Sumit Kochar merges practice with Ahlawat & Associates; Sheena Ogra and Gaurav Bhalla elevated to partnership

Ahlawat & Associates (A&A) strengthens its foothold in Mumbai with Sumit Kochar merging his practice with the firm and joining the firm as Partner & Head of Mumbai Practice..The core areas of Kochar’s expertise include Fund Setup & Structuring, Estate & Succession Planning, Family Office Advisory, Intergenerational wealth planning and governance, Private Client Practice, Capital Markets, Mergers & acquisitions, Global Business Setup, Corporate Restructuring, Risk Assurance Services and Taxation..The firm also elevated Sheena Ogra and Gaurav Bhalla as Partners at the Delhi Office. .Ogra has been associated with the firm since 2015 and the primary areas of her practice include advising clients on structuring, drafting, negotiating private equity transactions (both domestic and international), and undertaking drafting and negotiation of commercial contracts..Bhalla takes care of Data Protection and Intellectual Property areas at the firm and has been with the firm since 2021. He advises clients on various aspects of IP law including enforcement, protection, licensing, domain name disputes, and aspects related to IT laws and Data Protection Laws in India..With the joining of Sumit Kochar and the promotion of Sheena Ogra and Gaurav Bhalla, the Partner count at the firm stands at 6. To accommodate its growing practice, A&A has also added another floor to its existing head office in Okhla having state-of-the-art facilities in an area of 10,000 sq. ft. .Talking about the merger, Managing Partner Uday S Ahlawat, shared, “The synergy with Sumit was almost instantaneous! I value his technical acumen and he possesses a rich repertoire of advising several Indian and international clients on corporate & commercial laws, inbound and outbound investments, regulatory matters, estate & succession planning, and contract law advice. With the merging of his practice with A&A, we are strengthening our footprint to Mumbai, especially in the areas of corporate transactional and advisory, private client practice, capital markets, private equity, corporate restructuring, and onshore and offshore fund formation.”.Speaking about further growth in partnership, Ahlawat added, “Our vision at Ahlawat & Associates is to establish a platform where all our team members are given utmost support to reach the milestone of partnership. We actively encourage our team members to hone their technical expertise and practical exposure by acquainting them to a variety of work across different sectors. They are emboldened to take lead on client interactions and overall client management very early on with the support of the seniors in the team. Sheena and Gaurav have displayed uncompromising focus on quality, leveraging their strengths and addressing the areas that require improvement. They have also empowered and mentored their team to walk the path with them. Most importantly, they have showcased the ability to stay relevant by constantly adapting to the changing commercial-legal environment.”.The merger has been facilitated by the team of Legal League Consulting and Human Elevation comprising Founder & CEO, Bithika Anand and President, Nipun K Bhatia, and Principal Consultant Nasrin Khalil Shaikh. Bithika Anand and Nipun K Bhatia also assisted the firm in partnership structuring..If you would like your Deals, Columns, Press Releases to be published on Bar & Bench, please fill in the form available here.