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Based on research conducted by India Business Law Journal in association with the Indian Corporate Counsel Association, the following are India’s top 100 lawyers (excluding senior counsel). Biographies and contact details, where provided, were written by the lawyers themselves and have not been independently verified

The A-List is based on extensive research conducted by India Business Law Journal in association with the Indian Corporate Counsel Association (ICCA). To identify India’s top 100 lawyers, we turned to thousands of in-house counsel in India and around the world (including all ICCA members), as well as India-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to tell us which private-practice lawyers (excluding senior counsel) should make the cut. Nominations were received from professionals at a wide range of Indian and international companies, law firms and other organizations, including: Adidas, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, AON, Ashurst, Bharti Group, CIPLA, DLA Piper, The Economist Group, Fosun Group, Havells, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, Hitachi, Latham & Watkins, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mapletree Investments, Max Life Insurance, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Morrison & Foerster, Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sequoia Capital, Siemens, Sony, SpiceJet, Sun Pharma, Tata Communications, Tata Sky, United Parcel Service, Wockhardt and Yum Bands.

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the India Business Law Journal editorial team’s more than 30 years of collective experience in documenting and analyzing India’s legal market.

All Indian private-practice lawyers were automatically eligible for inclusion in the nominations process, and as always, there were no fees or any other requirements for entry.

The names of all 100 A-list lawyers are listed below. In addition, each A-list lawyer was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details, for which a publishing fee was charged. It is important to note that while the compilation of the A-list was based solely on independent editorial research, the biographies and contact details that appear alongside many of the listings have been written by the participating lawyers and the content has not been independently verified by India Business Law Journal.

It is important to emphasise that the A-List is merely indicative of the nominations and testimonials received by India Business Law Journal, and the background research of our editorial team. Many outstanding lawyers do not appear on the A-List, which should not be viewed as a comprehensive list of the leading lawyers in the country.

For more details, click here to read our special editorial report on compiling The A-List.

hiroo-advani Hiroo Advani
Advani & Co
Mumbai 

Key practice areas: Dispute resolution

mahesh-agarwal Mahesh Agarwal
Agarwal Law Associates
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4220 0000
Email: mahesh.agarwal@aglaw.in
 
Key practice areas: Litigation and arbitration; telecom and energy disputes; corporate criminal
Mahesh Agarwal, the managing partner of Agarwal Law Associates, has had a fascination for law since an early age. He is a graduate of the Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, and Government Law College, Mumbai.
Agarwal is a passionate litigator. He has a diverse practice both in terms of forums and fields. The Supreme Court, Delhi High Court, the Telecom Dispute Settlement & Appellate Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity are his forums of expertise.
The breadth of Agarwal’s fields of expertise range from arbitration law, commercial-civil disputes, corporate criminal matters, energy disputes, mining, telecom and other regulatory disputes.

ashish-ahuja Ashish Ahuja
Wadia Ghandy & Co
Mumbai

 
Key practice areas: Banking & finance; corporate, commercial & M&A; infrastructure; insurance & reinsurance; PE, VC & funds; restructuring & insolvency

ruby-singh-ahuja Ruby Singh Ahuja
Karanjawala & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4358 8888
Email: rubysingh.ahuja@karanjawala.in
 
Key practice areas: Arbitration & ADR; life science & biotechnology; competition & antitrust; real estate; environment; litigation
Ruby Singh Ahuja is a leading legal professional in the Indian dispute resolution practice. With more than two decades of experience as an advocate and an advocate-on-record, Ahuja has successfully conducted representations on behalf of large conglomerates in high-value commercial disputes. Her advice on legal issues and litigation strategy is sought after among multinational corporations, public-sector undertakings, prominent Indian corporations and political leaders alike. She also has noteworthy experience in representing clients in large and complex arbitration proceedings, and is considered to be among the few legal practitioners with comprehensive expertise and specialized knowledge across the commercial dispute resolution practice area.
Ahuja has been part of the formidable litigation team at Karanjawala & Co for the past 23 years. She has developed a unique reputation for her excellent attorney-client relationships and successful legal strategies, securing the interests of her clients in all major judicial and arbitral forums across the country.

bharat-anand Bharat Anand
Khaitan & Co
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; PE

pravin-anand Pravin Anand
Anand and Anand
Noida
Tel: +91 120 405 9300
Email: pravin@anandandanand.com
Key practice areas: IP; IP strategy; litigation and dispute resolution; IT; e-commerce
Pravin Anand is the managing partner of Anand and Anand. In a career spanning nearly four decades he has become a leading figure in IP law. As well as representing many of the world’s leading companies and institutions, he has worked tirelessly to create one of India’s most innovative law firms.
Anand was counsel in a number of landmark cases including the first Anton Piller order, the first Mareva injunction order, the first Norwich Pharmacal order, the first order under the Hague Convention and many significant cases for clients such as Merck, Roche, Pfizer and BMS.
He was awarded the Most Innovative Lawyer – Asia Pacific by the Financial Times (2015); AIPPI Award of Merit (first Indian legal practitioner to receive the award); Life Time Achievement Award – Legal Era; Life Time Achievement Award – National Law Day Award, 2010; and the first two decrees in patent cases granted after 45 years of patent litigation (Roche v Cipla and Merck v Glenmark).

sanjay-asher Sanjay Asher
Crawford Bayley & Company
Mumbai
Key practice areas: M&A; joint ventures; capital markets

ajay-bahl Ajay Bahl
AZB & Partners
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Corporate advisory; M&A; direct tax advisory;tax and non-tax litigation; forensic investigations; PE

sandip-bhagat Sandip Bhagat
S&R Associates
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Capital markets; M&A; regulatory & anti-corruption; PE, VC & funds; TMT; financial services; healthcare

ml-bhakta ML Bhakta
Kanga & Company
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6633 2288
Email: bhakta@kangacompany.com
Key practice areas: Real estate; corporate and commercial; M&A; foreign investment; taxation
ML Bhakta is the managing and senior partner of Kanga & Co. He has served as the chairman of the Taxation Law Standing Committee of LAWASIA and the Taxation Committee of Indian Merchant’s Chamber, a member of the advisory committees of the Life Insurance Corporation of India and Deutsche Bank, a committee member of the Bombay Incorporated Law Society and of the governing board of the India Council of Arbitration, and as a committee member appointed by the Reserve Bank of India on legal aspects, relating to operations for banking and financial systems.
Bhakta has been named as one of the leading lawyers in Asia for several years by Asialaw and Chambers and Partners. He has contributed several articles on diverse legal subjects and presented papers before various national and international forums.
Bhakta is a director of Reliance Industries and has served on the boards of many other leading Indian companies.

alka-bharucha Alka Bharucha
Bharucha & Partners
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6132 3900
Email: alka.bharucha@bharucha.in
Key practice areas: M&A; PE; corporate restructuring; banking and finance; projects; general corporate
Alka Bharucha is a founding partner of Bharucha & Partners and chair of the transactions practice of the firm. She has more than 30 years of experience. Her practice ranges across mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and joint ventures, banking and structured finance, capital markets and infrastructure. Bharucha has in-depth expertise in the telecom sector having advised Indian and multinational telecom companies on mergers and acquisitions, financings, initial public offerings, and regulatory matters. Bharucha also has significant experience in the power sector and has represented several developers. Her general corporate work includes establishment of mutual funds, providing regulatory advice to foreign portfolio investors, foreign venture capital investors, brokers, merchant bankers and other financial intermediaries.
Bharucha is actively engaged in representing transnational corporations for investments in retail, real estate, defence, power and banking sectors.
Bharucha graduated from the University of Bombay and has a Master’s degree in law from the University of London. She is a solicitor of the Bombay High Court and an advocate-on-record of the Supreme Court of India. She is a director for a number of listed companies.

