Kochhar & Co senior partner and head of its maritime practice, Gautam Bhatikar, has resigned with his team of five lawyers last month.

He had joined in 2016 from ALMT Legal, and has co-headed Kochhar’s Mumbai office since.

The other partner in Kochhar’s Mumbai office is resident senior partner Rupali Sharma.

He declined to comment when contacted but confirmed his resignation would take effect from 8 July.

His team includes 1 principal associate and four associates.

Kochhar chairman Rohit Kochhar commented: “I confirm that Gautam will be leaving the firm next month and he and his team have our best wishes for their future endeavours. We have already on boarded a couple of very competent litigation lawyers as replacements and are in the process of further strengthening the litigation team.”