Khaitan & Co environment law practice partner Nawneet Vibhaw has joined Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) in Delhi as a partner.

Vibhaw is a pureplay specialist in environmental law, making him one of only a small number of partners in India and an even smaller number of partners in the biggest law firms (if any) to do so exclusively.

At SAM he will be officially responsible for environmental advisory and disputes.

He had joined Khaitan in 2017 from Luthra & Luthra, as L&L Partners was then called.

Between 2011 and 2015 he had worked in academia, first as an assistant professor with CNLU Patna, followed by NLU Delhi, where he led its environmental research and advocacy centre, and then at JGLS Sonepat for two years as assistant professor, assistant dean and executive director of its Centre for Environment and Climate Change.

Vibhaw is a 2008 Nalsar Hyderabad graduate with an LLM from Lewis & Clark Law School in environment, energy and climate change laws.

We have reached out to him and SAM for comment.

Khaitan executive director Amar Sinhji commented: “We acknowledge and appreciate Nawneet’s specialisation in and contribution to our Environment practice. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.” Khaitan would continue offering environmental law as a niche within its dispute resolution practice.

For those interested in the practice area, corporate law firm environmental law practice in India includes advising companies on the regulatory framework relating to environment, dealing with environmental disputes before the NGT and Supreme Court, which relate to various aspects like air and water pollution, biodiversity and forests, waste management and water conservation, wildlife protection and climate change.

And as (some) businesses increasingly aim to balance sustainability with profits, environmental lawyers may advise them on this.