foreign law firms
Linklaters India partner set to join Magic Circle rival.
Amarchand Mangaldas Mumbai principal associate Satyam Sharat will join Ashurst’s Jakarta office as a foreign legal consultant in a month.
He specialises in banking, having joined Amarchand in 2006 from JurisCorp after graduating from NLIU Bhopal in 2005.
Ashurst India head Richard Gubbins said: “We were looking for a common-law trained associate to assist in dealing with our foreign clients in Indonesia. The fact that Satyam is an Indian national from an Indian law firm is a bonus since Indian investors are quite active in Indonesia.
“The work that our Jakarta Office has done for Indian clients includes work for Essar, [TVS Motor Company], airport developers [such as GVK] and mine investors. Satyam will be a great asset for us to attract additional work from India because he comes to us with excellent credentials.”
India group managing associate promo’d.
Everything you need to know.
London international firms beat US firms in recognition and volume stakes.
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy Singapore of counsel Sanjeet Malik, specialising in the India practice group, corporate and disputes, has left the firm to pursue a business opportunity in India.
In a departure email he wrote:
I'm writing to let you know that after more than two enjoyable years at Milbank, I have resigned to return to India to pursue some exciting opportunities in financing of renewable power projects that serve rural off-grid communities in North India.
He has a 2001 law degree from Cornell Law School but is not qualified to practise in India. Malik had joined Milbank in April 2011 from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. He was unavailable for comment by email at the time of going to press.
Magic circle law firm Allen & Overy promotes 2001 NLSIU Bangalore graduate and banking counsel Gautam Narasimhan.
Senior counsel Anil Divan wants practical position paper on liberalisation from government.
Legal services in India grew by an average of 8.2 per cent each year between 2005 and 2012, according to the 2012-13 economic survey that was prepared by the finance ministry. It also noted that “liaison offices” by foreign law firms were permitted under Indian law and recommended “exploring” greater access for foreign law firms, which would “improve the competitiveness of the Indian market”.
Clifford Chance India group partner and Amarchand Mangaldas alumnus Sumesh Sawhney has resigned to join Jones Day in London.
London-headquartered firm Clifford Chance has entered into a Formal Law Alliance (FLA) in Singapore with newly-founded litigation boutique Cavenagh Law, under the Singapore government's new structure for international firms to operate in Singapore and offer local law advice.
The boutique firm was set up by three lawyers from Singaporean law firm Wong Partnership and will be able to share up to 33 per cent of its profits with its international alliance firm with the recently expanded FLA structure. [The Lawyer]
Clifford Chance was previously in a joint law venture (JLV) alliance with WongPartnership in Singapore for six years and in a best friendship with AZB & Partners in India until early 2011.
The smallest foreign law firms’ (1-20 lawyers) marketing budgets have grown to $155,000 out of which more than $17,000 was spend related to their website every year. Total marketing spend could be more than $7.5m overall, and more than $46,500 on websites for the biggest law firms.
Most foreign law firms consider websites central to their marketing efforts, and 38 per cent of the 184 law firms surveyed went for a website revamp more than once annually.
Furthermore, a total of 38 per cent of law firms' total marketing budget was now spent in online marketing activities.
The survey on corporate law firms was conducted by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell recently [Report/Summary]
White & Case has elected 28 lawyers to partner globally, including two non-Indian lawyers who are connected to the firm’s India practice. In New York, intellectual property (IP) associate Raj Gandesha became a partner, while in Singapore local partner Nandakumar Ponniya was elevated to the global partnership.
Gandesha is a Canadian national qualified to practice in New York, who has been previously involved in events with the US-India Business Council and studies about the IP landscape in India, according to several websites.
Ponniya is a Singaporean national and qualified lawyer who is triple qualified in New York, England and Singapore and specialises in arbitration, having advised in various India-related disputes. [White & Case press release]
Union law minister Salman Khursheed said that the entry of foreign lawyers should be left for the bar to decide, welcomed the All India Bar Exam (AIBE), said the government was thinking about reforming the collegium system of judicial appointments, while admitting that pendency was a huge problem, in an interview with legal website Bar & Bench published today. Legally India brings you the digested read and highlights.
Baker & McKenzie’s global India practice will be headed by the firm’s Singapore partner of 10 years Ashok K Lalwani effective this month, after David Jacobs, who was the India practice head since 2005, retired as the firm’s partner. Lalwani was already heading the firm’s Asia Pacific and US securities practice.
Breaking: Law firms Allen & Overy and Trilegal have ended their five-year best friend relationship, according to a press release from both firms.
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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.
Again this week, LI’s readers got to excavating the bizarre, fecund and true layers beneath LI stories. Here’s the best of the best.
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.