AZB & Partners senior partner and chief executive officer (CEO) Abhijit Joshi will leave by 15 November.
It is understood that an announcement was made to AZB’s partnership yesterday about Joshi’s departure.
Joshi confirmed his leaving and that he would explore entrepreneurial pursuits, but declined to comment further.
Joshi is a Mumbai University graduate who became a Bombay Incorporate Law Society solicitor, completing his articles under Amarchand Mangaldas managing partner Cyril in the early nineties. He also became a qualified Solicitor of England & Wales.
From Amarchand, he joined Dua Associates and as a partner in 2001 he joined the Chambers of Zia Mody, as it was then called, as its first lateral partner when Mody’s chambers converted to a partnership of four.
AZB name partner Bahram Vakil joined shortly afterwards, creating CZB, followed by now-J Sagar Associates (JSA) partner Akshay Chudasama, and a merger with Delhi-based Ajay Bahl in 2004 to create AZB & Partners.
Joshi was appointed as AZB’s CEO in 2011, as reported by Legally India at the time, managing the Western region of the firm – the Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune offices - alongside AZB Mumbai-based managing partner Mody.
He specialises in corporate and M&A, and has led on such landmark deals as the Rs 5,150 crore Tech Mahindra - Satyam Computer Services merger.
Mody commented: “Abhijit has had a long innings with us and has been a valued member of our Firm. He very much wants to pursue his own entrepreneurial path and start up on his own. We will miss him. We wish him all the very best for the future.”
Comments
No, before people jump on, I am not trying to start any debate regarding the Sols, just curious for the info.
Thanks
Why is this controversial?
Abhijit seems to have been wanting to leave for a while and has been open about it for a very very long time. Having obtained the fancy title, what more was there to ask for? More salary? That would have come at the expense of younger, hungrier partners who are together with Zia the real backbone of the firm. It will be very interesting to see how he fares without the backing of the AZB name, if he is really doing something on his own and not just joining another firm. I suspect not very well, but he is more senior than those who have left before and as a result may be one of the only ones really able to make this work.
I dont think this will have a significant impact on AZB though. It will generate more heat than light.
You seem to have forgotten one important partner who, directly and indirectly through her reputation, generates the most revenue at AZB.
Slightly misleading title. The article makes clear that he was the first lateral hire as a partner, but that is different to being the first ever partner. There were other partners before Abhijit joined.
In your case, I believe that your sources are correct, but we haven't reached out to the partner in question yet for comment.
Seems all Firms are concerned about the numbers game (personnel and profitability, not productivity). One needs to remember, in this field streamlined pyramids and not cylindrical or bell or diamond structures work best.
You don't make sense at all. No law firm (whether Indian, UK, US) is to serve an associate/partner's entrepreneurship ambitions. It is left to the individual.
Secondly and obviously, Firms are in the number game. Just like Ambanis, Adanis, Tatas, etc. Why shouldn't they be?
AZB is an institution and will certainly go on to higher achievements - there can be no doubt. AJ, on the other hand, is a stellar rockstar who will reach his own highs.
Its unfortunate that he wont be doing so with AZB but hey, life goes on right? As some very wise people once said, "no one is indispensable". :)
It has become parts and parcels of several law firms though.
Some firms even have HR Heads and Managers - the biggest joke. The partners interview candidates, evaluates associates, decide on their bonuses, promotes them to the next level, terminates their services - so wtf is the HR manager there for, exactly?
At most foreign firms, that split is usually between managing partner (COO-style responsible for admin), and senior partner (more strategic CEO-style leadership).
But to say that such administrators are not good lawyers is wrong.
However, it's correct to say that most lawyers are NOT good administrators, and some administrators are not good lawyers, but they're not mutually exclusive.
Nine years later it's 'deja vu' once more. The company is seeking to merge with another I.T. company and once again I am going to oppose this merger, but this time I will also be seeking to strike down 'ab initio' the original merger which took place in early 2006 based on the legal principle which I believe is followed in mature democracies viz. "Fiat Justitia, Ruat Coleum - Let Justice Be Done, Though The Heavens May Fall." Let us see whether India has become a mature democracy in the last 9 years.
Dig??
Can one attached a photo as a comment? I don't have a URL for it. It's saved on my device.
http://m.imgur.com/upload
And from there embed into LI with the image button above and the imgur url...
Let me know if any problems...
Once uploaded on imgur, you need to right click (or long-tap) on the actual image on the imgur website, and select copy image URL or copy image location.
That URL, ending in .jpg, you'd then post into the LI [ img ] tag.
[If you want to make your own memes, check out http://memegenerator.net/ or to select some pre-made animated gifs, check out http://giphy.com/ or search google images...]
On a related note - I'm hearing rumours about Platinum Partners. But in all probability this will be an AZB break away.
Hearing quite a few rumours about Platinum these days... :)
Will keep tracking...