partnership promotions

ALMT Express Towers partnership at 10; globally 20.

Bumper crop of salaried partner promotions at JSA.

Khaitan & Co has begun the month-long process of evaluating which existing associate partners will be inducted into the firm’s equity partnership across offices, after promoting a total of five principal associates in Mumbai and Delhi to associate partner level effective today (1 April).

Principal associates Adheesh Nargolkar and Niren Patel, specialising in intellectual property (IP) and in corporate and M&A respectively, were given the nod to the pre-equity associate partner rung, legal website Bar & Bench reported today.

Nargolkar began working at WS Kane & Co as an engineer, patent agent and attorney in 2001, joined AZB & Partners in 2006 and moved to Khaitan in December 2010, according to his Linked-in profile. He is a BE graduate of the

Patel, a qualified Bombay Incorporated Law Society solicitor, began his career in 2001 as an articled clerk at Crawford Bayley, graduating from GLC Mumbai in 2003. In 2005 he joined Deval Patel Associates, followed by a move to AZB in 2008, which he left in September 2011 to join Khaitan.

Shearman & Sterling has promoted Hong Kong-based M&A counsel and India co-head Sidharth Bhasin to its partnership.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) has promoted two of its senior associates - Zerick Dastur and Ananya Kumar - to salaried partner.

Dastur is based in Mumbai and specialises in dispute resolution, while also Kumar focuses on dispute resolution from Delhi, according to Bar & Bench.

JSA’s single firm equity partnership is currently full-up at 20, though Aashit Shah was promoted as the third “equity partner elect” in June, alongside one salaried partner promotion.

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]

Luthra & Luthra has promoted six associates to its partnership, of whom three are in its Delhi litigation practice.

Exclusive: J Sagar Associates (JSA) yesterday effectively promoted Mumbai retained partner Aashit Shah as its twenty-third equity partner, becoming an “equity partner elect” to sidestep the 20-equity-partner limit per firm, while Germany-India returnee Anish Mashruwala was made a retained partner.

Exclusive: Economic Laws Practice (ELP) is considering implementing a bespoke report by a global human resources (HR) consultant, as the firm lifted four partners into the equity pool alongside its founding partners, while eight associate partners were promoted to non-equity partnership.

S&R Associates has promoted Bhakta Patnaik in Mumbai and Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan in Delhi to increase its all-equity partnership to seven partners.

Amarchand Mangaldas has internally promoted 13 lawyers to partnership today, with an even split between the Mumbai and Delhi offices.

Norton Rose disputes of counsel Sherina Petit has been promoted to partnership at Norton Rose’s London office.

UK firm Penningtons has promoted Saionton Basu to partner, just over one year after he had joined from Platinum Partners to build up its India practice.

Exclusive: IndusLaw has promoted Hyderabad principal associate Satya Sree Akella to salaried partner effective 1 April.

Senior associate and partner promotions at 5 firms, including three new partners HSA Advocates, one partner promotion at Bhasin & Co, two new Vaish senior associates, one MV Kini partner and two FoxMandal laterals and 10 senior-level associates.

Majmudar & Co has rebranded as Majmudar & Partners after promoting February lateral hire Prashanth Sabeshan into its equity partnership, which now stands at six partners.

Exclusive: Crawford Bayley associate Renuka Shetty has been promoted to associate partner level, growing the ranks of salaried partners to seven.

Exclusive: Wadia Ghandy & Co has hired two laterals as partner from in-house and from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London, and promoted two associates, growing its partnership to 28.

Exclusive: Khaitan & Co has not promoted any partners internally in its annual promotion round after internally restructuring its associate and partnership track, nine associates were promoted to senior associate level and one lateral associate partner joined in Mumbai.