Most lawyers were hoping for things to slow down by year-end but for many it’s been more a case of pre-year closings and petitions.

Little over one-year old firm Vidhii Partners spread out “horizontally” with a second Vidhii Mumbai office in trendy Bandra, headed by an ex-movie studio legal head. It will focus on media law and clients, an area that only a small handful of firms are effectively targeting.

Courts seem to function somewhat efficiently before holidays trying to wrap up their own affairs.

In the latest of the long-running saga over whether immovable property rentals are subject to service tax, the Delhi High Court has pushed the question back to the Supreme Court after agreeing with its own earlier judgment but ignoring the P&H High Court’s on the same matter.

It also turns out to have been a little too early to congratulate the Competition Commission of India (CCI) when it slapped Kingfisher airlines with a Rs 1 crore fine for not co-operating. The CCI appellate body Compat has now stayed the fine pending further investigations in 2011.

Meanwhile all sides in the bar exam writ petitions have seemingly lost all urgency. Although the apex court has now finally agreed to hear the transfer petition, with most grads now practising at least until March momentum, inertia and incentive have all largely disappeared.

Read the boxes below for more of this week’s cutting-edge litigation, complex deals and more on Raja, 2G and Vodafone.

In the Mooting Premier League - the ultimate test of Indian mooting mettle – the field is now seriously tight and competitive after NUJS bested NLSIU at the first Oxford University media moot in India. Seven national law schools are in the top spots of MPL 2, with SOEL Chennai in eighth.

If you would like to support mooting in Indian law schools please let us know – we are still looking for a generous sponsor to endow the prize-fund.

Delhi law firms have a full-on weekend of T20 cricket ahead – or at least the eight that prevailed in the pool stages and made it to the knock-out rounds. Rivalries are strong, as are batting orders.

The Legally India newsletter, however, will take a break for this year to return in 2011.

So, the Legally India team wishes you, your family and all lawyers in India and abroad a very peaceful festive season and a successful start to 2011.

Deals and Cases

- Majmudar, K&L lead on $57m sale of Thakker & Thakker tech client - Axon, Amarchand, Clifford Chance close $2bn Jindal Stainless debt restructuring - M Dhruva gets SAT relief for Ackruti promoters after SEBI ban; JSA, Crawford Bayley in the wings - M Dhruva clients allege Lavasa in contempt of previous PIL order - Bharuchas, Manu Singhvi lose in Bombay HC v Fali Nariman in landmark Wadia / Raheja property dispute - Amarchand, Wadia Ghandy guide JP Morgan fund’s $25m exit in Raheja builders

Legally News Feed
- SC stays suspension of TN bar council chairman; ex-CJI denies knowledge of ‘influenced’ judge - PIL wants 2G licences handed out by Raja cancelled - SC takes 1% ‘commission’ from Vodafone tax case court deposit, will use the Rs 25 crore to fund itself - Nalsar Hyderabad to start a paralegal course

Odds, Ends & Blogs
- The UrbanDictionary.com war: NLSIU is best college in India because the “average IQ over here is something like 30,000” http://bit.ly/hhSCGB Nalsarites quickly retorted: “The average IQ here beats that of the lesser known law school in Bangalore” http://bit.ly/hNXloJ - Project Cloud: The importance of ExpressO

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