mp-bharucha MP Bharucha
Bharucha & Partners
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 2289 9300
Email: mp.bharucha@bharucha.in
Key practice areas: Dispute resolution; general corporate advisory; M&A
MP Bharucha is the senior partner of Bharucha & Partners, which he co-founded in 2008 along with three others. His practice is multi-faceted, primarily focused on corporate and commercial law. Throughout his career, Bharucha has straddled two practice areas: dispute resolution as well as general corporate advisory and mergers and acquisitions.
Bharucha’s dispute resolution practice includes high-value commercial litigation and arbitration (both domestic and international) and covers a wide range of matters, including joint venture disputes, construction disputes, hostile takeovers, etc. With more than 40 years of continuing practice, Bharucha has been recognized as a leading litigator in various publications including Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and reports by RSG Consulting. He regularly deposes before courts and tribunals in the US, the UK and Singapore as an expert on Indian law.
His transaction experience includes mergers of banks and corporate restructuring.
Bharucha graduated from the University of Bombay. He is a solicitor of the Bombay High Court, England and Wales and Hong Kong. He is a member of the managing committee, Bombay Incorporated Law Society and an advocate-on-record of the Supreme Court of India.

lalit-bhasin Lalit Bhasin
Bhasin & Company
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 2332 2601
Email: lbhasin@gmail.com
Key practice areas: Arbitration & ADR; aviation; corporate & M&A; labour & employment; litigation
Lalit Bhasin is the managing partner of Bhasin & Company, and president of the Society of Indian Law Firms and the Bar Association of India. He is an honorary life member of the International Bar Association, chairman of CIArb India, chairman of the PHD Chamber Committee on Corporate Affairs, CII National Committee on Dispute Resolution, and a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. He is a past president of the Inter Pacific Bar Association, and a former chairman of the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal of India.
Bhasin was awarded a Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa by Jaipur University in 2013, a Plaque of Honour for outstanding contribution to the rule of law in 2002 by the prime minister of India and the National Law Day Award in 2007 by the president of India.
His areas of specialization include aviation, employment and labour, entertainment and media, banking and finance, consumer protection and
dispute resolution.

mona-bhide Mona Bhide
Dave & Girish & Co
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 2206 2132
Email: mona@davegirish.com
Key practice areas: International finance; corporate law; banking; structured finance; securitization; swaps
Mona Bhide is the managing partner of Dave & Girish & Co, a law firm focusing on international finance and corporate law.
Bhide practises international finance, corporate law, banking, structured finance, securitization, swaps, project finance, derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, loan documentation, mortgage creations, title investigations and property law. She is also an adviser to various banks and financial institutions.
Bhide has a Master’s degree in law from the US. She has worked with the American Bar Foundation in the field of investment banking, conflicts and globalization of the legal profession, and with international law firm Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold in Chicago. She is currently working in Mumbai and enjoys a wide corporate and banking clientele.
Bhide has participated in and chaired numerous professional seminars and conferences on banking, corporate law, mergers and amalgamations and securitization, and written numerous articles for legal journals and professional publications. She has helped the firm’s clients to structure some of the most significant securitization, lending and mergers and acquisitions transactions.
Bhide is highly recommended for project finance, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and insolvency, and corporate transactions by Global Counsel 3000.
She has been named a leading individual in banking and finance, corporate, mergers and acquisitions and dispute resolution by Legal 500. She has also been ranked by Chambers Global for banking and finance, structured finance and derivatives. Bhide has been ranked by IFLR 1000 for banking and finance, capital markets and project finance. She was ranked by Asialaw Profiles as a leading lawyer.
Bhide has written the following: The Euromoney Securitisation & Structured Finance Handbook 2013-14 and 2015-16; The Euromoney Emerging Markets Handbook 2014-15; Acquisition International Magazine India: Outperforming the Competition; The International Comparative Legal Guide to Lending and Secured Finance 2013 – 1st Edition; The International Comparative Legal Guides to Securitisation 2012 and 2013 – 5th & 6th Edition; the India chapter in Securitization 2012; and the India chapter in PLC Cross-Border Finance Handbook 2011/12.

ravi-bhola Ravi Bhola
K&S Partners
Bengaluru
Key practice areas: Patent and design; prosecution and enforcement; biodiversity and competition law in conjunction with IP matters; IP portfolio management and strategy

percival-percy-billimoria Percival (Percy) Billimoria
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 6622 9000
Email: percy.billimoria@cyrilshroff.com
Key practice areas: Litigation; competition law; direct tax
Percival (Percy) Billimoria heads the New Delhi office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and is the national chair of the firm’s disputes, regulatory, advocacy and policy practice. Previously, as the senior partner at AZB & Partners, he chaired its litigation practice from New Delhi. Billimoria specializes in advocacy and appears in all forums representing clients on adversarial matters pertaining to commercial transnational matters such as contracts, joint venture and project finance matters, oil and gas, power and infrastructure contracts, antitrust, and white-collar crime.
Billimoria, who is also a chartered accountant by qualification, regularly appears before the Competition Appellate Tribunal, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, the Company Law Board, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Appellate Tribunal and various arbitral panels. He is known for his extensive experience in adversarial matters concerning international companies and investors doing business in India.
The 2016 edition of Chambers and Partners states that clients report that he “inspires confidence when arguing a matter”, owing to his extensive preparation and strategic insight. Chambers and Partners (2014) has commended Billimoria by quoting clients who said: “He is an articulate and excellent counsel with sound understanding of litigation strategies and commercial issues.” In 2015 it said: “He receives high praise from clients, who describe him as a “very experienced litigation lawyer” and highlight his “impressive capability for quickly grasping the content of the matter.” Further, Chambers and Partners has commended Billimoria for his “direct and pragmatic style which inspires confidence in clients” and as a “mature and respected lawyer”. They have also singled him out for his skills in litigation as a leading individual in India.
Asian-Mena Counsel named Billimoria External Counsel of the Year for 2013 for his “industry knowledge and commercial approach”. Previously, Billimoria was recognized by Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2011-2012) as one of the leading individuals in India and as a “fine lawyer” and a leading individual who comes “highly recommended”.

mukesh-butani Mukesh Butani
BMR Legal
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 6678 3010
Email: mukesh.butani@bmrlegal.in
Key practice areas: Dispute resolution and litigation; tax; corporate international tax; transfer pricing
Mukesh Butani is the managing partner of BMR Legal. With specialization in corporate international tax and transfer pricing, he has significant experience in advising Fortune 500 multinationals and large Indian business houses on a wide range of matters relating to FDI policy, business reorganizations, cross-border tax structuring, tax controversy and regulatory policy across a range of industry sectors.
Butani has several authorships to his credit – including works published by LexisNexis Butterworths and a treatise on Transfer Pricing Dispute Resolution for Cambridge University Press.
His other publications include the Wolters Kluwer CCH online guide to transfer pricing in Asia and titles on business restructurings and customs valuation, co-authored for the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD). Butani participated in the Kelkar task force (2002) tax reforms and was a member of the Indian Ministry of Finance (MoF) committee (2000) on e-commerce taxation.
Butani has served as a member of the expert task force on International Tax and Transfer Pricing set by in the MoF in July 2012. He is a member of the tax bureau of the OECD – BIAC, Permanent Scientific Committee of IFA (2012 – 2016) and vice chairman of the Taxation Commission of the ICC (2011 onwards).
He is presently a member of a focus group on administrative practices on tax disputes under the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) set up in August 2013 by the MoF. He is a founder member (2015) of ITRAF, a think tank that researches and analyzes international taxation to ensure superior tax policy and effective tax administration in India.
He has been consistently featured among leading international tax and transfer pricing advisers in independent surveys, most notably Euromoney’s International Tax Review, Expert Guides (2002 to 2016), Asialaw Leading Lawyers, Chambers and Partners and Who’s Who Legal, Corporate Tax Lawyers. Butani has been ranked as the “top tax controversy leader in India” by International Tax Review (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016).

harry-chawla Harry Chawla
Atlas Law Partners
New Delhi
Key practice areas: M&A; real estate; defence; funds; banking

akshay-chudasama Akshay Chudasama
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
Mumbai
Key practice areas: General corporate; M&A; real estate; capital markets

gaurav-dani Gaurav Dani
IndusLaw
Noida
Tel: +91 120 472 8100
Email: gaurav.dani@induslaw.com
Key practice areas: Capital markets & international offerings; corporate advisory; fund formation; fund investment; joint ventures & collaborations; M&A
Gaurav Dani is a US (New York) and India qualified lawyer based in IndusLaw’s New Delhi office. He is a founding partner of the firm. Dani represents public and private companies, private equity funds and venture capital investors in the fields of technology, media (including digital media), telecommunications, real estate, biotechnology, healthcare, renewable energy, consumer products and other industries. Most recently he has led some
of the largest private equity investments in the e-commerce industry in India.
Dani previously worked with the India team at White & Case, and at several prominent Indian law firms. He is a recommended lawyer for banking and finance and capital markets in New Delhi in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 and a regular speaker at seminars in India and overseas.

