Dua Associates

Dua Associates has reabsorbed its former fee earner R Ganesh, in its Chennai office as partner in the firm, after Dua’s Chennai partner Aarthi Narayanan left to join Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.

Dua Associates Chennai partner Aarthi Lakshmi Narayanan has joined Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas as a partner focusing on real estate.

Dua Associates merged with Thakore Jariwala & Associates in Mumbai and SAK & Associates in Chandigarh, bringing three new equity partners into the Dua partnership, according to Bar & Bench.

The firm also added three lawyers from the two cities as salaried partners, promoted five of its managers to partners in Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, and re-absorbed one former lawyer as partner in Delhi thus making nine new salaried partners in all.

Mumbai

Thakore Jariwala’s founding partners Hetal Thakore and ZA Jariwala joined Dua as equity partners, and its partners Agnes Baradia and Jyoti Ghag joined as salaried partners. Thakore and Jariwala focus on litigation.

Chandigarh

SAK managing partner Siddhartha Kumar joined Dua as equity partner and independent Chandigarh lawyer Aman Bahri joined as a salaried partner. Bahri is a litigator, Kumar focusses on corporate.

Delhi

Managers Amarta Roy and Suneera Tandon were promoted to parter. Independent litigator Munawwar Naseem re-joined the firm, as partner, after a gap of five years.

Bangalore

Managers Rayappa Hadagali and P K Shrikara were promoted to partner.

Chennai

Manager Arjun Suresh was promoted to partner.

Dua Associates managing partner Ranji Dua has confirmed that senior disputes partner Shiraz Patodia and her team would remain at the firm, less than a month after she had given notice to join Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) in Delhi, as first reported by Legally India on 1 July.

Dua Associates senior Delhi litigation partner Shiraz Patodia, who had reportedly agreed to join Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) earlier this month, may stay at Dua Associates after all, according to four authoritative sources.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Covington Burling advised the world’s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev on its exit from a joint venture with RJ Corp, which was advised by Dua Associates.

JSA partner Upendra Nath Sharma, senior Associate Rishabh Gupta and associate Ritunjay Gupta with intermitten strategic inputs from JSA chairman and founder Jyoti Sagar acted for the Belgium-headquartered brewery, which will now operate through Crown Beers India.

Dua partner Himanshu Narayan, manager Amarta Roy and associate Shloka acted for RJ Corp.

The deal will allow Anheuser-Busch InBev, whichhas over one-fourth of the world’s market share for beer including brands such as Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Beck’s, Leffe and Hoegaarden, to expand in India independently through additional brand investment and capacity expansion, explained JSA in its press release.

AB InBev will exit the joint venture, paying anywhere between $100m and $150m to Ravi Jaipuria-owned RJ Corp, reported Mint.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) corporate and M&A principal associate Kunal Mehra will join Dua Associates as a partner, reported Bar & Bench.

Last week SAM hired senior Dua litigation partner Shiraz Patodia and two partners for its Delhi litigation team.

Dua Associates' second-largest equity holder Shiraz Patodia will join Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas with her team of partners Priyanka Sharma Goswami and Anusuya Sadhu Sinha, and manager Saloni Tuteja and senior associate Amrita Sharma.

Indian law firms have taken a deeper interest in policy formulation in the last five years than they have before, however they are wary in a big way of being seen as “lobbyists”.

Dua Associates has promoted three to equity partner and one to non-equity partner, reported Bar & Bench citing "reliable sources".

Dinesh Mathur and Vikram Dholakia were promoted in the litigation practice in Delhi, while Srinivas BR got the nod in Bangalore's corporate practice. Senior associate Jay Badola was lifted into non-equity partnership, according to the website. [Bar & Bench]

Legally India had reported that Mathur was hired as an equity partner by Dua in 2010, citing managing partner Ranji Dua, in the aftermath of a the massive Tatva Legal breakaway from the firm.

Twenty months after the Supreme Court (SC) had given 10 weeks to complete serving notices on foreign law firms, the Bar Council of India (BCI) appeal against foreign law firms practicing in India, remains stuck at the service stage.

14 Indian law firm partners and senior associates will be named as “up and comers” and “associates to watch” in legal directory Chambers and Partners’ yet-to-be released Asia Pacific 2014 guide.

As year-end approaches and law firms send out a flood of press releases for the annual deals league tables, Legally India has wrapped up the most interesting ones in one tidy package.

Dua Associates Hyderabad practice head Varalakshmi Tadepalli has restarted her own firm, as 4 new partners join Dua.

Dua Associates advised advertisement seller Amagi Media Labs in its second fundraising round of Rs 27.5 crore ($4.7m) from global venture capital (VC) fund Mayfield FVCI, which was advised by Economic Laws Practice (ELP).

Dua Associates Mumbai partner Vinod Joseph with senior associate Sugandha Kamal and associate Rajat Agarwal acted for Amagi which, according to Medianama, targets city-based advertisers wanting to broadcast ads on TV.

ELP Mumbai partner Yashojit Mitra acted for Mayfield, which has $2.7bn assets under management, according to VCCircle.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Bangalore-based milling machine maker Milltec Group in Mauritian fund Multiples’ buy-out of half its equity for Rs 250 crores ($43.3m). Multiples was advised by Khaitan & Co Bangalore.

JSA partners Sajai Singh and Gerald Manoharan, senior associate Prashant Kumar and associate Roy George acted for Milltec, also advising it on documentation for a Rs 35 crore loan from L&T Finance.

Khaitan & Co Bangalore partner Ganesh Prasad and principal associate Vineet Shingal and associate Sanjay Khan acted for Multiples.

Dua Associates Bangalore partner Srinivas BR acted for the selling shareholders.

Four promoted internally as ex-FF consultant Priya Christian joined as a retained competition partner.