Aijt Mishra, who had joined Wragge & Co as a close best friend focusing on Indian law, has joined Penningtons Manches as its London-based India group co-head.

Mishra told Legally India: “As a law firms we have a very impressive India desk and have an excellent track record as far as Indian market is concerned.   In nutshell I would say we are a good fit for Indian business looking for overseas expansion.

“I have in past and will continue to split my time between India and UK to assist Indian business achieve their international ambitions.”

Wragge Lawrence Graham India head Baljit Chohan commented on Mishra’s departure: “Following the merger of Wragge & Co and Lawrence Graham we reviewed our India Practice and found the combined firm had an extensive practice given the Wragge experience in Indian M&A and the Lawrence Graham formidable Indian AIM practice.  This meant we had the market penetration combined that each lacked individually. 

“As a consequence Ajit reviewed his own aims and decided to pursue an alternative path in which we wish him every success.”

Mishra had set up his own London firm City Law Practice in alliance with Wragges in 2012, after quitting as FoxMandal’s London head.

He had also intended on starting a Delhi office, which, however, did not materialise. When asked, Mishra explained that the timing for Delhi expansion was “not the best” at that time for his transactional practice area specialisation, as “not much inbound investments were happening at that point”.

Penningtons India group co-head Rustam Dubash, who founded the firm’s India practice in 1992, said in a press release: “Ajit has carved out a strong reputation for himself both in India and the UK… The breadth of his experience, in particular his work supporting inward investment into the UK, makes him a good fit for our practice. His arrival will enable us to reinforce our corporate offering and demonstrates our commitment to the ongoing growth of our team.”

Previous Penningtons India co-head Saionton Basu had left as a partner to join Duane Morris in late 2014.

The press release stated:

Ajit is a dual qualified (India and England and Wales) mergers and acquisitions specialist who also has a strong track record in commercial and intellectual property work. Prior to leading Wragge Lawrence Graham's India capability, he was managing partner of Fox Mandal's London office for five years. He regularly speaks at various UK-India business forums and is on the editorial board of Business Law International, an International Bar Association publication.

In 2009 Ajit received the prestigious National Law Day Award, acknowledging him as a role model for lawyers in India and abroad. He started his legal career on the corporate desk of New Delhi Law Offices, a boutique law firm based in the Indian capital.