickles down into his team members having a personal life too. Sumithra has come up under him and hence adopted the same management style. Apurva is very friendly with her team members and in general but working hours and demands are definitely way more intense than William.
Definitely seems like that from the downvotes - would you care to elaborate?
Apurva didn’t have a great reputation for a good working style. She was friendly with her associates. But working style may not be something that associates will be happy with.
I'm confused. Doesn't 12.1 say "working hours and demands are definitely way more intense than William" for Apurva? I understood 12.2 as disagreeing with 12.1's assessment of the other people named.
Of course work will be good there. A Dua EP doesn't bill half as much as a tier 1 SP also. Work pressure is very low. Got to their website and see blr office of that firm. Partner to other lawyer ratio is less than 1:3. Every alternate person is a partner.
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SB at S&R - though not the one you're thinking of - Shivaji is a great partner. Very calm, understanding and definitely one of the good guys left in the corporate game. He and Mohit are definitely the nicest ones to work with.
Is she nice to work with? Thinking of applying to S&R Disputes in Delhi. Any suggestions?
Also newer ones in AZB - Suharsh Sinha, Kunal Kumbhat, Nikunj Maheshwari, Pranav Atit, Sayak Maity
Always busy but still very approachable and take the effort to mentor
JB Panda @ kco. super mellow guy, chill person. Nice to work with.
Shishir Vayttaden, Pranay Chandran, Aditi Singhvi (basically this team of 5 partners) - CAM Mumbai. Work hours are INSANE - but partners are great individuals to work with and learn from. The team to be in if someone wants to do PE-M&A.
Insane work hours are not exactly an evidence of positive work culture, but okay.
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Gaurav Singhi at CAM but I think he has left CAM. Very approachable. Good working style. I interned with his team in 2019 and what I hear is that he was one of the sought after teams for juniors. Area was general corporate.
Totally agree! I’ve heard wonderful things about him and his team. I think they had slightly long hours but good work environment for sure. Helpful partner and helpful team. Sad that CAM could not retain him.
Maybe let's start a thread of all the bad / toxic partners. That will be a more interesting thread.
Why blame the partners as bad or responsible for toxic culture?partners have constant pressure to deliver super profits to the family overlords that control the law firms.Blame the law firm owners but most lawyers dare not do that because they will be out of firms within second if they dare to speak
Wonder why so many names that were mentioned earlier have been censored now. Is it because the angry tyrant partners named and shamed here threatened you? There were some angels here who only had dislikes to their names - maybe their having been mentioned here was sarcastic but it's worth having them here so good folks know to avoid them.

To the uninitiated: when joining a law firm, do your due diligence. If a team always has vacancies, chances are, the person at the helm is toxic or permits/enables toxicity. And yes, HR lie. Of course, beggars can't be choosers, so if you're not exactly someone with options, you may have to take what you get, assuming that's what you want.
The idea for the thread was a positive one. If it appears names were mentioned sarcastically or in order to troll them, if they attract a lot of downvotes, it may be subject to moderation under our guidelines against naming (and shaming) fee-earners.
What are these guidelines you talk about? Would be interesting to read them. Honestly, Legally India's moderation is a hit and miss, most of the times.
You're right, these need to be spelled out a bit more at some point...

But in a nutshell, the intent behind moderation is reflected in the placeholder text before you leave a comment, which (vague though they admittedly are) we try to use as the fundamental basis for (admittedly imperfect) moderation decisions:

