K Law, also known as Krishnamurthy & Co, has started an office in London and promoted three lawyers to associate partner level as it is beginning to ramp up its Chennai office from Bangalore.
The London office consists of Rukmini Roychowdhury, who has been promoted to associate partner, having been with the firm since 2009 after a year at DSK Legal.
Bangalore partner Shwetambari Rao said that the aim of a presence in London, which was headed up by Roychowdhury but did not yet include a physical office space, would be to assist and target clients from Europe and the UK looking to enter India.
In Bangalore corporate lawyers Abhinav Singh and Priamvada Princeton have also been promoted to associate partner.
Roychowdhury is a 2005 graduate from ILS Pune and completed an LLM in commercial laws from Cardiff University in 2006. Singh had joined the firm from Crawford Bayley in 2009.
Princeton had joined the firm in 2008, having graduated in 2006 from Bangalore University. She then completed a postgraduate in intellectual property laws at NLSIU Bangalore and an LLM in international economic laws from the University of Warwick in the UK in 2008, followed by a stint at law firm Kris & Kolloth.
South India
K Law has also moved to a new office of around 6,500 square feet in the Bangalore city centre near the UB City building from its previous office of only 1,500 square feet.
Rao said that there were around 35 to 40 lawyers now working in Bangalore, with space in the new office for another 15 to 20 lawyers.
Since the beginning of the year Rao noted that she had also been travelling once a month to the firm’s Chennai office of around four lawyers. “There's a lot of work going on there but we are overseeing everything from the Bangalore office [at the moment] and want to make it a little more self sufficient.”
The Chennai office has primarily been an execution office focusing on due diligence, litigation and trademarks issues, since one of the national trademarks registries is based in the city.
Photo by Moyan Brenn
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absolutely fantastic.
supposed to have a good team and fantastic deal flows.
kudos
Of course, the Indian legal market is closed to offshore firms. One of the arguments (to be fair, not the only one) used for not opening the market is that the UK and US are not open markets themselves. This just demonstrates that Indian firms can open offices offshore in the UK and the US as several others have - and exposes this argument as incorrect.
Perhaps the debate about opening up the market can now focus on more relevant arguments such as the ban on advertising, limit on partners and the use of LLPs which will provide a more even playing field for Indian firms?
40 ppl in bengaluru is a large office and seems that they are doing very well......
my best wishes to them..............
Never even heard of them….
And one person does not make an office..does it !!!!
why such hate bro...
I worry for K Law and all the other people you may not have heard of. I'm sure it keeps them up at night.
www.legallyindia.com/201302123434/Law-firms/k-law-hires-ex-thakker-partner-patnaik-from-accelerator
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Anything else you wanna hear??
They are doing well..
Doesn matter if one or twenty people in london office.
Your display name says it all...dazed and confused. Have you worked at K Law to know what it is???? No one is asking you to get excited am pretty sure with all the confusion going on in your head about how client development happens you'll blow a fuse.
as i said haters will be haters..
enough said.
K Law is a family run firm, headed by a brother and sister team. Simple as that. It's a factual assertion.
I'm not sure why you would read so much into an assumed comment i.d. - I am no more Dazed and Confused on this matter than you are of the Chiroptera, although others who know you better may differ in that assessment.
And remembering one of the founders from her wild and early days - this is a tribute! [...]
Dear Dazed and Confused,
I will let your disdain and empty rhetoric pass off as your ignorance rather than your innate arrogance.
But it would be appropriate if you commented on a public forum while maintaining a sense of balance and some context.
Without getting into a slugging match (because one can’t fight with pigs, without getting dirty), a few fun facts are placed hereunder to correct your pre conceived and misplaced notions:
a) From what I understand, the non-family partners at K Law now outnumber the family partners, hence showcasing the changing nature of the firm;
b) There have been non-family members since the past decade and hence the disintegration as envisaged in your comments seem to be a little far-fetched ; and
c) This article is about the growth of an organization rather than an individual and while taking pot shots (under the garb of anonymity) may get you a few comments, raise eyebrows and even chuckles, it does not lead to any meaningful discourse and is frankly just cheap.
Best Regards,
not Dazed and Confused
[...]
My basic point holds: K Law is simply another in the long line of Mom & Pop, Sis & Bro, Bro & Bro, etc... shops. It's no more a change to see this firm grow than it is to see the sons of Scindia and Pilot take over. Same old same old. "Peel off" firms indeed!
