Kochhar & Co. becomes first Indian law firm to procure practice license in UAE; Opens 12-lawyer office in Dubai

On November 10, Kochhar & Co. opened its office in Dubai, six months after procuring a license from the Dubai Legal Affairs Department of the Ruler’s office to practice local law in the UAE. The office is located in Citadel Towers in the Business Bay in Dubai..“This is an unprecedented and historic development as Kochhar & Co. is the first law firm from the Indian sub-continent (and in fact also from the continent of Asia) to have procured a license from the Dubai Legal Affairs Department of the Ruler’s office to practice local law in the UAE”, commented Managing Partner Rohit Kochhar in the release..Partner Manek Palekar, who joined the firm in 2012, is heading the firm’s Dubai office as Managing Partner. The Dubai office has a team of 12 lawyers including four Partners including Anjuli Sivaramakrishnan, who has been relocated to Dubai from Gurgaon..Kochhar mentioned that they are also looking to expand the office..Looking at Dubai as the potential market for Kochhar & Co, Rohit Kochhar said, “The largest expatriate community in Dubai is Indian. Many of these Indians are people who are in senior decision-making positions in UAE companies and Multinational companies with offices in Dubai and also Indian companies and entrepreneurs that have set up in UAE..The Indian diaspora in the Middle East has contributed to the growth, progress and advancemnet of UAE. So we thought that since there is no Indian law firm that has presence there and given the large Indian diaspora there, it was a relevant market for us to be there.”.He added, “If we can replicate our Kochhar model in UAE in terms of providing high quality services consistent with international and global standards, then we would definitely be a prominent player in the market in a short span of time.”.Talking about competition from foreign law firms in the UAE, Kochhar says, “Foreign law firms operate in a different space and are mainly catering to cross border work. They are not corporate law firm doing day-to-day work. They have a very niche practice that they engage in the UAE.”