Quote:
We and fellow readers love when you share your thoughts in a comment. However:
(1) No ad hominem: Address the arguments, not the person making them.
(2) Don't be a troll: If in doubt, be nice to other humans.
(3) Use complete English sentences and words.
(3) Follow Legally India's full terms and conditions. We reserve the right to moderate, republish or edit your comment for any reason.
Hey Kian, what's wrong in calling people out? Calling people out for legitimate reasons is not trolling. In the absence of lawyers unions, it feels like this is the only space to make people aware and you're censoring that also. Not cool.
Harsh Maggon's team great work culture and he is a very approachable. But the work hours can be excruciatingly long.
Harsh Maggon's team promises good learning, only if you are accustomed to working excruciatingly long hours, and are looking to take on more grueling and challenging work at the cost of a balanced life/health. This team is almost always understaffed because of the high attrition rate, the staffing is imbalanced, and the general atmosphere of the team is too sombre/stressful. Boundaries are not respected and are rather resented to and there is an unreasonable level of expectation to go over and beyond to prove one's devotion for work. The only upside is good quality work.
Lol. No care for health and personal boundaries, but yeah ‘good quality work’ 🤣 what is this even🤣
Mid level in his team is toxic. They drive away new entrants but he doesn't bother.
Not sure how many entrants simply looking to begin their careers were - and I don't use this term laxly - mismanaged (no comments on intention(s)), by mid levels and silently forced to leave as they did not, yet, have the wherewithal or courage to either establish some semblance of boundaries or raise the issue in a "corporate-approved" manner (read: gain enough "work credit" to start seeking basic decency in mundane everyday exchanges).

This stems from the top. As others - nothing against Harsh specifically - but he does tell his new associates that the same mid levels are to be "treated as clients". Sure, give associates (who were likely trained under same toxic conditions) - with no knowledge of management nor leadership nor proper mentorship, nor any consequences for handling said entrant - complete and utter control over clueless A0s, with at best a superficial understanding of the corporate world. What could go wrong! Lord help you if there are at all any personal issues in your life at that time.
Mid levels play mind games - easy way to stay in good books- A0s have to cope with stress from politics and work both. Deadlines are misquoted to build pressure.
RB at Sam. Gives you the independence you want it you are only working with him.
If this is Rajat in the tax practice, he is a good one. Small practice but very efficient. His team is also quite nice to work with and very versatile. Their principal is one of the most well-read guys one can come across and is always super approachable and takes time out to answer any queries you may have at any time.
Yes. Comes across as a cynic but is very helpful. Gave a list of three articles with other references top of the hat when had once cold called with a question.

RB is also a recognised name in the industry now for tax work.
Wah… someone helped you and you called them a cynic on a public space. Clap clap man !!

Do you even know what the word means?
did not mean any disrespect man... chill being a begana abdullah...
Rajat is one of the most dedicated people one will come across, both to his clients and his practice. He is also considerate to whichever team he has managed. Also if the Principal is, who seeming is being referred to, he is anything but a cynic and is easily one of the most interesting and erudite people out there in today's business. Sadly always been in the background for whatever reasons.
Bose is good. The principal if i think who it is is not a principal [some establishment jugglery] but a very old hand in the industry who does some very interesting work. Both very approachable and kind people
Bose is good but is young. Personally like them a little older in. But he has versatile industry experience.
Have heard good things about Tanu Banerjee - now at KCO. Generally good natured, and no nonsense. But I haven't worked with her/her team personally. Been applying to KCO for TMT.
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Pritha Jha at DSK (now at Pioneer Legal)
No-nonsense but very supportive, backs her team.
Shiv Sapra (L&L). Very approachable and caring to his team. Don't know if he's still there or not.
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Anisha Chand at KCO - Competition, Mumbai. Genuinely a great mentor and approachable etc. Not very bad working hours, has her own personal life, so that sort of helps. And without a doubt, KCO does good work in Competition.
She's a decent and approachable person, but she is usually travelling, and her team has nobody who could mentor or delegate otherwise.
[...] at JSA. Work hours are bad, but the team itself is chilled
From what I gather, there is one exception to that team and that apparently has led to exits..!
Guys, don't even read these kinds of reviews and base your decisions. Bcoz - the following:

1. Majority of reviews are by juniors who hardly have any idea about corporate law - let's face it, however smart and rockstar you were back in college, this job requires something more than that. So, effectively for every partner, there will be both positive and negative reviews (or may be likes or dislikes).

2. A general nature about the partner is relevant - toxic ones, but those are few and are present in almost every law firm. Rest all partners behave depending upon situations. So, a nicest partner will shout at you, if you do something stupid or make yourself irrelevant.

