Professor David Wilkins, Faculty Director of the Center on the Legal Profession (HLS CLP), has been teaching at Harvard Law School for over 30 years. His major interest throughout this time has been the transformation of the legal profession, first in the US, and then, all around the world. Most recently, Professor Wilkins and his team have been working on studying the development of legal profession following the liberalisation of various economies, and will be visiting India this month. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Varun Marwah, Professor Wilkins talks about how India’s legal profession, in its post-liberalisation development phase, […]
Naveen Raju, a graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, is the current General Counsel and Executive Vice President at Mahindra & Mahindra. Raju started his career with ACC in 1996, after which he was at Crompton Greaves for a short stint. Thereafter, he joined Reliance Industries Limited in 2000 and served as the Legal Head of of its oil and gas business for nearly 15 years, before moving on to Mahindra in November, 2014. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Varun Marwah, Raju shares his thoughts on the (continuously) evolving role of an in-house counsel in India, […]
Amit Kapur started his journey with J. Sagar Associates in 1996 – then an eight-lawyer sole proprietorship, and made partner in 2000. Seventeen years later, he would take over as Senior Partner of JSA, a firm with around 300 lawyers. Asked about his journey and success, Kapur says, “I learnt my work ethic from my father, who is a self-made man. JSA gave me the freedom to evolve my practice and the opportunity to achieve this . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited […]
Citi, with one of the largest in-house legal teams in the world, has further deepened its presence in India (and abroad) with the formation of a legal hub in Mumbai, which will not only cater to the domestic Indian market but will serve its businesses spread across the APAC region. As a multi-faceted institution, this will supplement Citi’s global operations with support from their Indian franchise. Leading this project is Nitin Batra, who heads Global Legal Solutions for Citi, with ground-level logistics support . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium […]
Darshan Kulkarni is part of the limited club of lawyers working on US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory and compliance. A member of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Bar Associations, Darshan Kulkarni has also worked as a pharmacist for more than a decade, and has even participated as a clinician in clinical trials. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Varun Marwah, among other things, Darshan Kulkarni speaks about the Indian legal landscape for . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited […]
In the second part of the interview with Pallavi Saluja, Hemant Sahai and Amitabh Sharma speak about the firm’s equity structure, liberalisation and the legal profession in India. (You can read Part I of the interview here) Pallavi Saluja: Having worked at JSA and Khaitan, what are some of the cultural . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & Bench reports Register Already a subscriber […]
HSA Advocates is going through an interesting phase with the entire restructuring exercise, one that includes Khaitan & Co’s Amitabh Sharma being appointed Managing Partner. In the first part of an interview with Bar & Bench’s Pallavi Saluja, both Hemant Sahai and Amitabh Sharma talk about the firm’s growth trajectory, decision to get an outsider as the . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & Bench reports Register […]
Dispute financing (also known as third party funding, or litigation financing), an area of practice which is relatively unheard of in India is a multi-million dollar industry which is young, but growing by the day in countries such as USA, Australia and England. And Selvyn Seidel is one of the forerunners in this industry, being one the first few to have set up a company for dispute financing. Not just one, but two, first Burford Capital, and then Fulbrook Capital Management.
Sarah Grimmer, a former senior counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, was recently appointed as the Secretary General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center. A graduate of the University of Wellington in New Zealand and Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, Sarah Grimmer practiced Refugee Law before becoming a member of the international arbitration group at Shearman & Sterling LLP (Paris). She spent three years as deputy counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration (Paris), and has been . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: […]
Ashwath Rau has made it to the Economic Times Hottest Business Leaders Under 40 list. He is pleased to receive the award and says, “It feels good to be recognized.” A law graduate from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, Ashwath Rau started his career at Amarchand Mangaldas in 1999. In 2006, he was made a partner at the . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all […]
Saionton Basu, Partner at Duane Morris LLP, has penned a book titled Seven Attempts. The NLSIU Bangalore graduate has been writing on various topics and his work has been featured in multiple publications. Seven Attempts, a story about the lives of civil services aspirants, marks his first attempt at a full feature book. Basu joined Duane Morris from Penningtons Manches LLP in October 2014
The ninth day of May last year saw the end of an era – the country’s biggest law firm, Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A. Shroff, was dissolved. The dissolution marked the end of the family feud between brothers Shardul Shroff and Cyril Shroff following the death of their mother, Bharati Shroff. The country’s largest law firm was now replaced with two, new firms – Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. Naturally, this was followed by significant churn in the law firm market; not . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium […]
The ninth day of May last year saw the end of an era; the country’s biggest law firm, Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A. Shroff, was dissolved. The dissolution marked the end of the family feud between brothers Shardul Shroff and Cyril Shroff, following the demise of their mother, Bharati Shroff. What was once the country’s largest law firm has now been replaced with two new firms – Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Naturally, this was followed by . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of […]
Rajiv Gupta, Partner at Latham & Watkins, was part of the team of lawyers advising India’s state-owned oil companies on the 29.9% acquisition in Roseneft’s Taas-Yuriakh oilfield in East Siberia. In this interview with Bar & Bench, Gupta shares his predictions on the India market, sponsored ADR programs and the liberalisation of the . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & Bench reports Register Already a subscriber ? Login
Last year Narayan Iyer was appointed as the head of Linklater’s India Practice. Iyer succeeded Sandeep Katwala, who founded the firm’s India practice about 10 years ago. Iyer is based in London and focuses on acquisition and structured financings and Indian inbound and outbound transactions. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Pallavi Saluja, Iyer talks about the plans for the firm’s India practice, liberalization of . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access […]
Pujarini Guha Maulik is Practice Counsel and Head of Contracts and Disputes at mobile advertising startup, InMobi. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Aditya AK, the Symbiosis Law School graduate talks about the role of an in-house counsel in the startup environment, issues in IP law, potentially disruptive technologies, and more. Aditya AK: Having worked with MNCs like Infosys in the past, what prompted the shift to a startup environment?
