Clasis Law Mumbai partner and shipping and international trade head Harsh Pratap has left the firm, shortly after the exit of four other partners of the firm in Mumbai and London, including three co-founding partners.
Pratap graduated from GLC Mumbai in 2001, obtained an LLM in maritime law from the University of Southampton in the UK in 2005, and practiced independently before joining Clasis Law in 2012.
Pratap has declined to comment since last week.
According to a source with knowledge of the firm, Clasis’ Mumbai office is now left with two associates and one partner. Former Juris Corp equity partner Mustafa Motiwala had plans to join the firm in Mumbai, as reported by Bar & Bench in late October, but the firm’s website has not been updated with his name.
Vineet Aneja, Clasis Delhi head and the only one of five co-founding partners remaining at the firm, did not respond to Legally India’s calls and messages seeking comment since last week.
Year of separation
Mumbai litigation partner Sagar Divekar had also formally left the firm in June to go independent.
Divekar graduated from GLC Mumbai in 1994 and followed it with stints with Shaw Wallace & Co, Wadia Ghandy and Trilegal, before joining Clasis Law as a partner in December 2011.
He has not responded to Legally India’s calls for comment since June.
In September, Mumbai project finance head and Clasis co-founder Ishtiaq Ali with partner Damodar Rao left the firm with their team to start their own firm, as reported by Legally India.
In August, co-founder and Mumbai-London partner Sakate Khaitan left with his team this year to start his own firm, as reported by Legally India.
Co-founding partner Shalini Agarwal, who was the other London co-head, had left the firm in March 2013, also to start her own firm.
Clasis was formed by ex-ALMT Mumbai partners Ali, Renu Parekh, and of counsel Rao, with Delhi partner Aneja and Mumbai-cum-London partners Khaitan and Agarwal. Parekh is no longer listed as a partner on the firm’s website.
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Look around... WG (Singapore shut, Ankit leaves), Zia (AJ quits), AMSS (need i say more), Classis (this story), JSA (what to say after Jyotis exit), Not so recent but Kanga... and the list goes on and on....
To be honest, not sure if Clydes even needs such a big India presence, since the work they do can probably be handled by a handful of partners.
Look at India Law Services (ILP) and Ashurst, for example, which are also relatively small, though Ashurst has a bigger India practice than Clydes...
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