karam-daulet-singh Karam Daulet-Singh
Platinum Partners
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Corporate; regulatory

anand-desai Anand Desai
DSK Legal
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Dispute resolution (litigation and arbitration); real estate; M&A; private equity; IP (particularly in the media and entertainment industry); insolvency and restructuring

nishith-desai Nishith Desai
Nishith Desai Associates
Mumbai
Key practice areas: International tax; corporate; IP
vishwang-desai Vishwang Desai
Desai & Diwanji
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 3984 1000
Email: vydesai@desaidiwanji.com
Key practice areas: PE; M&A; corporate finance; infrastructure; energy
Vishwang Desai is the managing partner of Desai & Diwanji, one of the largest and oldest law firms in India. He practises corporate and finance law and specializes in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, buy-outs, spin-offs, de-mergers, divestitures, project and structured finance, cross-border transactions, FDI, corporate governance, competition and regulatory issues.
Desai has been involved in complex restructurings and buy-outs of large public and private corporations. He has represented governments, government corporations, large public and private corporations, global private equity and hedge funds, lenders, and multilateral agencies in large and complex transactions in a variety of sectors. He has been nominated as a leading lawyer by numerous global publications and has been consistently awarded numerous awards including “lawyer of the year” awards by various organizations.
sumes-dewan Sumes Dewan
Lex Favios
Mumbai
Tel: +91 11 4143 5188
Email: sumes.dewan@lexfavios.com 
Key practice areas: Capital markets; corporate finance; PE; real estate; M&A; cross border taxation; hospitality
Sumes Dewan, managing partner of Lex Favios, is a corporate and securities lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience in M&A transactions and cross-border transactions.
Lex Favios was ranked Best New Law Firm in the Indian Law Firms Awards, 2015, by India Business Law Journal. International Financial Law Review has ranked Lex Favios as a Notable Firm in the practice area of finance and corporate.
Dewan specializes in foreign investment in India, corporate law, banking and finance, joint ventures, cross-border taxation issues, real estate, and SEBI takeover regulations. He advises clients on issues related to making an offering in the domestic and international markets and drafting the requisite documents for initial public offerings, global depository receipts, foreign currency convertible bonds, Euro bonds, etc. Dewan has also advised clients on issues relating to acquisition of both Indian and overseas companies, including the foreign exchange and other governmental regulations applicable to such transactions; filing applications and obtaining clearances with the various regulatory authorities; conducting legal due diligence; structuring domestic and cross-border acquisitions, with focus on issues such as tax management, determining the type of SPV, jurisdiction of SPV, type of instruments, etc.; setting up real estate funds, and negotiating hotel management agreements and contracts.
In addition, he has advised clients on matters related to domestic and cross-border syndicated lending (both secured and unsecured), and asset sales and corporate financing and refinancing, including the setting up of NBFCs.
Dewan is one of the few lawyers in India to be admitted as an honorary fellow of the Association of Fellows and Legal Scholars, Centre for International Studies. He has also been nominated to the Direct Taxes and Intellectual Property Committee of Assocham (Chambers of Commerce in India). He has been named by Asialaw Leading Lawyers as one of the most highly-acclaimed legal experts in the Asia-Pacific region in the practice area of capital markets and corporate finance.
alok-dhir Alok Dhir
Dhir & Dhir Associates
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Restructuring & insolvency; corporate & commercial; structured finance & securitization; dispute resolution; M&A; PE
atul-dua Atul Dua
Seth Dua & Associates
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4164 4100
Email: atul.dua@sethdua.com
Key practice areas: Antitrust and competition laws; international trade & taxation; transaction structuring
Atul Dua’s professional experience spans more than 29 years with leading law firms and multinational accounting and consulting companies. Before setting up Seth Dua & Associates as a founding partner in 1998, he had headed the New Delhi legal and tax practice of KPMG and thereafter of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). Dua’s forte is antitrust and competition laws, international trade and taxation and transaction structuring. He has extensive experience in advising multinational and Indian corporates in cross-border trade and structuring their investments in India. Dua specializes in tax and legal aspects of financial and technical joint ventures and M&A transactions. He has extensive experience in structuring various income streams in and out of India.
Dua’s competition and antitrust laws expertise includes advising clients in relation to dealer arrangements, pricing agreements and M&A proposals. He has extensive experience in appearing before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (which has been replaced by the Competition Commission of India) and has represented clients in various antitrust and competition matters including merger and cartel matters.
Dua’s international trade and WTO expertise covers foreign trade policy and customs duties as well as matters relating to protectionist levies. He has extensive experience in matters pertaining to free-trade agreements and other international trade facilitation matters, as well as transfer-pricing policy to be adopted before entering into international transactions.
In TMT, Dua has assisted leading companies in setting up operations in India, seeking foreign investment approvals from the government, processing licence applications with the Ministry of Communications, etc. Dua has also assisted large consulting enterprises in the areas of engineering, environment, real estate, recruitment, management, information technology, law, etc., and with the setting up of operations in India and the provision of ongoing corporate, commercial and other legal services.
cr-dua CR Dua
Dua Associates
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 2371 4408
Email:  ranji@duaassociates.com
Key practice areas: Corporate and commercial law; corporate finance; taxation; ethics & governance; inbound investment laws
Having founded Dua Associates 30 years ago, CR Dua is currently the chairman of the firm and is engaged in providing strategic advice and direction for its further growth and development. He engages with the partners of the firm, its executive committee and sub-committees towards ensuring that the firm continues to retain its recognized leadership position in the current uncertain and challenging environment nationally and internationally.
The first decade of Dua Associates was spent in the identification and creation of a pool of experienced and recognized professionals to form the basis for growth of the practice. The second decade saw a phase of expansion resulting in the firm establishing multiple offices nationally and in attaining strength in its partnership numbers with focused and self-sustained areas of practice. The third decade has been one of consolidation and assimilation across practice areas and office locations leading to attaining stability and maturity both in terms of the practice of the firm as well as in its coordination and administration.
Dua’s experience and expertise encompasses a broad range of practice areas including corporate and commercial law, corporate finance, securities law, taxation, land acquisition, power projects, foreign investments and collaborations, disinvestments and privatization of public-sector undertakings, mergers and acquisitions, and exchange control regulations.
Major clients advised by Dua include well-known global companies such as General Motors, General Electric, Westinghouse, Chevron Corporation, McDonald’s, Mitsubishi Corporation, AIG, Chubb Insurance, Rolls-Royce, Rio Tinto, Linde, Estee Lauder, Gilead, Whirlpool, Becton Dickinson, Timex, Gillette and Dow Chemical Company.
Dua sits on the boards of the Indian companies of many major multinational corporations primarily representing the interests of foreign collaborators and investors. He is a founding member of the American Chamber of Commerce in India and an invitee to its national executive board. Dua is also a member of the executive committee of the International Lawn Tennis Club of India.
An honours graduate of St Stephen’s College, Dua also holds a Master’s degree in economics from the Delhi School of Economics.
rj-gagrat RJ Gagrat
Gagrats
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6752 9037
Email: rjgagrat@gagrats.com
Key practice areas: Aviation; banking & finance; capital markets; competition & antitrust; corporate, commercial & M&A; inbound & outbound investment
Rustam Gagrat is the senior partner of Gagrats, Mumbai, and Gagrat & Co, New Delhi, which are broad-based practices, ranked as leading law firms and recipients of several awards.
Gagrat read law at Cambridge University and attended Harvard Law School. He is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England.
Gagrat has represented companies, airlines, lenders and banks on path-breaking cross-border financings, M&A deals, stake sales, PE deals and security offerings. Several of the transactions he has worked on have received awards or other recognition from Euromoney, Air Finance, India Business Law Journal and Acquisition International.
He has received awards including Finance Monthly’s Deal Maker Award, 2013, Aviation Lawyer of the Year – India 2014 Award, 2015 Lawyers World Premier Award, and ICFM 500 Leading Lawyer 2016 Award. He is listed and ranked in several publications including Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who Legal, Asia Pacific Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.
tarun-gulati Tarun Gulati
PDS Legal
New Delhi
Tel: +91 8130616161
Email: Tarun.gulati@pdslegal.com
Key practice areas: Tax law; trade law; competition law; telecom and electricity regulatory law; foreign exchange and investment law; economic offences
Tarun Gulati has more than 23 years of experience in representing clients in various tax, regulatory and commercial laws. He is a qualified chartered accountant and a law graduate. He specializes in a wide variety of tax, regulatory, trade and commercial laws and litigates at various levels of the judicial hierarchy right up to the Supreme Court of India. He is known as an arguing counsel before the Supreme Court, high courts and tribunals and many cases represented by him are cited as precedents in India. Given his dual expertise in finance and law, and ability to act as counsel, he is the preferred choice for commercial matters of many Indian and multinational corporate clients.
Gulati has been consistently mentioned in Legal 500 for his expertise in tax matters. He was recently awarded the Asia Tax Litigation and Disputes Practice Leader of the Year award by International Tax Review.
prashant-gupta Prashant Gupta
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 9717622292
Email: prashant.gupta@amsshardul.com
Key practice areas: Capital markets; general corporate
Prashant Gupta is the national practice head of the capital markets practice group. He represents both issuers and underwriters in equity and debt capital markets transactions, including rights issues and offerings of equity, debt and convertible securities to institutional investors.
Prashant has advised on capital markets transactions that have raised more than US$25 billion globally, including the largest Indian IPO (Coal India) and largest bond offering by an Indian group (Vedanta Resources). He has acted on various international capital markets transactions by India-focused companies, including several IPOs in the US (on NASDAQ and NYSE) by Indian companies.
He has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal, Chambers Asia, Legal 500 and other legal industry publications as one of India’s leading capital markets practitioners. Chambers and Partners Asia Pacific 2015 said Prashant is “A pleasure to work with, very sharp, methodical and hard-working, and also noted for his international experience”.
rajesh-narain-gupta Rajesh Narain Gupta
SNG & Partners
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 4028 5151
Email: rajesh_narain@sngpartners.in
Key practice areas: Banking and finance; commercial laws; real estate; litigation; private client practice
Rajesh Narain Gupta has been enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of India since 1988. He has vast experience in corporate and transactional matters including litigation.
He is the managing partner of a full service law firm, SNG & Partners, which has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore and Qatar.