3. Lastly, (this comment will definitely be the most disliked one) as an associate and senior associate, don't even think about work like balance, if you want to really do well in this field. Everyone has slogged for years to reach at the partnership level. If you want work like balance, please apply for sarkari naukri.
This kind of a mentality is the exact reason why this industry in India can never change. How does one expect changes to be made at a managerial level if persons working at relatively junior levels don't voice out their concerns? Your opinion seems extremely pigeon holed, and it does appear to me that you are a bit out of touch of what demands are expected from professionals in other competitive industries. Nobody is shying away from "working hard". In fact, this thread was not even meant to be about a "work-life balance" (although I see absolutely NO reason why anyone should feel embarrassed about wanting something that basic). It was about a positive work environment. To spell out to you what that means, it means you don't get demeaned at work, that you don't get told off for an extra full-stop or misplaced comma after working hard on the content for 16 hours straight, and for being mentored to some extent. I'm not naïve enough to expect you to change your opinion. I took the time to write this for other's, who might read your post and start second-guessing themselves for wanting a positive work environment. Specially junior lawyers. For a long time, I felt I was slacking for not wanting to put up with toxic culture. After working in other supportive environments, I see why putting up with such culture is not the only way forward to advance in your career.
Nilanjana was my favorite partner to work with at AZB. Couldn't agree more.
Aayushi Anand - Khaitan, Delhi. Recently made partner but commands a lot of respect and pleasure to work with.
Dilip and Manav at Tatva. Sad that team split up but both are individually very nice to work with.
Nikunj Maheshwari - ex CAM, now AZB. I owe most of my initial learnings to him.
Great guy - not from his team, but saw first hand how well regarded he was. But ALWAYS at work, everyday. Not sure if he's still like that at AZB.
Nikunj is my favourite partner to work for. Have seen him managing a mammoth transaction with amazing calmness and clarity. Negotiates really well - something to learn from.

From corporate side, I really like sayak but sadly he chose to move away.
CAM Bangalore has a decent work culture overall in the PE/VC team. All partners are quite understanding and good mentors too. Workload is quite balanced compared to a lot of other places.
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Guys any feedback on Ikigai and Algo work culture? Spiceroute seems to be up there on their marketing game but haven’t heard great things from people who used to work there.
Ankit at Algo Bangalore is great to work with. Very chill and no undue stress for associates.
Ikigai has good culture. Friendly folks, meritocratic with quick promotions and early responsibility and high, transparent pay.
Pracheta Bhattacharya at JSA, Mumbai. Best partner to work under.
Hey, planning to join lexygen from a tier 1. Is the culture better?
Yes. The environment is very non-toxic and caring. The team is nice and close-knit, and the mentoring quality is phenomenally good.
There is post written by the Lexygen founder on LegallyIndia clearing the air on compensation at the firm with complete openness. A read through of that itself tells you about the culture. Have also heard good things.
Tejesh Chitlangi is the best person to work for.

Everyone in funds team leaves by 8.

Non-toxic work culture. Everyone is helpful.

Informal groups are well knit and friendly.
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Anyone has any idea how is Sai Krishna Bharathanan's team in AZB. Need honest reviews.
Sai's team is famous for highest attrition rate. Hope you are smart enough to understand what I mean.
Actually, most of the teams in AZB have a high attrition rate.
Sai Krishna Bharathan is nice and approachable given his seniority but I can't say the same thing about the other higher-ups on the team. The work is really good and if you're fine working under constant fear and stress- go for it. The high attrition on this team is very true even for AZB standards.
I have worked in Sai's team and left some time ago. He is not approachable at all. He goes by what his junior partners say and to deal with the junior partners in his team is very stressful. Trust me, I was made to work throughout my leaves and weekends. Be very careful and as it has already been said, if you can compromise on personal fronts and you are ready to join, feel free to by all means. The only sane person in the team is PS, gem of a person and you can learn a lot from her.
Pallavi Satpute is a great senior to work with in group C. The rest of the team is nice too (juniors / mid levels)
Agreed, barring the moooooooody partners and their tantrums, other people are really great to work with.
Adding to the above comment- there is no room for dialogue or defending yourself when the junior partners spin tales about the associates to SKB. You are also faced with constant threats to escalate the smallest of issues (sometimes even typos) to the senior partner which creates unimaginable stress on the junior associates. You will be asked to cancel leaves that were approved months in advance which include leaves for close family weddings- if you don't, it becomes a permanent black mark and they conveniently forget the number of weekends, late nights and holidays that you have spent working for them.
One always has to be available, even during leaves which have been approved and on weekends too ( goes without saying). Once you join his team, be ready to compromise with personal life on all fronts.
More than 50 percent of the people have left and few are on the notice periods. Be very careful as they will dump you with work.
True. The Bangalore office is at its lowest numbers, and Mumbai office does not have a lot of mid level associates. The ones left are also on a lookout and part of them have resigned without any offers in hand.

