Grant Thornton is accusing forensic expert Kunal Gupta, who is joining Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as Partner, of breach of contract and misrepresentation..Earlier this week Bar & Bench had reported Gupta’s move to Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas..In a statement first reported by Legally India, Grant Thornton alleges that Gupta is an Executive Director and not a partner as represented by him and as mentioned in Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas in its press release..Below is the statement by Grant Thornton.“Mr. Kunal Gupta was an Executive Director and not partner at Grant Thornton. Further, Mr. Gupta has failed to honor his obligations (including notice period) under his contract with Grant Thornton..Grant Thornton intends to pursue all available remedies including possible legal action, if required, in furtherance of this contract..Grant Thornton is disappointed at such unprofessional and unethical conduct of Mr. Gupta..It is shameful that a lawyer from NLSIU Bangalore and Harvard Law School fails to honor his obligations under a simple contract and misrepresents his position at Grant Thornton.”.When Bar & Bench reached out to Kunal Gupta, this is what he had to say,.“I am extremely shocked and hurt by the allegations made by GT. I will separately be writing to GT on contractual matters, which are completely baseless but would also like to clarify my position..I was an Executive Director (which is equivalent to a Partner) and was treated as a partner for all practical purposes, both within GT and externally. This is borne out by how the firm represents me as a partner to clients, including charging me out at partner rates. This is also the case with other ED’s within the system, who are represented as partners. In addition, it is also used a pitch to attract talent by the firm as an inducement..Below is the scan of the tombstone that GT awarded Kunal on his admission to partnership..Below is a snapshot of a recent post where GT represents Gupta as a partner..There are numerous pitches and mandates which are shared with the clients, where I am represented as a partner by GT. It is quite clear that GT’s allegations are clearly motivated and baseless..My representation as a partner is completely consistent with how the firm has represented me before the clients and internally. I reserve the right to take appropriate legal action against GT for defamation for attacks on my reputation and other issues relating to my exit from the firm and I will also be defending any legal action should GT be ill advised to do so at their risk and cost. I will also place all the above material and more if so required at the appropriate forum in order to demonstrate the incorrectness of GT’s allegations.”
Grant Thornton is accusing forensic expert Kunal Gupta, who is joining Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as Partner, of breach of contract and misrepresentation..Earlier this week Bar & Bench had reported Gupta’s move to Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas..In a statement first reported by Legally India, Grant Thornton alleges that Gupta is an Executive Director and not a partner as represented by him and as mentioned in Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas in its press release..Below is the statement by Grant Thornton.“Mr. Kunal Gupta was an Executive Director and not partner at Grant Thornton. Further, Mr. Gupta has failed to honor his obligations (including notice period) under his contract with Grant Thornton..Grant Thornton intends to pursue all available remedies including possible legal action, if required, in furtherance of this contract..Grant Thornton is disappointed at such unprofessional and unethical conduct of Mr. Gupta..It is shameful that a lawyer from NLSIU Bangalore and Harvard Law School fails to honor his obligations under a simple contract and misrepresents his position at Grant Thornton.”.When Bar & Bench reached out to Kunal Gupta, this is what he had to say,.“I am extremely shocked and hurt by the allegations made by GT. I will separately be writing to GT on contractual matters, which are completely baseless but would also like to clarify my position..I was an Executive Director (which is equivalent to a Partner) and was treated as a partner for all practical purposes, both within GT and externally. This is borne out by how the firm represents me as a partner to clients, including charging me out at partner rates. This is also the case with other ED’s within the system, who are represented as partners. In addition, it is also used a pitch to attract talent by the firm as an inducement..Below is the scan of the tombstone that GT awarded Kunal on his admission to partnership..Below is a snapshot of a recent post where GT represents Gupta as a partner..There are numerous pitches and mandates which are shared with the clients, where I am represented as a partner by GT. It is quite clear that GT’s allegations are clearly motivated and baseless..My representation as a partner is completely consistent with how the firm has represented me before the clients and internally. I reserve the right to take appropriate legal action against GT for defamation for attacks on my reputation and other issues relating to my exit from the firm and I will also be defending any legal action should GT be ill advised to do so at their risk and cost. I will also place all the above material and more if so required at the appropriate forum in order to demonstrate the incorrectness of GT’s allegations.”