Gupta has vast experience in corporate and transactional matters, including litigation. His areas of specialization include banking and finance, commercial laws, real estate, litigation and private client practice. He is an adviser to a number of foreign and Indian banks, financial institutions, corporate and industrial houses, and real estate players.
He has been a pioneer in India in succession and estate planning, and advises large business families on matters connected with business, investments, disinvestments, and business succession, which inter alia require handling inter-generational issues.
Closely connected with the banking industry, he has been involved for more than two-and-a-half decades in negotiating and drafting lending and security documentation for banks and NBFCs. He has helped well-known multinational banks to set up their offices/branches in India and to commence their operations. This included regulatory approvals, putting legal process in place, standardization of security documents, and advising on creation of securities.
He was also a special invitee by the Indian Bankers Association and the Reserve Bank of India in connection with the amendment of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Gupta revised the 25th edition of ML Tannan: Banker’s Manual: A commentary on Banking Laws and Allied Acts (published by LexisNexis). Gupta has also co-authored and revised the 5th edition (2015) of The Banking law – In theory & Practice, the 7th edition of Law Relating to Guarantees, the 8th edition (2015) of Dishonor of Cheques: Liability-Civil & Criminal and the 6th edition 2016 of Supreme Court on Banking Law.
h-jayesh H Jayesh
Juris Corp
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6720 5555
Email: jayesh.h@jclex.com
Key practice areas: Structured finance; securitization and financial restructuring; PE funds; restructuring and insolvency; real estate finance; debt capital markets; Islamic finance
H Jayesh is a co-founder of Juris Corp, which was set up in 2000 with the objective of becoming the preferred law firm for a select clientele. Under his stewardship the firm grew manifold and has become a quality name. Jayesh is a law graduate of the Government Law College, Mumbai. He is enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa and is also a solicitor enrolled with the Bombay Incorporated Law Society. He is a chartered financial analyst as well as a diploma holder in business finance.
As a Chevening Scholar, Jayesh gained experience in English and European Community laws and regulations by undergoing training at the College of Law in York and working briefly with a London-based firm of solicitors in their corporate finance department. Jayesh has extensive transactional experience in inbound and outbound foreign investment, private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, acquisition financing, leveraged buy-outs, sponsor financing, restructuring, etc. He is the pre-eminent practitioner in India for structured finance and bankruptcy and restructuring and is among the leading practitioners in India in the areas of capital markets, corporate banking, dispute resolution, M&A, private equity and joint ventures.
nusrat-hassan Nusrat Hassan
DH Law Associates
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6631 0628
Email: nusrat@dhlawassociates.com
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; dispute resolution; FDI; M&A; PE; real estate
Nusrat Hassan founded DH Law Associates, a full-service pan-India law firm headquartered in Mumbai in 1997. As the managing partner, Hassan grew DH Law Associates from its inception to a top-ranking full-service law firm in India. Hassan’s legal practice focuses on international transactions and dispute resolution for marquee American, European and Indian business clients.
Hassan is admitted to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. He is also a qualified solicitor (non-active) affiliated to the Law Society of England and Wales. A Chevening Scholar educated in the UK and India, he regularly writes articles for reputed Indian and international journals, including Kluwer Law International (Arbitration and Litigation), Juris Publishing (The Internet Law and Regime: India Chapter) and Thomson Reuters (Global Agricultural Law: India Chapter).
Hassan has advised several international clients on their investments in India. He has provided extensive support to multinational clients on their corporate transactions, entry strategies and other commercial arrangements in India. He has created a niche in international arbitrations, having led arbitrations in India and Singapore for select clients. Honouring his expertise in arbitration, he was an invited convener of the core group of the CII Task Force on Dispute Resolution, and vice-chair of the International Construction Projects of the IPBA. He is empanelled with the Beijing Arbitration Commission and the Investor Grievance Redressal Committee at MCX Stock Exchange. He is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London and secretary of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators India branch.
Hassan has spoken on many complex legal issues at national and international forums. He is featured as one of the leading lawyers in Asia Pacific Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal. He is a member of the Agricultural Law Working Group of the International Bar Association. Hassan is also a leading member of the Bombay Bar Association, the American Bar Association section on international law, and the Society of Indian Law Firms. He is an ex-president of the Association of British Scholars (Mumbai chapter) and a member of the Congress of Fellows of the Centre for International Legal Studies (Austria).
akil-hirani Akil Hirani
Majmudar & Partners
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Banking and finance; corporate & commercial; M&A; funds; tax; technology
akshay-jaitly Akshay Jaitly
Trilegal
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Energy & infrastructure
rabindra-jhunjhunwala Rabindra Jhunjhunwala
Khaitan & Co
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; PE
abhijit-joshi Abhijit Joshi
Veritas Legal
Mumbai
Key practice areas: M&A; private equity
ashwin-julka Ashwin Julka
Remfry & Sagar
Gurgaon
Tel: +91 12 4280 6100
Email: ashwin.julka@remfry.com
Key practice areas: Intellectual property; trademarks; litigation & advisory; patent policy
Ashwin Julka is managing partner of Remfry & Sagar and heads a team of more than 200 members, including 80 attorneys. Leading India’s oldest, and one of its largest, IP firms, he is an IP expert with particularly strong knowledge of trademark law and patent policy.
In more than two decades of professional experience, Julka has been actively involved in several international IP organizations, including the International Trademarks Association (INTA), the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA), the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) and the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group (PTMG). He frequently lectures on IP subjects across different geographies, with the aim of keeping the firm’s more than 8,000 clients spread across the globe abreast of their IP interests in India. Several articles on diverse themes can be credited to him, making him a well-known name on the international circuit.
sumeet-kachwaha Sumeet Kachwaha
Kachwaha & Partners
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4166 1333
Email: skachwaha@kaplegal.com
Key practice areas: Dispute resolution; arbitration; infrastructure projects; construction
Sumeet Kachwaha is the founding partner of Kachwaha & Partners, which has a leading dispute resolution and arbitration practice. He has handled many landmark and high-stake matters, including a large number of cross-border disputes.
Kachwaha has been ranked in band one in the arbitration section of Chambers and Partners since 2009. He is also named as a “leading individual” for dispute resolution in The Asia Pacific Legal 500. He features in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration, Asset Recovery, Construction, Government Contracts and Procurement.
Kachwaha currently serves as vice president of the Asia-Pacific Regional Arbitration Group, and on the six-member advisory board of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration. He recently served for three years as the chair of the dispute resolution and arbitration section of the Inter Pacific Bar Association.
jayendra-kapadia Jayendra Kapadia
Little & Co
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Banking & finance; corporate & commercial; dispute resolution; real estate; admiralty; trademarks
amit-kapur Amit Kapur
J Sagar Associates
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Regulatory & policy; dispute resolution; infrastructure projects
rn-karanjawala RN Karanjawala
Karanjawala & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4358 8888
Email: raian@raian.in
Key practice areas: Arbitration & ADR; litigation; real estate
RN Karanjawala is the educational bi-product of St Columbus School, Delhi, and was conferred with the degree of Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the Sri Ram College of Commerce where he was also president of the college union. Karanjawala studied at the Government Law College in Bombay before setting up Karanjawala & Co along with Manik Karanjawala in 1983.
Karanjawala has authored the India chapter of The Litigation Review, an annual guide to developments in dispute resolution in the most significant jurisdictions worldwide, designed to help counsel and private practitioners navigate the complexities of foreign or transnational disputes.
Karanjawala was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Laws by Amity University in 2014. He is an experienced practitioner in the field of dispute resolution and has serviced a wide variety of clients from ordinary litigants to royal families, politicians, corporate houses and the largest media companies.
suneeth-katarki Suneeth Katarki
IndusLaw
Bengaluru
Tel: +91 80 4072 6600
Email: suneeth.katarki@induslaw.com
Key practice areas: Corporate advisory; fund investment; IP; joint ventures & collaborations; M&A
Suneeth Katarki is one of the founding partners of IndusLaw and has extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions and private equity investment. He also advises clients on joint ventures, corporate restructurings, arrangements amongst shareholders, reduction of capital and complex schemes involving all of the above.
Katarki also advises clients on intricate intellectual property issues in corporate transactions as well as for commercialization of their intellectual property rights.
Katarki is ranked as a band 1 lawyer in the corporate/M&A section and a band 2 lawyer in the private equity section by Chambers and Partners. He has been recognized as “one of the leading lawyers of India” by Asialaw Profiles (The Guide to Asia-Pacific’s Leading Domestic Law Firms) for several years.
nisha-kaur-uberoi Nisha Kaur Uberoi
Trilegal
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Competition law; merger control; cartels; abuse of dominance; competition compliance
haigreve-khaitan Haigreve Khaitan
Khaitan & Co
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; PE; project finance; private clients & trusts
rohit-kochhar Rohit Kochhar
Kochhar & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4111 5222
Email: rohit@kochhar.com
Key practice areas: M&A; corporate & commercial; labour & employment; white-collar crime; commercial litigation; anti-bribery & anti-corruption
Widely acclaimed as an eminent Indian lawyer and outstanding legal entrepreneur, Rohit Kochhar is the founder and chairman of Kochhar & Co, one of India’s leading corporate law firms.
Kochhar has been a pioneer in the Indian legal services sector with many firsts to his credit. His dynamic leadership has made Kochhar & Co the only full service law firm with a presence across seven prominent Indian states and four overseas jurisdictions including Dubai, where it is the only firm from the sub-continent to have been granted a licence to practise local UAE law.
Kochhar has rich experience of almost 30 years in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, regulatory approvals, company law, exchange control, foreign direct investment, labour and employment, high-stake commercial disputes and white collar crime. He heads the anti-bribery and anti-corruption practice of the firm and enjoys international recognition for handling some of the most sensitive corruption cases.
He advises numerous global Fortune 500 companies on a host of complex Indian law issues and sits on the board of several Indian subsidiaries of such corporations.
Kochhar has been recognized as the Elite Leading Lawyer for corporate/M&A by The Asia Pacific Legal 500 Guide to Outstanding Lawyers 2016 and has also been ranked consistently for his corporate/M&A practice by Chambers and Partners.
Kochhar is a recipient of the Rashtriya Gaurav Award (Pride of the Nation Award) for excellence in law, the Glory of India Award for placing India on the world map of legal services, and the Rajiv Gandhi Award for being a young achiever and entrepreneur. He was presented the International Council of Jurists Award by the prime minister of India for accomplishments in corporate law and legal entrepreneurship and the National Citizens Award for his contribution in the field of youth affairs.