One of the youngest lawyers in the latest India report by Chambers & Partners is Anirudh Krishnan. Founder of AK Law Chambers, Krishnan was featured in the “Up and Coming” section under “Dispute Resolution – Arbitration”. In this e-mail interview with Bar & Bench’s Anuj Agrawal, he shares his thoughts on the changing face of commercial dispute resolution, future plans, and more. Bar & Bench: Initial reaction on hearing the news.
Geoffrey P Burgess, corporate Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton’s London office, is part of the firm’s India practice. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Anuj Agrawal, he talks about the changing M&A landscape, the Soviet Union, Indian law firms, and much more. Anuj Agrawal: How has cross-border M&A shaped up post the fall of Lehman Brothers? Geoffrey P Burgess: One of the biggest shifts since Lehman has been . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year […]
Lord Peter Goldsmith QC, a former Attorney General of the UK, is the Vice Chairperson of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. In a career spanning over four decades, Lord Peter Goldsmith has managed to found the Bar of England and Wales’ Pro Bono Unit, become one of the leading barristers for commercial international arbitration, and is currently the London Co-Managing Partner and European and Asian Chair of Litigation at Debevoise & Plimpton. In this e-mail interview, Lord Peter Goldsmith shares his views on . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: […]
Trilegal Partner, Rahul Matthan recently featured in Mint Asia’s ‘Twenty five people who matter in Indian E-Commerce’. Bar & Bench’s Aditya AK spoke with the head of the firm’s TMT practice about the impact that the e-commerce boom has had on law firms, the changes required in laws governing e-commerce transactions, and more. Aditya AK: You have recently been named . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all […]
Sunayna Bhatia has recently been appointed General Counsel of Religare Global Asset Management. She was previously Associate Vice President (Legal) at the company. Sunayna Bhatia did her B.Sc. from Hansraj College, Delhi University, before pursuing law at Campus Law Centre. She also holds an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Aditya AK spoke to her on the move, the evolving role of a General Counsel and . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to […]
Avinash Sah is a Senior Consultant at Vahura, advising clients with market information in regard to hiring trends and industry information. He has also helped clients in strategic hires at the mid and senior level across various industries. In this interview with Bar & Bench’s Anuj Agrawal, Avinash discusses the pros and cons of an in-house job, the salaries and perks that come with an in-house position, and more. Anuj Agrawal: Do you see any . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to […]
Seated in the conference room of the Samvad Partners office, I’m wondering what to expect. After all, it’s not often that you meet someone who has started a law firm, climbed a 20,000 foot Himalayan peak and has an active interest in local politics. When Harish Narasappa arrives, I find that he is an extremely easy person to talk to, and he recounts his journey sans any airs. The decision to take up law came at a point when he began to grow conscious of the . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account […]
Shuva Mandal has made it to Economic Times India’s 40 hottest Under 40 Business Leaders, the only lawyer on the list. He is pleased to receive the award but also clarifies, “I am not an awards person. I have never attended an awards ceremony even once.” For him as . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & Bench reports Register Already a subscriber ? Login
In the second part of the exclusive interview with Bar & Bench, Shardul Shroff talks about how Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co is different from the erstwhile Amarchand Mangaldas. Shroff also shares specific details on the governance structure of the new firm. We also get Pallavi Shroff, the firm’s Managing Partner to talk about how the new firm is going to work. Part II – Structure of the firm and growth strategy
In this exclusive interview with Bar & Bench, Shardul Shroff shares his thoughts on the division of Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A Shroff, and the structure of the country’s newest law firm – Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. Shroff, who is the Executive Chairman of the firm, also outlines his growth strategy in new jurisdictions, and some of the challenges in the forseeable future. Bar & Bench: Did you ever think this day would come?
Vinati Kastia was recently named in India Inc’s Rising Women Leaders 2015, the only lawyer to make it to the list. Despite always wanting to be a lawyer, Vinati Kastia says that she hadn’t really planned a future in corporate law. As a law student and even after graduating, her ambition was to become a litigating lawyer. Fate, however, deemed otherwise. “I always wanted to be a lawyer. There was never a doubt.” Barely ten . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access […]
Started in 2000 by Suneeth Katarki, Srinivas Katta, Gomatam Sridhar and Srinivasa Raghavan, IndusLaw has grown to become a 75 lawyer, 11 partner firm with offices across four cities. Bar & Bench speaks with IndusLaw Partners Suneeth Katarki and Srinivas Katta on their decision to set up IndusLaw, their successes and failures, and their vision for the firm. The dream to build a professional firm Suneeth: “Even while we . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles […]
In this interview with Bar & Bench, Chris Parsons talks about doing business in India, his opinion on Indian law universities, the liberalisation of the Indian legal market and his plan to walk 30 marathons in 30 days to raise money for the Loomba Foundation. At first glance, Chris Parsons more resembles a professional sportsman than a corporate lawyer. The man is as disarmingly polite as he is fit. As he leads the circuitous path to the outdoor lounge at the West End in Bangalore, he asks . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium […]
In this interview with Bar & Bench, V Lakshmikumaran, Founder and Managing Partner of Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan talks about his decision to practice law, the L&S journey, the liberalisation of the legal market, tribunalisation, and dealing with litigation at the grassroots level. Bar & Bench: Why did you take up law? V Lakshmikumaran: I spent three years with the Indian Revenue Services at Madras. Then I came to the Ministry of Finance and spent five . . . Facebook Comment To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access […]