By not relocating to Bombay—alongside those who truly mattered—he consigned himself, albeit unwittingly, to the role of a legacy appendage in the grand, dust-covered corridors of the Delhi office. A figure of promise, yes, but one increasingly out of sync with the centre of gravity. Inevitably, there had to arrive a reckoning—a moment to alter the narrative. That moment came, not with fanfare, but with finality. And so, he rose, straightened his cuffs, and left the stage. Fin.

Raunaq’s departure should not be read as a reflection on S&R’s trajectory—if anything, the firm continues to go from strength to strength. That said, Raunaq is an exceptional lawyer, and her profile, at this stage, aligns well with the ambitions of a fast-growing, top-tier practice like Saraf & Partners, which is now actively building out its disputes offering. It’s a space Raunaq knows well from her time at S&R. Over the past few years, S&R’s disputes team has done some deeply interesting work, and as it continues to evolve, it will no doubt be looking for lawyers with depth in BIT disputes and a strong foundation in company matters. This move would make sense for everyone involved, and will almost certainly go forward with full support and goodwill.

Well, that’s one version of events — and a rather lazy one at that. Yes, Raunaq has moved on. But to reduce the story of the litigation team to a list of exits is both selective and intellectually dishonest. Like any meritocratic institution, this team has seen movement — some have left, many have stayed, and others have risen. Raunaq’s trajectory, in fact, is a testament to what high performance here can achieve. Meanwhile, Abhishek and Shehzad continue to build from within, and the firm has expanded the partnership with new talent while actively backing alumni it still sees value in.

Take Samiksha: now an independent counsel, exceptional at what she does, and routinely brought back into major matters. That doesn’t happen in a team that’s “collapsing.”

So yes — people have exited. Some were asked to. Not quietly, and not without reason. This wasn’t about favouritism or cabals. It was about performance — or, more precisely, its absence. And now, some of those voices, curiously loud from the sidelines, are attempting to rewrite history as tragedy.

Let’s be clear: they weren’t pushed out by a conspiracy. They were outpaced — by people who were simply better.

This team isn’t for everyone. It demands a standard. And that, more than anything, is what some couldn’t survive…

Interned with the firm recently, the HR does not treat interns with kindness. The team was toxic, they used to call at 2/3 am to give work which was to be due in the morning. Used to work atleast 11-12 hours a day. Got very lil mentorship over the mandatory assignments for internship. Overall very bad experience.

S&R fails to provide definite career progress. They use junior lawyers and then toss them out when convenient, because the organisation fails to make space for them at the top. Stop hiring juniors and messing with their futures when you already know that few years down the line you won’t be able to offer them the seniority they deserve (and have worked for) - at that point they will toss out this lawyer and hire a fresher, use them for few years and then repeat the same cycle.

A word of caution: the high lords at Essss Ennn Arrrrr have remote access to your personal mobile devices - look carefully to check for a certain “SNR management profile” in your phone device settings - without your consent the firm has taken far arching permissions/ rights on your mobile - including the right to erase all phone data; remove phone passcodes etc.

And just because other law firms are also partaking in this gross violation, doesn’t make S&R any better.

I had to bear the brunt ▮▮▮ - on my last day at the firm, the IT “accidentally” erased all data on my iphone, and factory reset it - all of this was executed remotely by them, while the phone was in my possession. It would be nice if they had the decency to at least inform that they are installing such ▮▮▮ on my phone.

▮▮▮

It's a security measure to ensure that you can't copy documents etc off work email to third-party apps. This is pretty standard and a lot of foreign clients expect law firms to have these measures in place. I'm not sure to what extent other Indian law firms have these processes, but please stop making it sound Orwellian.

There was never a golden phase. From the very beginning, stories of attrition were quietly brushed aside, back when the founding promoters weren’t so quick to hand out partnership titles. The truth is, this firm has always struggled with abysmal attrition—and with it, some troubling stories.

Big deal! There are so many OG partners who are still here and thriving—VVR, JC, RRI, SD, RI, DN… to name a few! Besides, there are so many more OG partners yet to come. So stop with the doomsday talk and make peace with your station in life. Just because you didn’t make the cut to sustain a career here doesn’t mean you need to be this bitter. Move on, babe..

This is such FAKE NEWS, folks. Totally made up. There are no “abusive partners” here—none. What we do have, once in a while, are a few over-entitled people who take way more than they ever give. You’ve seen them. They drag everyone down—at work, in life, everywhere. And the moment you ask them to actually work or deliver—like they said they would—they fall apart. Absolutely unbelievable.

Let me say it again: This isn’t a club. This is a business. A serious, commercial operation.

And guess what?

You’ve got to carry your own weight.

No one else is going to do it.

And honestly?

No one else should.

Not enough is being said online about a particular practise area in the firm, everyone knows the partner is out right cruel and gets off by berating juniors, and no one in this glorious institution is able to do anything about it. In fact at this point it almost seems like they are sheltering this problematic character.