Amarchand has advised the Indiabulls group companies throughout this year's fundraisings, and is understood to also be advising on the Indiabulls Power IPO that is expected to hit the market at $310m (Rs 1,500 crore).

Clifford Chance capital markets partner Guptan led the legal team for Morgan Stanley which was financial adviser to all Indiabulls fundraisings this year.

Guptan had a strong relationship with Indiabulls at Amarchand before joining the magic circle firm in Singapore one year ago.

Amarchand and Clifford Chance most recently concluded the $200m (about Rs966 crore) qualified institutional buyers (QIB) private share placement by Indiabulls Financial Services.

The Indiabulls Financial Services placements follows Indiabulls Real Estate's $550m qualified institutional placement (QIP) in May, which Amarchand and Clifford Chance also acted on.

Guptan had been at Amarchand from 1999 and was made a partner in Mumbai in 2006, before being poached by Clifford Chance in August 2008.

Amarchand managing partner Cyril Shroff had told The Lawyer at the time of Guptan's hire that international firms were building distrust at an institutional and industrial level by poaching Indian lawyers.

Nevertheless, he added that Amarchand would continue working with Clifford Chance. "For us it is business as usual as our second level is strong with capital markets partners Yash Ashar and Arjun Lall filling in for Rahul," he said.

Ashar is understood to be closely involved in Amarchand's current Indiabulls relationship.

Amarchand and Clifford Chance both declined to comment.