Principal associates Adheesh Nargolkar and Niren Patel, specialising in intellectual property (IP) and in corporate and M&A respectively, were given the nod to the pre-equity associate partner rung, legal website Bar & Bench reported today.

Nargolkar began working at WS Kane & Co as an engineer, patent agent and attorney in 2001, joined AZB & Partners in 2006 and moved to Khaitan in December 2010, according to his Linked-in profile. He is a BE graduate of the

Patel, a qualified Bombay Incorporated Law Society solicitor, began his career in 2001 as an articled clerk at Crawford Bayley, graduating from GLC Mumbai in 2003. In 2005 he joined Deval Patel Associates, followed by a move to AZB in 2008, which he left in September 2011 to join Khaitan.