Say what you will but the start of NLSIU Bangalore’s recruitment season is still a watershed moment. It indicates future growth sentiments of firms, levels of domestic and foreign competition and the recruitment committee’s skill at dealing with delicate law firms where being first to hire is for many a mark of pride.

The coastline also appears to be receding every year: four law firms hit NLS’ campus a whole month earlier than ever before, hiring 29 students to start in 2012 (yes nearly two years from now), as most law schools including NLS, are still trying to place the last of the 2011 batch.

Plenty of activity internally at firms this financial year as the first of the expected mobility reared its head. Long-standing Majmudar partner Anoop Narayanan is set to start a new law firm firm, as Majmudar also made one new equity partner.

SN Gupta & Co – or as SNG & Partners as its corporate practice is now called – has innovated and proved opportunistically strategic in taking on Ashurst’s former India heads and others on consultancy to launch a nuclear law practice.

At ELP two partnership promotions were made in Mumbai as its Pune outpost welcomed its first partner with a lateral hire from KPMG.

And Kennedy’s best friend and insurance super-niche firm Tuli & Co has continued what is a good partnership promotion record by making up its fifth.

The extra man- and woman-power will be useful if the latest Society of Indian Law Firm (SILF) and Bar Council of India (BCI) plans come to fruition. Up to 20 law firm lawyers are to go on full-time secondment to the BCI to help on improving regulation of the law firm sector.

One would hope that having law firmites sitting with the BCI would at least help the regulator to understand them better; one could fear that having law firms in bed with the BCI regulator can also lead to a watering down of necessary regulations to protect their interest.

The BCI is apparently also losing little time to keep up the legal education reform momentum: the next bar exam is to take place on 12 June.

No doubt high on the success of Team India at the World Cup, Amarchand and Kochhar went head-to-head in the Delhi cricket final.

Finally, nothing is safe yet in the Mooting Premier League sponsored by Allen & Overy, as big international and domestic moots are yet to come. For now, NLSIU cleaned up this week at the Oxford Media Moot, performing alongside NUJS, which could still be in with a chance of winning.

Deals of the Week

• How IMAX 3D cinemas will come to PVR India (with Luthra & Luthra)
• JSA, Dua manage $135m Fisher Sanmar JV buy-out
• MMB Legal for Teamlease in Rs 100 cr PE investment with DSK, Wadia G
• Amarchand, P&A reprise Schneider connections with $115m Digilink takeover

Legal News Wire

• 2G case pressure builds: Uday Lalit, Venugopal turn up heat
• No more Britisher ‘lordships’, P&H bar to call judges ‘your honour’
• Ayes for NLU-D, NLS Bangalore at Nalsar Brit Parliament debate

Best of Blogs

• The Constitution of India doesn’t recognize autocrats in legallyspeaking's blog
• Merits and demerits of 2011 Budget and What's for Legal Industry! in abhyudaybhotika's blog
• STAND WITH ANNA HAZARE in jpseehra's blog
• Enabling school kids to fight corruption with information: Petitition- RTI draft ... in The Fourth Monkey's blog
• Legally Drawn: We want our lawyers to wear what we think lawyers wear in Legally Drawn's blog

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