Which city are you inquiring about? Few sources tell me that the bangalore office is average, with decent civil litigation. They have namesake Delhi and bombay offices, would not suggest joining there. Haven't seen them in NCLT and nclat much, so don't think they have good ibc disputes work. Since aarna isn't known for transactions, don't think they have corporate insolvency work. Join only if you have no other offers.
Don't think aarna is pretty well regarded for insolvency work. They don't have any partner doing insolvency work. I did a simple Google search and the NCLT causelist showed that at Max they do a bit of operational creditor mandate, which is something even a random litigation chambers take up. So don't think it's a good option for IBC work
The disputes practice at Aarna is below average. Even if there is one litigation matter in a month, it's a huge achievement the delhi and Mumbai offices. They had a good Mumbai practice in charge but heard the person left for good a while ago, taking the clients along. The present office is ▮▮▮. Work culture wise, it's ▮▮▮ and there's no scope for growth. People leave within a year for better pastures. Avoid joining the delhi and Mumbai offices altogether, join the bangalore office if there is no other option and leave when you get better offers.
As far as insolvency practice is concerned, the supposedly practice head is in Mumbai. Few close sources and existing associates told me that ▮▮▮. If you are getting an offer for the Mumbai office, don't even think of joining. ▮▮▮
Heard that the firm has ▮▮▮ billable work and people are quitting due to bad work culture. Initially it was not believable for me, but heard from few close sources that the partners make associates write to people and indirectly solicit for work. They ▮▮▮ hold webinars and speak from intern prepared research. Firm claims itself to be experts in cross border work and international practice, haven't come across any work that they have done in the last 5 years. Not the kind of people that work under the radar as well, so that excuse won't work either. Coming to the Insolvency practice, they ▮▮▮ is practically an extension of litigation team.
Please avoid. Lack of billable work. The other partner is extremely rude and entitled and thinks ▮▮▮ can get away after insulting juniors in front of the whole firm. The firm is a structured mess, with every fee earner part of each and every ostensible practice area that they show on the website.
I'm an insolvency professional based out of Mumbai. I'm new to this website so i don't know whether my comment would be published. My colleague showed me this post so i have asked him to type it on my behalf. I had engaged the firm for a liquidation matter wherein I'm the liquidator so let me share my experience with them-
1) I was so dissatisfied ▮▮▮
2) ▮▮▮
3) Extension of liquidation application took 9 months to be drafted and shared, which is basically just a basic routine draft
4) no clarity as to whom to contact in the team
5) ▮▮▮
This is from a client perspective who wasn't satisfied with their services. Hope this helps.
I was part of the Delhi "office" for 3 years. Let me give you an overall idea -
1) quality of work - there are very few quality mandates that come in, and that comes solely due to the face value of the founder partner (ex AZB partner) and not because of the work done by the firm in recent years. They have done only 1 international arbitration in 8 years since inception. They largely do lower court civil litigation work in Bangalore and minimal High Court Litigation. Their presence in NCLT, DRT and other tribunals is skeletal. However, the few mandates that come in are really good, just that it comes in very rarely and there'll be absolute chaos when the entire firm would work on that just one ongoing matter.
2) work experience - the work environment with the Associates is pretty good and there is good work life balance. This is largely due to the fact that they have less work inflow across all the 3 offices.The female partner is particularly toxic and rude and just yells during team calls without letting the other explain or talk. However, she isn't there physically on most days. The 2 partners are not involved in any supervision of the matters and it's total chaos. There is no guidance and not advisable for people below 5-6 PQE to join. The firm is a unstructured mess with a lot of overlapping. For eg i was part of the "IBC team", "international disputes team" and the "litigation team" at the same time. And the IBC and international disputes team has no work except to write articles, hold webinars and to have 3 hour online discussion calls every Monday. The insolvency practice consists of 3-4 few Section 9 Applications and one small scale liquidator mandate mandate. The firm hasn't had an international arbitration mandate in atleast 3-4 years. It's been solely civil litigation and that too in Bangalore.
3) Mumbai and Delhi offices - the 2 cities do not have a functional office. The delhi office is run in an apartment owned by the managing partner and the Mumbai office is run in a tiny business centre. Both offices will have around 3-4 matters in a single year and isn't worth joining. I have worked with the person in charge of the Mumbai practice and it's sad to note that an NLS educated chevening scholar has actually hired a lawyer (with 14 PQE) who doesn't even know basic legal principles. I heard from the sole Mumbai associate that it's particularly difficult to work with the person due to difficulty in grasping laws.
Overall it's a good firm to work with if you are already loaded with money and law isn't really a long term career option for you. You can join here, get some visibility with the webinars and articles that they post and then jump ships if you are serious about law.
1) I was so dissatisfied ▮▮▮
2) ▮▮▮
3) Extension of liquidation application took 9 months to be drafted and shared, which is basically just a basic routine draft
4) no clarity as to whom to contact in the team
5) ▮▮▮
This is from a client perspective who wasn't satisfied with their services. Hope this helps.
1) quality of work - there are very few quality mandates that come in, and that comes solely due to the face value of the founder partner (ex AZB partner) and not because of the work done by the firm in recent years. They have done only 1 international arbitration in 8 years since inception. They largely do lower court civil litigation work in Bangalore and minimal High Court Litigation. Their presence in NCLT, DRT and other tribunals is skeletal. However, the few mandates that come in are really good, just that it comes in very rarely and there'll be absolute chaos when the entire firm would work on that just one ongoing matter.
2) work experience - the work environment with the Associates is pretty good and there is good work life balance. This is largely due to the fact that they have less work inflow across all the 3 offices.The female partner is particularly toxic and rude and just yells during team calls without letting the other explain or talk. However, she isn't there physically on most days. The 2 partners are not involved in any supervision of the matters and it's total chaos. There is no guidance and not advisable for people below 5-6 PQE to join. The firm is a unstructured mess with a lot of overlapping. For eg i was part of the "IBC team", "international disputes team" and the "litigation team" at the same time. And the IBC and international disputes team has no work except to write articles, hold webinars and to have 3 hour online discussion calls every Monday. The insolvency practice consists of 3-4 few Section 9 Applications and one small scale liquidator mandate mandate. The firm hasn't had an international arbitration mandate in atleast 3-4 years. It's been solely civil litigation and that too in Bangalore.
3) Mumbai and Delhi offices - the 2 cities do not have a functional office. The delhi office is run in an apartment owned by the managing partner and the Mumbai office is run in a tiny business centre. Both offices will have around 3-4 matters in a single year and isn't worth joining. I have worked with the person in charge of the Mumbai practice and it's sad to note that an NLS educated chevening scholar has actually hired a lawyer (with 14 PQE) who doesn't even know basic legal principles. I heard from the sole Mumbai associate that it's particularly difficult to work with the person due to difficulty in grasping laws.
Overall it's a good firm to work with if you are already loaded with money and law isn't really a long term career option for you. You can join here, get some visibility with the webinars and articles that they post and then jump ships if you are serious about law.