Maybe time that they shifted priorities from Timely and Intapp to timely empathy and being nice.
Abir from Sarvada Legal, although not Tier 1 but perhaps Tier 4 but good team environment.
The IP Partner at S&P is great to work with. Work hours are great. The partner has a way of uniting both associates and client representatives who each sympathise with each other.
Sayantan Dutta at SAM, Delhi. He is one of the best capital market Partners to work for.
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The entire team at TT&A. They don't seem to be in the limelight a lot but it is genuinely a nice place to work. The work is demanding and how but they are very professional. I had a great time interning there.
Abdullah Hussain from L&L Partners. Great mentor and boss; thorough work and great learning; no artificial deadlines and very understanding of personal commitments; inspires you with his own dedication towards a brief.
Loads of underrated and great Partners in Competition (except one) and Lit there.
Anyone from kco corp? Strange, the firm claims to have best lawfirm culture.
Even I am keen to know. Heard SAM’s arbitration practice is stellar but don’t know anything about how the teams are. Would be grateful if someone with experience or knowledge could comment.
Great work, toxic work culture. All great people have left barring a few, [...]
Rashmi Pradeep at CAM. The absolute best. Excellent lawyer. Excellent human being. Great people skills and man management skills. There isn't a better role model for what a law firm partner should be like.
Hi, please get me an internship at CAM, haha. JK. I have heard about Rashmi Ma'am too, she has expertise in employment law, right?
Bomi Daruvala and Sandhya Iyer from vaish associates. Great mentors, even greater work ethic and most of all, very reasonable individuals.
Gokul Ranjan, CAM Capital Markets. The PA in this team - Nayan Jain is hands down the best senior to work with.
Gautam Chawla, Trilegal Delhi - quite dependable, level headed, does not bow down to pressure coming from other senior partners and does not pass on the pressure down to the juniors. Great working style - values work life balance, and will never call a junior after 9 pm. He is quite systematic too - he will give you a complete picture of the transaction, so you know about the deliverables well in advance.
Yes, he is absolutely brilliant in his work. His drafting style is excellent too- extremely crisp and non repetitive- something to be imbibed.
He is extremely thorough with the provisions of the Act and regulations as if these are on his fingertips. A protege sort of a person.
Gautam Chawla is an excellent human being too - the overall competition team at Trilegal is actually very stressful. The stress gets reduced because of management (both work and people) abilities of Gautam. Many in the team are sticking only because of Gautam.
What does it say about the authenticity of any post when the three comments of consequence get 5 likes and 38 (and counting) dispute tags…
Can anyone enlighten me about the work culture in the disputes team headed by Mr. Rajendra Barot?
Anand Lakra from JSA. He is a fantastic lawyer who has indepth knowledge of the subject and is a good boss. Quite dependable, level headed, does not bow down to pressure and does not pass on the pressure down to the juniors. Takes an active interest in his junior's growth and actually trains them to become better lawyers.
Samsuddha Majumder, Trilegal - Great person to work with. Easy going. Cares about his personal life and interests - so it flows down.
Sorry the tech doesn't allow it, but that dislike should be read like, as reported by somebody. Was very touched by that honesty.

- R
CAM competition partners are very good to work with. They are nice people and that matters in a long run.
Out of entire bunch here, Apoorve is really good in everything and whatever he does!
He is the star amongst most of the associate.
Bose at Sam tax... small practice but takes care of his people
Any insights on which M&A team is best to work with in Bangalore? How is Kostyra Ghosh’s team ?
Have heard from people in her team that she is now quite decent to work with. That was not the case earlier. People in the team appear friendly too. Lot of work. But seems to be very good work. They do various kinds of work and not the same kind repeatedly.
Nanditha Gopal (AZB). People might disagree but I always enjoyed working with her one on one.
Great work and exposure to international arbitration. But some nasty mid-level individuals you have to deal with.
Isn't this the same Shaneen Parikh that was embroiled in the investigation of CAM in the Nirav Modi case?https://www.adroitpmc.com/blog/PNBScam:RoleofCyrilAmarchandMangaldasrequiresfurtherinvestigation,CBItoSpecialCourt

No matter how.interesting or well paid the work of this team, I think nost people will run away from it.
Do read (...). Shaneen is as good as they come.