Kochhar is the honorary secretary of the Society of Indian Law Firms.
naina-krishna-murthy Naina Krishna Murthy
Krishnamurthy & Co
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6749 2595
Email: naina@klaw.in
Key practice areas: M&A; joint ventures; collaborations; PE/VC investments 
Naina Krishna Murthy is the founder and managing partner of Krishnamurthy & Co (K Law). She is an alumnus of the prestigious National Law School, Bengaluru (1996), and started her career with Arthur Anderson followed by a stint as the in-house counsel at Biocon. Krishna Murthy founded K Law in 1999 in Bengaluru. Under her leadership and guidance, K Law today is a full-service Indian law firm with 13 partners, four associate partners and about 85 lawyers in offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai.
Krishna Murthy specializes in corporate commercial law, specifically mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations and PE/VC investments, and is a trusted adviser to some of the foremost companies, including Larsen and Toubro, Reliance Industries, Pipavav Defence and Caterpillar. She recently advised L&T General Insurance in its sale to HDFC Ergo valued at ₹5.5 billion. Krishna Murthy is based in the firm’s Mumbai office.
ravi-kulkarni Ravi Kulkarni
Khaitan & Co
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Competition; corporate & commercial; capital markets; M&A
v-lakshmikumaran V Lakshmikumaran
Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4129 9800
Email: lakshmi.kumaran@lakshmisri.com
Key practice areas: Tax (indirect tax, GST, direct tax); customs & international trade; IP; corporate advisory; litigation; arbitration
V Lakshmikumaran founded Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan in 1985.
Today the firm has more than 300 lawyers and provides litigation and advisory services from 11 offices in India as well as offices in Geneva and London.
Over the past three decades, Lakshmikumaran has been a leading litigating lawyer representing clients before various adjudicating authorities, tribunals, high courts and the Supreme Court of India. He has also represented clients in trade remedy cases in other jurisdictions, including the European Union, the US, Australia, and Canada. He specializes in direct and indirect taxes and is an expert in international taxation and international trade laws covering WTO law. Lakshmikumaran has a rich experience in commercial litigation, arbitration, intellectual property law and corporate law. His deep understanding of technological issues that impact taxation and IP issues is highly recognized.
Lakshmikumaran regularly delivers lectures in industry bodies, international institutions and universities. He holds a Master’s degree in mathematics and a Bachelor’s degree in law.
chander-lall Chander Lall
Singh & Singh Lall & Sethi
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4289 9999
Email: cmlall@indiaip.com
Key practice areas: IP prosecution; IP litigation; IP & competition laws; standard essential patents disputes
Chander Lall is the founding and managing partner of Singh & Singh Lall & Sethi (SSL&S). In 1989 he enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of India. He is the chief litigating counsel for SSL&S having spearheaded litigations in diverse subjects relating to standard essential patents, comparative advertising, copyright piracy and plagiarism, protection of well-known marks and issues concerning information technology, competition law and design violation. Lall is rated among the best IP litigators in the country. Chambers and Partners ranked him as band 1 for intellectual property litigation.
He is also a Gold Award winner in enforcement and litigation from WTR, while WIPR named him a trademark and patents leader in 2016.
Lall was counsel for a winning cause in two of the lead decisions (Whirlpool and Ocuflox) of the Supreme Court of India on well-known and famous marks – decisions which were path-breaking, not just in India, but also internationally. He chaired the World-Wide Anti-Counterfeiting and Enforcement Committee of the International Trademarks Association (INTA) and currently serves as the president of the Intellectual Property Attorney Association (IPAA).
rajiv-luthra Rajiv Luthra
Luthra & Luthra
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Corporate, commercial & M&A; banking & finance; capital markets; project finance
sonali-mahapatra Sonali Mahapatra
Talwar Thakore & Associates
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6613 6988
Email: sonali.mahapatra@tta.in
Key practice areas: Banking & finance; debt capital markets
Sonali Mahapatra is a specialist in banking and finance with wide experience in bank financing. She has advised on numerous international and domestic financing transactions across a range of financing products, including structured finance, leveraged acquisition finance, project and asset finance, debt restructuring, debt capital markets and equity financing. Mahapatra joined Talwar Thakore & Associates (TT&A) in 2009, prior to which she was at Linklaters in Singapore.
Recent transactions she has advised on include a ₹40 billion bond issue for Nirma’s acquisition of Lafarge’s cement assets in India and Blackstone’s acquisition of a majority stake in Mphasis.
Other notable transactions include:
– the first partially guaranteed microfinance loan programme in India, established by the ADB and IFMR Capital.
– financing for Blackstone’s acquisition of the prestigious Express Towers in Mumbai.
– a covered bond issuance by Andhra Pradesh Expressway, India’s first widely syndicated annuity bond.
shuva-mandal Shuva Mandal
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; TMT; PE
rahul-matthan Rahul Matthan
Trilegal
Bengaluru
Key practice areas: TMT
preeti-mehta Preeti Mehta
Kanga & Company
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6633 2288
Email: preeti.mehta@kangacompany.com
Key practice areas: M&A; PE; corporate & commercial; franchising & hospitality; banking; real estate
Preeti Mehta has been a partner of Kanga & Co since 1991. She is qualified as a solicitor in Mumbai and also with the Law Society of England and Wales.
Mehta specialises in mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment, private equity, banking, franchising and real estate. She has been recognized as a leading lawyer for mergers and acquisitions and franchising by Who’s Who International and for corporate and M&A by Chambers and Partners.
Mehta authored the India Chapter of the International Encyclopaedia of Franchising, and has written several articles on various other topics. She was also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Franchising Law.
Mehta is a member of the Law Committee of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Rotary Club of Bombay, and the Executive Council of the Franchise Association of India, where she chairs the Legal Committee. She also serves as an independent director on company boards.
nihar-mody Nihar Mody
Platinum Partners
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Corporate; PE
zia-mody Zia Mody
AZB & Partners
Mumbai
Key practice areas: M&A; joint ventures; restructuring of companies; foreign inward investment
suhaan-mukerji Suhaan Mukerji
PLR Chambers
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 2437 0981
Email: suhaan.mukerji@plrchambers.com
Key practice areas: Public policy; government affairs; legislative drafting
Suhaan Mukerji founded PLR Chambers, a law firm specializing in public policy and regulatory affairs. He has experience in crisis management, policy formulation, drafting and monitoring of legislative agendas for clients.
Mukerji advises on corporate affairs and public policy strategy, representing clients before various ministries and departments of the federal government, numerous state governments, regulators, and law enforcement agencies. He regularly advises the government on policy and legislative reform, serving on several committees and regularly appearing as an expert witness before parliamentary standing committees. He has drafted legislation and also served as an expert adviser, Office of Adviser to the Prime Minister Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation.
Previously he led the public policy and regulatory practice at Amarchand Mangaldas and worked with the Operations Evaluation Department at the World Bank. He has a Bachelor’s degree from the National Law School, Bangalore, and a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics. He has been recognized as one of eight Gen Next lawyers in the country by The Economic Times.
ameet-naik Ameet Naik
Naik Naik & Co
Mumbai
Key practice areas: TMT; general corporate & transaction support; dispute resolution & litigation; real estate; antitrust & competition; employment
promod-nair Promod Nair
Arista Chambers
Bengaluru
Key practice areas: Arbitration & ADR; IP; litigation; public procurement
shivpriya-nanda Shivpriya Nanda
J Sagar Associates
Gurgaon
Tel: +91 124 439 0660
Email: shippi@jsalaw.com
Key practice areas: Corporate commercial; M&A; PE; projects; aviation; defence; retail
Shivpriya Nanda, joint managing partner of J Sagar Associates, has 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, strategic joint ventures and corporate advisory. She has represented several marquee clients and is consistently sought out as a valued adviser for her incisive and business oriented advice.
She has advised several Fortune 500 companies in complicated strategic alliances, restructurings, shareholder issues, bribery and anti-corruption investigations, technology licensing and transfers, senior management engagement and exits.
She has spearheaded sectors with specific regulatory challenges, such as defence, retail, education, mining, aviation, real estate, and food products, and has steered several large foreign investments into India. She has represented clients such as Wal-Mart, Michelin, EMAAR, KFC and Pizza Hut, Frankfurt Airport, Posco, Pernod Ricard, and Hindustan Times, among others.
Nanda has been consistently ranked as a top-tier lawyer in various publications, and has been recognized as a leading individual by Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal.
harish-narasappa Harish Narasappa
Samvad Partners
Bengaluru
Key practice areas: Cross-border M&A; banking; corporate finance; PE; projects; regulatory; dispute resolution
ranjan-narula Ranjan Narula
RNA
Gurgaon
Key practice areas: IP protection & enforcement; life sciences; biotechnology; litigation; TMT
ravi-nath Ravi Nath
RNC Legal / Rajinder Narain & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4122 5000
Email: ravi.nath@rnclegal.com
Key practice areas: Aviation (finance, litigation and regulatory); cross-border leasing & securitization; mergers & amalgamations; company formations; joint ventures; exchange control; dispute resolution
Ravi Nath has about 40 years of experience, and is recognized as a go-to lawyer in India. He heads the oldest law firm in New Delhi and is a past-president of the Inter Pacific Bar Association. He chaired the aviation law committee of the International Bar Association, and serves on the legal advisory panel of the aviation working group. He has been repeatedly recognized by Chambers and Partners, Euromoney and Legal 500, and has advised significant transactions in telecom, energy and other infrastructure projects.
Nath’s well-known clients include Boeing, Bechtel, BMW, Lego, United Technologies, AerCap, Airbus, UBS, US Exim, Coface, Deutsch Bank, BNP Paribas and Barclays.
He is the author, co-author or editor of several books on his practice areas and is often a speaker at professional gatherings. He has lectured at Oxford and other universities and at several academic forums.
suhail-nathani Suhail Nathani
Economic Laws Practice
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6636 7000
Email: suhailnathani@elp-in.com
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; competition law & policy; capital markets & securities law; international trade & customs; PE & VC
Suhail Nathani is the managing partner of Economic Laws Practice (ELP). He has more than 24 years of experience and has earned a Master’s degree at Cambridge University, England, and an LLM from Duke University in the US. Apart from India, he is admitted to the State Bar of New York.
Prior to joining ELP, he was the general counsel of a start-up FCC licensed telecommunications carrier in Washington DC that went public.
He has been recognized as one of the top 30 international trade practitioners in the world by the Best of the Best, Expert Guides 2016. He has also been ranked as a leading lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific, The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, Who’s Who Legal, Asialaw Leading Lawyers, and IFLR1000 Financial & Corporate Guide.
He was recently on the jury for the BW Businessworld-PwC I-bank 2016 Awards.
gopika-pant Gopika Pant
Indian Law Partners
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 2415 4000
Email: gopika.pant@ilps.in

