Chennai
J Sagar Associates (JSA) has merged with Chennai law firm Vichar Partners, which was set up by alumni from Universal Legal, Dua Associates and Paras Kuhad Associates in 2010.
Universal Legal made up three new partners in its Bangalore and Chennai offices.
Juris Corp partner and Chennai head Hufriz Wadia has resigned, having joined in January to open the office in the city.
Economic Laws Practice (ELP) has opened an office in Bangalore, headed by Mumbai equity partner Nishant Shah, reported Bar & Bench.
The firm will focus on tax and corporate in Bangalore and was looking to finalise a new office in Chennai under senior associate Kartik Sundaram. This would be ELP’s sixth office, alongside its headquarters in Mumbai, and offices in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune.
In April Tarun Gulati and a team of 11 were poached by Ernst & Young (E&Y) affiliate law firm PDS Legal, with ELP rebuilding its Delhi litigation practice two months later with Amarchand Mangaldas lateral hire Kirat Singh and nine others.
Krishnamurthy & Co hopes to attract more UK and European clients from London.
Exclusive: Former Tatva Legal Bangalore co-founding partner Manoj Menon has joined Dua Associates as an equity partner in Bangalore to head the firm’s private equity and M&A practice, three years after he left as a salaried partner at the firm to Tatva.
Juris Corp will open an office in Chennai next week after former Wadia Ghandy associate Hufriz Wadia, who is the sister of long-time Mumbai partner Hoshedar Wadia, joined the firm as partner two weeks ago.
Contrary to the approach taken by the Bar Council of India (BCI), foreign lawyers should be allowed to fly into India temporarily to advise clients and assist in arbitrations, decided the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) in its general board meeting on Saturday, while noting that chartered accountants have been flouting the rules.
Contrary to media reports, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed the Madras high court judgment on foreign law firms, expressly permitting the “fly-in-fly-out” of foreign lawyers, while reiterating the law laid down in the Bombay high court’s Lawyers Collective judgment preventing foreign lawyers from opening up offices in India.
Breaking: The Supreme Court has given 10 weeks to serve 31 foreign law firms and the respondents in the apex court appeal against the AK Balaji Madras writ petition, with the Bar Council of India (BCI) arguing that the law should prohibit foreign lawyers from even temporarily travelling to India to advise clients.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) today filed its long-awaited appeal against the Madras High Court judgment that allowed foreign lawyers limited foreign law practice in India.
Exclusively: Khaitan & Co is actively scouting to open Chennai and Hyderabad offices as Amarchand Mangaldas lateral partner Ganesh Prasad started in the Bangalore office yesterday with a remit to focus on South India.
The ruling in the Chennai writ petition was hailed as pragmatic for solving the nearly two-year-old deadlock foreign firms were in. But frankly it is likely to continue exposing the deficiencies of the 1961 Advocates Act in dealing with modern-day India. And it could possibly plunge a number of industries into a world of pain via the Bar Council of India (BCI).
LI-Mint exclusive: The Chennai High Court has cleared foreign lawyers from flying in and out of India to advise on foreign law, as well as the operations of legal process outsourcing (LPO) outfits, although it added that foreign lawyers would not be allowed to practice domestic law unless they registered with the Bar Council of India (BCI).
Exclusive: Amarchand Mangaldas will launch in Chennai by March with Kochhar & Co Chennai head Dorothy Thomas, followed by re-opening in Ahmedabad with a Pune office pegged for the latter end of this year.
The Madras High Court reserved its judgement yesterday and has begun deliberating on the fate of 31 international law firms and legal process outsourcing (LPO) outfit Integreon, and whether they face a ban of flying into India, after counsel for all sides concluded arguments.
Legally India’s last Mint column in 2011 gives its verdict on some of the past year’s biggest stories related to corporate law firms, with an unashamed slant bias towards UK-Indo relations. Click here to read more.
Exclusive: Chennai Law Associates, which was set up 18 months ago by former Surana & Surana litigator ML Joseph and broken even last month, has moved into larger office and opened an arbitration centre as an additional revenue source.