"She [Parikh] termed the conduct of Nirav Modi as treacherous and reprehensible and mentioned that their firm may initiate legal proceedings at an appropriate time for his (Nirav Modi) improper conduct."
GS Kartikeya at JSA.
Approachable, reasonable, and kind. Great mentor to have.
Shinoj Koshy at L&L focussed no-nonsense guy. Doesnt create unnecessary pressures or deadlines, but will work hard to meet real deadlines and will point out if your work is not what it should be. Explains the law, practical, commercial issues and is OK with initial mistakes. You will get early exposure to clients and real time feedback.
Yes agree….. V good guy and superb work… you will hear mostly positive stuff….
They would expect perfection and push for performance beyond comfort zone. Not recommended if you need a relaxed life ….
Hes ok.But frankly no one in CAM left that's worth work for.The powerhouses of knowledge have all quit.
What about Reeba C and Nivedita R, apart from Yash and LV, purely on knowledge front, plus Avantika, Santosh J, Anu, Bharat V etc? Or is it that they aren't involved much in delivery?
If going to CAM Bangalore then please make sure you don't cross swords with KC. He is the dada of the place since the main partners depend on him. The entire lot has a couterie- 3 of them. If you are in their good books then life is good. Else it is hell.
Amit Kapur at JSA is great. On the face, he may appear a bit brash, but always has the junior's best interest, and goes all the way to help on anything professionally or personally.
Anuja Tiwari - AZB. Fantastic professional and great mentor and person. What a meteoric rise she has had after Trilegal! Rare feat.
Roxanne's team at AZB is great! Great mentor and best partner to work with.
Unfortunately there cannot be good law firm partners because in India given that most Tier1a are Lalaji sweat shops there cannot be good law firms and thus no good law firm partners.Till foreign firms are not permitted the work environments are going to be hell.Only when competition of foreign firms is allowed will work environment become an important factor because the foreign firms will offer better salaries so all the Lala shops will have to clean up their toxic acts.
I heard Vinayank Burman at Vertices is a great boss and all associates love him.
This is not true. He doesn’t even engage with associates. All his talk about the firm size is increasing is all a lie. Lawyers working there want to leave and the firm is infamous about its attrition rate.
Nisha Kaur Uberoi is excellent to work with if you could impress her.
Hahahahahaha….. This is the funniest comment in this entire thread ….. Hope it’s not a serious statement …
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Rohit Ambast (ex Counsel KCO, Delhi - now Partner Indus, Delhi) samajhne waale samajh gaye
Im sorry but as subjective as this question is - are you being serious ?
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Avoid CAM Bangalore unless you get to work with Reeba or Akshay. ▮▮▮
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How is the work culture at Desai & Diwanji? Any views on the younger partners?
Archana Rajaram of Rajaram Legal. Great mentor and approachable.
Ghanta. They've been firing people for one. Two, all the best working for a Partner based out of NYC. Take a wild guess on how timelines are going to look like. Even her biggest clients have not been taking kindly to this.
Mr. Amitabh Sharma (Ex KCO, HSA Managing Partner, Currently Founder at NXL Associates)

A great mentor and a better person. Humble, kind, and humorous!
Milind Jha - Dentons Link Legal

Vinu Peter - Dentons Link Legal
Milind is fab however the seniors in the team, I've heard are absolutely pathetic. The juniors in the team are always cribbing about them being sadist and inefficient.

Vinu is an absolute gem. Heard his team has a positive environment too.
Just wanted to know if anyone has worked with Abe Abraham or Bishen Jeswant at CAM BLR? How is it working with them?
Vritti Law Partners - friend works there and has spoken highly of partners and work culture
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