Key practice areas: Corporate commercial & M&A; banking & finance; infrastructure & project finance; capital markets; energy; real estate
Gopika Pant has more than 31 years of legal experience and is a member of the Bar Council of Delhi, the Supreme Court Bar Association, India, the New York State Bar Association and the International Bar Association. Pant has a BA Hons from St Stephens College, Delhi and an LLB from Delhi University. She was admitted to the bar in the state of New York in 1987 after completing an LLM from Columbia University in 1986. Pant worked in New York between 1986 and 1990, before returning to India. She was a partner in a leading law firm in India prior to setting up Indian Law Partners in 1999. On 1 April 2011, Indian Law Partners entered into a best-friend relationship with global law firm Ashurst.
Pant has significant experience in Indian corporate and commercial laws and is a specialist in cross-border commercial transactions (including restructurings, acquisitions, joint ventures, business alliances, foreign portfolio investments), PE investments and exits, banking and finance and real estate transactions.
Her key briefs include advising Times Bank on its merger with HDFC, which was India’s first private banking merger, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation in various transactions, including its equity investment in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. She has also advised BUPA, UK; Sanlam; BlueScope Steel; Serco Group; Toshiba; Mitsui; New Silk Route; Microsoft; Dow Jones; Bosch; Brookfield Group; Merlin Entertainments, UK; Haitong Bank; KIA Motors; Nampak Plastics Europe; Soktas Turkey and GE on diverse matters.
Pant is on the board of various companies, including GKN Driveline and Aegis, both public companies, Xchanging Solutions, a public-listed company, as well as Merlin Entertainments India.
Pant is a keen environmentalist and has completed a diploma in environmental law from the World Wide Fund for Nature. She is an enthusiastic public speaker and has recently addressed conferences in India, London, Singapore, Japan and the US. In addition to lawyering and public speaking, Pant is a keen sportswoman. She was ranked number one in both badminton and squash in Delhi and has played several national-level championships in India.
anand-pathak Anand Pathak
P&A Law Offices
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4139 3939
Email: apathak@palaw.in

