The six-year-old technology and corporate law firm TRA Law, co-founded by partners Anirudh Rastogi and Jitender Tanikella, has dissolved.

The two NLIU Bhopal 2006 graduates had set TRA in 2012 in Delhi, having both started their career at Nishith Desai Associates in 2006.

Tanikella specialises in corporate, investments and regulatory structuring advice, and had moved to Luthra & Luthra in 2007 after a year at Nishith Desai before setting up TRA.

He commented: “We are dissolving TRA law, as we contemplate separate practices and new endeavours. I thank all of our wonderful clients, colleagues and friends for a great journey. I have presently setup my independent practice to support my clients and will be forming up future plans soon.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed being at the forefront of the exciting startup/ early stage business and emerging technology world.”

Rastogi’s ‘reason for being’

Managing partner Rastogi, whose practice in corporate law and investments with 13 fee-earners is now operating under the firm Ikigai Law, explained: “It is simply a rebranding exercise since Jitender has decided to explore other opportunities. Since it was a two-partner structure, the partnership dissolves and is replaced by a proprietorship firm.”

Rastogi added that by next month it would grow to 15 fee-earners.

He said that the name Ikigai was from Japanese philosophy, meaning the “intersection of what you are good at (skills), what you love doing (passion) and what the world needs – your ‘reason for being’".

“We have always been working toward finding our Ikigai,” he added.

Rastogi, after two years at Nishith Desai Associates, had joined O’Melveny & Myers in Singapore from 2008 until returning to India in 2012 to start TRA.

Rastogi specialises in start-ups and technology laws in particular, having for instance advised India’s first private moon mission Team Indus.