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JC, RRI and DN are outstanding attorneys. JC, in particular, is miles above whatever playground gossip you’re pushing. Honestly, if you threw shade any higher, the IMD would issue a pollution alert.
As for your diagnosis—adorable. People leave firms for all sorts of reasons. Bigger outfits like CAM, SAM, Trilegal or Saraf offer more autonomy, a wider client base, and—brace yourself—more money. I know, shocking revelation: people like being paid. Who could have predicted that? In-house roles offer real client-side insight, better hours, and occasionally the radical concept of sleep. And plenty of lawyers have started doing the unthinkable—pursuing entrepreneurial ventures or boutique practices. Outrageous behaviour.
S&R isn’t built like CAM, SAM, Trilegal or Saraf. They don’t chase every client who walks in waving a retainer cheque. They take work they can actually deliver—and deliver well. Most mandates are handled by RS, SB, JS, and occasionally JC, VVR, RI and RRI. The whole place runs like a corporate-law chamber with capital-markets superpowers and the occasional “let’s sue someone important” for cardio.
They did try scaling—hired too many, elevated too many, and discovered that scaling is hard (or perhaps- not for them). Naturally, bonuses dipped, frustration rose, and people left. It’s not a meltdown; it’s a correction. Losing good fee-earners hurts, sure. Replacing them is work. Losing someone with a big book would hurt more. Much more. Not that you’d know.
And here’s the best part: it’s their firm, not yours. Yet here you are on LI—once a news site, now basically Reddit for lawyers—lecturing people who don’t even have time to open it.
Do better. Ideally somewhere people can’t see you!
For years, leadership put the old guard on pedestals while overlooking the others. And the pattern shall always continue. Laterals may not be the center of the universe, but many of them at least have a soul.
The OGs who are left, however, are a different matter entirely. No one wants to work with them. The selfishness, the whisper networks, the constant undercurrent of petty drama..it’s all become unbearable. Instead of rising to the moment, they’ve shrunk into insecurity and superiority theater.
With multiple partner exits, the firm is at a point where honest self-reflection isn’t optional : it’s urgent. They need to reckon with who they wanted to be and who they’re actually becoming.
S-N-R needs to face the truth: who is truly building the firm? who would you want to sit at the table with? They need leaders with soul and integrity, leaders who can unite, leaders who can uplift. Drop the OG-tainted glasses, look clearly and act decisively.
Otherwise, good bye the TRIo- LEGAL is not for you!
If they had a book, they’d be watering it, pruning it, and whispering sweet nothings to it. In our profession, a book isn’t leverage — it’s the last thing keeping you from being mistaken for support staff.
And talent? We have it in excess. We’re drowning in bright graduates — eager, obedient, hopeful. Half of them were elevated before they even learned how to fake cynicism properly.
But rainmakers? Actual generators of revenue and relevance? That’s where the tragedy lights come on. The S&R exits didn’t surprise anyone — they simply confirmed the obvious. Most who left weren’t making it rain. They weren’t even causing a light fog. Maybe Uday or Bhakta or Divyanshu had a passing shower in them.
The rest? Drought. Biblical drought.
In India, if you’re a law firm partner without a book, you are support staff. Replaceable. Even if you’re good at execution, the in-house conveyor belt will pick you up eventually. It’s like ageing — slow, predictable, and completely unavoidable.
And to the Sherlock who thinks I’ve revealed my identity — congratulations.
You solved a mystery no one was investigating, in a book no one was reading, for a prize no one was offering. Take a bow. Just don’t take any more time from people who actually have work.
Now smell the coffee ☕️ and get back to billing.
He didn’t jump ship — the crew finally realised who drilled the holes.
The founders walked out on P&A when they had to — and trust me, they’d applaud anyone who does the same, even to them.
The only ones taking this personally are the secretarial staff, at most.
Everyone else just calls it what it is — career progression.
Oh, and that red pill I just handed you? Don’t mistake it for an antidote to an S&R problem — it’s just called reality.
You missed the memo… but hey — now you’re welcome.
You’ve wasted enough time here already. Get back to your work.
It is, in effect, the most obvious celestial alignment imaginable.
Wishful thinking?