Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi director Paku Khan, who holds a partner equivalent position in the competition law practice, has resigned to join Khaitan & Co in Delhi as a partner.
Amarchand Delhi managing partner Shardul Shroff said: “Paku has resigned on 1st December and still has to serve out a six month's notice period at New Delhi, with the firm as per his terms of contract.
“The firm will relieve him on 31st may 2012/1st June 2012.”
Khan was promoted to a partner level position in October, although he remained with the director job title.
He is qualified to practice in Ireland and the US and is a person of Indian origin (PIO). He is understood to have applied for recognition of his overseas law degree from Vanderbilt College with the Bar Council of India (BCI) so he can qualify in India.
Khan and Khaitan & Co declined to comment at the time of going to press.
Amarchand Mumbai partner Ganesh Prasad resigned to join Khaitan in Bangalore, as reported by Legally India yesterday.
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were ganesh and him recruited together?
What about manas who is still at khaitan? Is he leaving?
Khaitan is a great firm, has one of the lowest attrition rate and has come up before some of these hirings. I am sure we are going to see rise of a formidable firm in Khaitan, and a genuine alternate to AMSS and AZB.
Can such behaviour ever be amicable? I predict more exits!
This is contrary to an erroneous report on another website.
The competition law practice in India is all about learning by doing. There are some like Samir and Anand Pathak who are doing good work, but make no mistakes, they are no experts either. There are getting there. What firms need is young partners who are willing to learn and a bunch of good associates, with good academic background in competition law ( there are a few who spotted the opportunity & have invested in competition focussed llms). As for Khaitan, neither Paku nor [...] fit the bill.
The next criticism is one of lockstep. Since Kaithan has not made any announcement re lockstep, I assume that Kaithan are on an eat what you kill model. Again query if this is the best model when you want to establish yourself in the market as a Tier 1 firm?
If thats true, its quite a coup!
If one were to track Khaitan's hiring in the last two years, one would see a definite design. Khaitan first acquired a couple of guys from JSA. Then there were some good hirings from Indians working in foreign firms. Thereafter, it was AZB. Subsequently, Khaitan acted smartly and promptly in picking up people from Thakker last year after news spread that Thakker was closing. Now, probably, the hunting ground is AMSS.
Mobility of professionals amongst law firms is good for the professionals at large as this will compel the firms to think seriously about things like talent retention and integration. However, at the same time, it must be mentioned that this is not good for the clients of firms from where these professionals exit. Having said that, I really doubt whether exits are going to effect a firm like AMSS, whose core remains intact notwithstanding the departure of the Bharuchas.
Time for AMSS and AZB to start giving serious thoughts about talent retention and the developments in other law firms. However, retention of talent is a matter that needs an understanding of human psycology above all things. Law firms need to be more sensitive on this count. The BCG proposed mechanism may not work out well in India though it may work great abroad. As for Khaitan, it needs to ensure that the lateral hires taken on board in the last two years integrate well with the firm. Secondly, market indications are a little gloomy and Khaitan has to work hard to ensure that there is sufficient work for an increasing work force. A couple of years down the line will actually say whether the hirings were wise or otherwise. In any case, the Indian legal market appears to be volatile and interesting to watch.
Also, Khaitan certainly does seem to have a plan. Watch out for the next wave of hiring, this time for the second rung of principal and senior associates.
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