And the old canard of having an office when a former associate marries and stays abroad - how tired is that?
She'll go around town handing out cards, hovering about conferences on "New Opportunitites in a Growing India," taking meetings, pull in a "due diligence" here or there...the first child will come...we won't hear much about the "office" after that.
Maybe LI could set up an allied site or option within the posts where we could make bets on such predictions. The proceeds can go to charity. Rs. 100 goes to an agreed-upon charity right away, and the main bet goes to the winner's charity after a certain point. "Banter for a good cause."
I am sure you must be knowing how many of them are equity partners...
Developing a firm is a journey..people come and go, but not necessarily in bad blood. Lets not condemn a firm for departures. Departures is something which every single firm has tasted at some point.
Lets be optimistic.
@Kian: Wish to read more about such upcoming firms..enough of Big Law news.
All the best k law.
@Kian: I think LI needs to check the headlines more appropriately.."Huge" office... wouldnt "shifts to a bigger office" been an apt title ...lets keep the reporting unbiased..unless these headlines are manufactured by the law firms themselves...
We mentioned in the story that there was no office space in London yet, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that someone on the payroll of the firm, as a partner, is based in London full-time, which is certainly significant.
The reporting on this is fine as far as it goes. The Bangalore office is indeed large. Dramatically increased overhead is usually a bad sign, but prices are down in central BLR right now, so maybe they got a deal. Managing partners usually sleep a little less well when they quadrupe their office space overhead - the cost that never sleeps! - so good luck to them.
As far as London goes, Kian has a pronounced case of Anglophilia. I'm surprised the headline wasn't "Naina and her Bro Set up Anglo-Indian Partnership. To take Blighty by Storm."
To clarify, I have nothing against women lawyers or people working from home...but I believe that theres more to the story which unfortunately always gets lost in the Big Lawfirm vs Small Lawfirm discussion... The economics of the appointments are never disclosed..are they? Well, the hearsay is that its just a titular position...nothing wrong in that...many firms have done it in past...
@Kian: Never lived in Bangalore, so no idea ..because by Mumbai standards, it doesnt sound so huge...would expect you to report the progresses of other law firms (who move from smaller offices to bigger ones) with such vigour and enthusiasm. All said and done..all the best to K Law...
p.s. I think you should do a survey of associate - satisfaction at different law firms...would surprise you with the results...I have heard some pretty weird stories..lol...
Keep up with the good work.
Lets not be judgmental. As business grows, I am sure, they will move into a 'huge' office in London as well...
When FoxMandal do it, why can't K Law??
All the best to upcoming firms for breaking the monopoly of the Big Law and the Magic Circle firms.
In the background of crimes against women on the rise in India, it is really really sad that the urban educated speak this way. This sort of misogynistic narrow mindedness does not help any woman in any workplace or indeed in the sphere of life. Has the AP shared her personal plans for a family with Dazed and Confused and specifically provided him with the information that she plans to abandon the London office thereafter? Unless this is the case, this comment is in very poor taste and I'm surprised at how no one pointed this out. Also, what is the point (other than being unable to deal with one's jealousy or insecurities) in writing something off immediately at its inception. Should we not atleast give it a year or so (the bare minimum it takes to set up a practice) before we make sweeping statements. More than anything however, as a reader and a woman lawyer, I am ashamed and apologise on behalf of dazed and confused. Best of luck in London.
Quoting Womanpartner:
Well neither am I a current nor a former K Law employee...however it is very strange that we call this a healthy discussion..because as long as we praise people, it is appreciated...one negative comment and no one takes it well...criticism is a part of healthy discussion...if people can take praise, they should be able to face criticism too..If praises are showered online, then criticisms may also come...n there are many who would choose to agree or disagree...doesnt matter..
One sincere advice...KLaw shud seriously get rid of the likes of certain so called (senior) associates who treat their juniors like trash and hire more people like shankar, praveen and priti who are good mentors...a firm rises because of its people... more people leave their jobs because of the high handedness of the immediate seniors (who are seniors just because they went to law school earlier and not that they are smart), while their super seniors are always unaware of what is happening with the juniors...
The firm can be a great firm...if it looks to take care of its associates and not make them feel like slaves or servants...
All said and done..All the best..
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