S&R makes rare partner promos with two 2002 NLS batchmates, grows p’ship by 40%

Thursday, 24 May 2012 By Legally India Law firms

S&R Associates has promoted Bhakta Patnaik in Mumbai and Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan in Delhi to increase its all-equity partnership to seven partners.

Patnaik is a corporate and capital markets lawyer who joined S&R from Linklaters in Singapore and Amarchand Mangaldas in Delhi.

Vijayaraghavan also specialises in corporate and capital markets work, and has earlier worked with Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York, with the former Chief Justice of India BN Kirpal, and briefly with Amarchand in Mumbai, according to a press release from the firm.

Both new partners graduated from NLSIU Bangalore in 2002, with Vijayaraghavan also holding postgraduate degrees from Oxford University and Columbia law school in New York.

S&R Associates, which was started in 2005, now consists of 40 lawyers and seven partners, across two offices in Delhi and in Mumbai, which was opened in 2010.

Legally India has not reported any lateral partner hires or partnership promotions at S&R since 2009.

S&R’s other partners are co-founding partners Sandip Bhagat and Rajat Sethi who specialise in transactional work, Niti Dixit who primarily practices litigation, as well as transactional partners Juhi Singh and Uday Walia.

Comments

S&R Rocks 25 May 2012, 04:51

+2 -0

VV and BP rock!!

Equity or salary? 25 May 2012, 04:52

+0 -0

Have they been made equity partners or salary partners?

Clarify 25 May 2012, 06:01

"S&R Associates has promoted Bhakta Patnaik in Mumbai and Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan in Delhi to increase its all-equity partnership to seven partners"...clearly equity.

Nalsarite 25 May 2012, 05:53

+1 -0

I had the opportunity of working with Mr. Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan during my short internship in S&R. He is not only a great lawyer, but also a great person. Wish him all success in his new role.

Value of Education 25 May 2012, 06:18

Good to see law firms giving credit for post-grad degrees in their partnership track. Otherwise there appears to be a 2 year differential here. Or it may just be that the track in Delhi and Mumbai are different

Not so sure 25 May 2012, 07:02

+4 -0

most firms are under pressure to promote people of the same batch together, except of course when someone diverted to something not very relevant. On the other issue, both these guys have less experience on Indian law than even the year 2005 partners other firms have made up.

So Sure 25 May 2012, 09:41

+3 -0

That these two guys can teach all the year 2005 partners from any firm- the law!

wonder why so sure 25 May 2012, 10:25

so were they advising Indian law in NY/Sing? or you think they have gained more experience in short time in India that other BigLaw lawyers have not in more years here? or you think business lawyers dont need to learn knowledge or gain experience? or your comment is for the sake of it?

Jokes apart 25 May 2012, 19:04

[quote name="wonder why so sure"]so were they advising Indian law in NY/Sing? or you think they have gained more experience in short time in India that other BigLaw lawyers have not in more years here? or you think business lawyers dont need to learn knowledge or gain experience? or your comment is for the sake of it?[/quote]

As far as experience is concerned, I think what's relevant is the experience gained in dealing with complex issues and in gaining client trust. Top notch foreign law firms teach that much more than any Indian firm. These guys seem to have gone to Linklaters and Cravath. These are some of the top most law firms in the world. Surely their experience in doing complex deals counts for more than the documentary due diligence experience gained by Indian associates. Also remember, they have both done almost 5 years of Indian law- enough to know enough about Indian law.

total crap 25 May 2012, 19:24

From experience I can say that S&R does not typically give you credit for an LL.M. This guy seems to be an exception. Firms like AMSS are much ahead realizing the value addition of an LL.M.

Delhi Lawyer 25 May 2012, 08:42

How is the firm P&A Law doing ? Do they still recruit people based on connections such as judge's kin n all ?

former colleague London 25 May 2012, 08:43

well done Bhakta. he is truly the person to go for cap market work in India. Pretty positive reviews as an international counsel and now with an Indian firm

Go BP! 25 May 2012, 09:47

Bhakta rocks :D

He's a gem of a person.

Anon 25 May 2012, 10:10

Both are excellent lawyers

Delhi Lawyer 30 May 2012, 05:18

The reason partner promotions in S&R are rare is cause the working envionment is so unpleasant that most associates tend to leave in a few years. Therefore, there is not a single junior associate who has made it through the ranks at S&R. Its impossible. Compare this with the new AMSS partner class - almost all are AMSS trained right out of law school - shows which firm offers associates the ability to grow.

Point is being missed! 30 May 2012, 09:14

The firm has not been around long enough to have the first set of entirely home grown partners. The reason why partner promotion in S&R are rare is because the firm is small in size. With 40 odd lawyers, which firm can have partners made up more often than what they have! I think it is not correct to call this promotion 'rare' - maybe LI was trying to create some sort of sensation here as it did when S&R launched Mumbai. I didnt understand what the big deal really was then and is this time.

Legal eye 17 Jun 2012, 09:58

Bhakta is an excellent lawyer - solution oriented, commercially savvy and has strong legal fundamentals. He is well regarded by the banks, domestically and in Singapore and Hong Kong. Comparing him and Venx to 2005 lawyers - just because those are home grown , made up on grounds of loyalty and are yet to prove themselves beyond AMSS standing or in the international law firm arena, is a joke. There is no substitute for expertise and skill, which can only be honed over the years. S& R has clear cut winner with Bhakta on their hands. - GS, client

Capital Markets Lawyer 17 Jun 2012, 12:03

Bhakta is easily one of the finest capital markets lawyers in India - and has the rare combination of both debt and equity experience, coupled with Linklaters blue chip training. This is something which is lacking in Indian capital markets lawyers who have no overseas experience. Venkatesh similarly has international M&A and equity capital markets experience.

Lawyer 17 Jun 2012, 12:30

+1 -1

And S&R has an all equity real partnership. Unlike other Indian law firms. This is attributable to Bhagat and Rajat's international training and broadmindedness. Its difficult to make a home grown partner and S&R only started in 2005 and no one makes a real partner with 6 years experience. Do the math, guys! It is not a family run firm of favourites where people make partner before they are due or clients dont get real value of partner time.

update? 24 Jul 2012, 06:50

why is bhakta on hardly any SandR capital market deal being done out of bombay? he is based out of bombay and he is a capital markets lawyer. maybe this is not accurate but this is what has been observed.

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