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This article, like many others, was first published exclusively for long-term supporters, 2 hours before everyone else got to read it.

Bharat Vasani permanently leaves behind Tatas with legal function of 450-lawyers, will join private practice

Bharat Vasani looks forward to a month off, then private practice
Bharat Vasani looks forward to a month off, then private practice

Tata Sons former general counsel (GC) Bharat Vasani, has completed the handover of reins at India’s largets conglomerate’s parent company, and will be retiring from tomorrow.

“I am certainly going to be spending quality time with my family after a legal career of 39 years,” said Vasani, adding that he has already been giving lectures at Mumbai law schools, colleges and professional bodies, and would also continue to be spending time on academics in future.

After a month, he said, he would look into entering private practice. “One satisfaction I have is there’s not a single legal complexity that has not come across my desk,” he said, noting that he had a few available options that he would consider after the coming weeks.

He had joined Tata in 2000, in which time the legal function at all Tata companies has grown to more than 450 people across the world.

He said that Tata Consulting Services (TCS) had the biggest legal team at around 110, while Tata Motors and Tata Steel each had around 40 lawyers, while Tata Power companies also included a large number of lawyers.

Tata Sons itself was around 12 lawyers strong, with his successor GC Shuva Mandal, who had joined from Shardul Amarchand in May 2017, having hired around half-a-dozen people into the function.

The new hires include, as previously reported by Bar & Bench:

  • 2006-NLSIU Bangalore graduate Dhyanesh Sabnis from Aditya Birla Dubai,
  • 2004-NLSIU graduate Aravind Balajee from Allen & Overy Singapore,
  • 2010-NUJS Kolkata graduate Prateek Shroff from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), where he'd spent 7 years before a stint at Trilegal, who had joined as senior legal counsel,
  • 2007-NLU Jodhpur grad Abhinav Surana from left Juris Corp as a senior legal counsel in September, following three years at CAM and six years at Herbert Smith Freehills.
  • 2003-GLC Mumbai graduate Gauri Rao in Mumbai from Herbert Smith Freehills.

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