The tax team has heck loads of IPCC/CA Final drop-outs and local law college graduates as trainees. They aren't recruiting fresh assocites but rather getting their work done at half the cost from trainees. Mind you, this system is simply meant to cut costs and not to assess those poor kids. Not only is it exploitative, but also compromises on quality.

Agreed. The fact is the tax & tax lit team is still the largest in ELP by far - evidenced by the fact that, even now, with the problems highlighted by other posts it is refered to as a tax law firm. Suhail, despite having no tax experience is listed as an author on GST/Tax articles/they forwards - there is no reason for that other than insecurity of the new MP. A hit to quality & profitability here affects the whole ELP system, financially & reputationally. They are trying to move away from tax as they've realised these facts, and Suhail can't have more junior partners leading a practices 2-5x his practice size (PE, Corp & Competition, Trade doesn't count as Sanju wholeheartedly leads Trade team, clients are loyal to him, and not ELP).

Why transition what was till a couple of years ago a top 3 tax and tax lit law firm, into a transactional law firm, when over 15 years you couldn't build a significant transactional practice? [...] Why not give up some of your equity to bring a tax rainmaker on board instead to, if nothing else, steady the ship or merge with a smaller tax law firm?

There are really just two peers who could conceivably fill Rohans shoes across tax and tax litigation. None of them are willing to come on board ELP as they have their own firms....ELP has no choice but to diversify given decaying tax practice