Allen & Overy (A&O) has appointed two Singapore-based partners, Sheila Ahuja and Pallavi Gopinath Aney, as joint chairs of its India group, after the departure of London-based former India head Sanjeev Dhuna.

According to the firm, the firm’s India group consists of more than 100 partners and associates globally.

Ahuja leads the India arbitration vertical at the firm and has worked at A&O for her entire career since graduating from the University of Hong Kong and Cambridge University.

Aney heads up the India capital markets practice, having joined the firm only in 2019 from Baker & McKenzie and had worked in India for two years after graduating from NLSIU Bangalore in 2004 before heading to Singapore.

Ahuja commented in a statement: “We are proud to be fronting a diverse and successful group in the form of Allen & Overy’s India Group and look forward to leading it with a new perspective.”

Aney added: “Our core focus will be to provide our clients with a combination of quality legal services and innovative solutions against the backdrop of our lawyers’ deep-rooted understanding of India.”

A&O senior partner Wim Dejonghe continued: “Sheila and Pallavi’s expertise and knowledge of the Indian market makes them two of the top India-focused lawyers. They offer complementary skills with their respective disputes and transactional focused backgrounds and will together build on an already highly successful India practice.”

Aney has become the second NLSIU graduate to join management at A&O this year, following from Gautam Narasimhan who became co-managing partner of the firm's Singapore office.