Key practice areas: M&A, and joint ventures & financings; European & Indian competition law
Anand Pathak is admitted to practise law in India and the US. He has extensive experience in cross-border mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, and EU and Indian competition law. He has been practising as a lawyer in India, Europe and the US for more than 25 years.
Anand has represented clients in the largest mergers and acquisitions in India and in complex competition law, intellectual property and regulatory litigation before the Supreme Court of India, high courts, tribunals and antitrust enforcement agencies.
Anand was presented with the National Law Day Award by the prime minister of India for his unique contribution in the field of corporate law and for bringing foreign investments into India. He has received several awards for M&A and competition law and is listed in The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers and Economists and The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
shiraz-patodia Shiraz Patodia
Dua Associates
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 2371 4408
Email: shiraz@duaassociates.com

Key practice areas: Dispute resolution (litigation & arbitration); white-collar crime; international trade; intellectual property
A senior partner at Dua Associates, Shiraz Patodia’s practice focuses on dispute resolution. She represents domestic and international clients in complex and highly contentious commercial litigation and arbitration matters before various courts and arbitral forums in India, including the Supreme Court. In her legal career spanning three decades, Patodia has represented clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to closely held Indian and foreign companies, in a broad range of civil and criminal matters, including disputes relating to environmental law, intellectual property, international trade, breach of contract, specific relief, constitutional and administrative law, company law, fraud and fiduciary duty, joint venture and partnership, and anti-corruption.
Patodia notably created a specialist practice group at the firm on anti-corruption and white-collar crime. This has been a major practice area for her over the past decade and she has handled advisory, as well as litigation assignments and internal corporate investigations, in different parts of India. She has also been assisting and representing one of the firm’s international clients in a leading, cutting-edge matter on corporate corruption that is pending in India. Patodia frequently writes on the topic of corruption and has recently contributed the India chapter in the Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Review, Third Edition, published by Law Business Research.
Patodia also heads the firm’s intellectual property practice group and the international trade and customs practice group.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, a Bachelor of Laws degree from Government Law College, University of Bombay, Mumbai, and is a solicitor of the Bombay Incorporated Law Society. Patodia is an advocate-on-record of the Supreme Court of India, a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, the Bombay Incorporated Law Society, and the Bombay Bar Association. She is an associate member of the Delhi High Court Bar Association.
anand-prasad Anand Prasad
Trilegal
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial
saikrishna-rajagopal Saikrishna Rajagopal
Saikrishna & Associates
Noida
Tel: +91 9811123099
Email: sai@saikrishnaassociates.com

Key practice areas: IP; litigation; TMT; competition and antitrust
Saikrishna Rajagopal is the managing partner of Saikrishna & Associates, a preeminent firm in the field of intellectual property. He is a renowned IP litigator, having worked on a variety of path-breaking intellectual property disputes in the past two decades. Apart from in the field of intellectual property, Rajagopal has appeared in landmark cases involving the right of freedom of speech and expression. Recently, Rajagopal successfully made a case for the reading down of section 79 (3) (b) of the Information Technology Act, not only providing a shot in the arm for free speech on the internet, but also strengthening the objective of providing safe harbours to online intermediaries.
Rajagopal has written and spoken extensively on a variety of intellectual property topics, both in domestic and international forums. Several domestic and international surveys exploring the intellectual property landscape have rated Rajagopal a leading individual in the field of intellectual property.
Rajagopal has also appeared before a standing committee of parliament, deposing with respect to the 2012 amendments to the Copyright Act, 1957.
c-rashmikant C Rashmikant
Federal & Rashmikant
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Litigation & litigation strategy
ashwath-rau Ashwath Rau
AZB & Partners
Mumbai
Key practice areas: M&A; PE; funds; financial regulatory; corporate governance; general corporate advisory
jyoti-sagar Jyoti Sagar
J Sagar Associates
Gurgaon
Key practice areas: General corporate commercial; M&A; PE; IP
hemant-sahai Hemant Sahai
HSA Advocates
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 6638 7000
Email: hemant.sahai@hsalegal.com

Key practice areas: Energy & infrastructure; regulatory & policy; project finance; mergers & acquisitions; private equity; banking & finance
Hemant Sahai is the founding partner of HSA Advocates, one of India’s leading full service law firms. With more than two decades of experience, he is acknowledged as a leading commercial, projects and energy lawyer in India and Asia. His personal passion remains energy, infrastructure and environmental law practice, which he spearheads for the firm. He is currently advising on some of the largest infrastructure and finance projects in the world.
Sahai plays a significant role in policy and regulatory advocacy. He has advised the IFC, the World Bank and the Planning Commission on infrastructure and policy initiatives in areas such as health, education and renewable energy. He has also been the strategic adviser to the Japanese government for the infrastructure sector in India.
Sahai has consistently been ranked by legal publications and peer reviews as a leading lawyer in the infrastructure and policy space. He spends time and effort on CSR initiatives, is a passionate adventurer, amateur pilot and avid motorcyclist.
mohit-saraf Mohit Saraf
Luthra & Luthra
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Corporate; M&A; infrastructure & projects; PE
abhishek-saxena Abhishek Saxena
Phoenix Legal
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4983 0000
Email: abhishek.saxena@phoenixlegal.in

Key practice areas: Foreign investment & regulation; corporate transactions, including acquisitions and joint ventures; structuring and tax advisory; corporate insolvency; projects
Abhishek Saxena is a co-founding partner of Phoenix Legal and is based in its New Delhi office. He has vast experience of advising on a number of complex and prestigious projects and cross-border deals in diverse sectors, including power, oil & gas, financial services, IT & ITES, natural resources, hotels, infrastructure, retail and wholesale business, and aviation. He represents large and reputed Indian companies, foreign investors and multinational corporations (including Fortune 100 companies).
Before co-founding Phoenix Legal, Saxena was a partner at another large Indian law firm and prior to that he was an in-house legal counsel at a large government company. He has a BA (Hons) in economics from the St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and an LLB from Delhi University.
Saxena has been on panels at various forums on diverse topics and is a regular contributor to different publications on contemporary legal issues. He has been recommended by various international publications, including Chambers and Partners, which has named him one of Asia’s leading lawyers for business in corporate M&A and projects, infrastructure and energy for several years. Chambers and Partners ranks him as a band one lawyer in projects, infrastructure and energy. Asian Legal Business listed him as one of its “Hot 100”. IFLR 1000 has named him as a leading Asia Pacific lawyer. He is also featured in Who’s Who Legal: Energy 2016.
Recognizing Saxena’s expertise, Legal 500 quoted a client who said: “Saxena provides outstanding services”. Chambers and Partners quoted three clients: one who praised Saxena for his “good domain knowledge and ability to see the problems that might come up in the future”; another who stated that he “always goes into depth to understand the technical issues, which makes working with him a great learning experience”; and a third who stated that he “doesn’t limit himself to the legal aspects, he goes beyond the legalese and comes in from a commercial point of view”.
sunil-seth Sunil Seth
Seth Dua & Associates
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4164 4700
Email: sunil.seth@sethdua.com

Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; infrastructure; foreign investment
Sunil Seth is the founder and senior partner of Seth Dua & Associates (SDA), a leading Indian law firm with offices in Delhi, Noida, Mumbai and Bangalore. His professional experience spans more than 28 years in the areas of Indian corporate and commercial laws, M&A transactions, foreign investment, government and regulatory advisory, transaction structuring and documentation.
Seth has advised several international and domestic companies on prestigious Indian infrastructure projects, including energy, railways/metro, smart cities, urban development and water and sewage projects.
He advised the Ministry of Housing, Government of India, in the drafting of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, to ensure orderly growth and development of the real estate sector across India.
Seth is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on Indian law issues. He co-chaired the session on Defence Procurement & Policy at a conference called Threading the Needle in US/India Deals: Safe Passage through Formidable Legal Risk, which was held jointly by the American Bar Association and the Society of Indian Law Firms in New Delhi in 2014.
He has published articles with Sweet & Maxwell, LexisNexis Butterworths, Euromoney, Law Business Research, etc. These include: The Government Procurement Review; Construction Law Review; and Public Private Partnerships. Seth is also a key contributor to a book titled Joint Ventures and Mergers & Acquisitions in India – Legal and Tax Aspects, published by LexisNexis Butterworths.
Seth is a member of various leading international professional bodies, including the International Bar Association, the Inter Pacific Bar Association, and LAWASIA. He is named a leading lawyer in Asialaw Profiles, Legal 500 and Chambers Global.
Honorary positions held: senior vice chair, International Bar Association (IBA) – SEERIL – Water Law Committee; vice chairman, IPBA – Energy & Natural Resources Committee; vice president, Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce & Industry; member, ASSOCHAM Trade Committee; and member, FICCI Joint Business Council.
rajat-sethi Rajat Sethi
S&R Associates
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; inbound investment; PE, VC & funds; TMT; corporate governance; competition & antitrust
anup-s-shah Anup S Shah
Anup S Shah Law Firm
Bengaluru
Tel: +91 80 4242 3000
Email: anup@anupsshahlawfirm.com

Key practice areas: Real estate; litigation & arbitration; intellectual property; corporate law
Anup S Shah is the founding partner of Anup S Shah Law Firm, which has offices in Bangalore and Chennai. He has been in the profession for more than 35 years.
Shah specializes in matters pertaining to commercial documentation and real estate transactions, advising developers, builders and investors – both domestic and foreign – on projects related to real estate investments by way of foreign direct investment (FDI) and non-FDI. He also advises on leases, structuring development agreements, joint venture agreements and due diligence.
Shah writes for the Times of India on invitation. He is also called upon by several organizations to share his views on aspects of laws that are applicable to the real estate business. He is regularly invited to opine on issues related to real estate and stamp duty and the laws applicable thereto. His views and opinions are held as a benchmark in the real estate field.
Shah has handled some of the largest and most complex real estate transactions in Bangalore and Chennai for major companies and investors in the real estate industry. He represents several companies that have considerable presence in the real estate sector, including Sobha, Embassy Group of Companies, Puravankara Group, Sattva and Salarpuria Group, Bhoruka Group of Companies, Tata Housing, Sun Group Enterprise Limited, Alembic Group of Companies, and EIH. He also represents several other companies with regard to their investment in the real estate business, including HDFC, Zander and V Guard. He and his domain-specialized partners, who are assisted by a dedicated team of about 65 lawyers and about 25 paralegals and staff, render legal services pertaining to all aspects of real estate law, litigation and arbitration, consumer forum matters, debt recovery matters, intellectual property, corporate law, commercial documentation, M&A transactions and general and specific corporate advice and documentation.
atul-sharma Atul Sharma
Link Legal India Law Services
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Dispute resolution; projects, infrastructure and energy; aviation; general corporate & commercial; employment; real estate
cyril-shroff Cyril Shroff
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 2496 4455
Email: cyril.shroff@cyrilshroff.com

Key practice areas: Corporate law; securities markets; dispute resolution; arbitration; private clients; financing
Cyril Shroff has more than 34 years of experience in a range of areas, including corporate and securities law, disputes, banking, infrastructure, private client, financial regulatory and others. He has been recognized as a legendary figure in the Indian legal community and is consistently ranked as a star practitioner in India by Chambers Global and other directories. Often regarded as the “M&A King of India”, Shroff was named the Managing Partner of the Year, 2015, by ALB magazine.
Shroff is a member of the first apex advisory committee of the IMC International ADR Centre; a member of the advisory board of the Centre for Study of the Legal Profession of Harvard Law School; a member of the advisory board of the National Institute of Securities Markets and is on the board of the Indian Institute of Management, Trichy. He is a director on several boards and a member of various committees. He regularly comments and advises on policy reforms in India.
pallavi-shroff Pallavi Shroff
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4161 4093
Email: pallavi.shroff@amsshardul.com

Key practice areas: Dispute resolution; arbitration; competition law; policy & regulatory
Pallavi Shroff is the managing partner of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and has more than 34 years of extensive experience in litigation, arbitration and competition law. Her broad and varied representation of public and private corporations and other entities before legal institutions has earned her national and international acclaim.
Shroff is also the national practice head of dispute resolution at the firm, and mentors the competition law practice.
She has also been closely involved with some of the largest and most challenging litigation and arbitration cases in India with regard to energy, infrastructure, natural resources, mergers and acquisitions, legislative and policy related matters. She appears regularly in the Supreme Court and high courts across India, and in arbitrations, mediations and international legal disputes. She has led some of the most complex arbitrations and litigations relating to energy, infrastructure, natural resources, mergers and acquisitions, legislative and policy matters, and regularly represents public and private institutions and companies, including General Electric, Havells, Vale Australia, Vodafone, BHEL and ONGC. She also regularly advises and represents international and national clients on various aspects of the competition law including Apollo Tyres, Coal India, ACC, and Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital, among others.
For her legal acumen and thought leadership, Shroff is frequently featured in many international publications. She is ranked in band one for dispute resolution by Chambers and Partners 2016, which states “Pallavi Shroff is singled out as ‘a superbly good practitioner’ who regularly handles both litigation and arbitration matters”. The competition law/antitrust practice she mentors is the only such practice ranked band one in India.
Shroff is also the only Indian lawyer listed as a “Highly Regarded Individual” in Who’s Who Legal 2016, for her acumen in litigation. She is also listed as a recommended lawyer for arbitration. She was named the Best Lawyer in Dispute Resolution in Asia at the Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Asia Women in Business Law Awards, and she features in Global Competition Review’s International Who’s Who Legal of Competition Lawyers and Economists 2014.
shardul-shroff Shardul Shroff
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4161 4094
Email: shardul.shroff@amsshardul.com
Key practice areas: Banking & finance; M&A; bankruptcy & insolvency; projects & project finance; general corporate; capital markets
Shardul Shroff is the executive chairman at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and has more than 35 years of experience in general corporate, banking and finance, and projects and project finance. Shroff is also a leading authority on legal matters related to media law and technology law, corporate governance, policy and regulatory practices.
He has been involved in many complex and high-profile transactions, including strategic alliances and takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, divestments, spin-offs, joint ventures, and capital markets. He has advised clients across industries, including DLF, General Electric, ONGC, Avantha and PVR.
Shroff has been on a number of high-powered committees appointed by the Government of India, including the JJ Irani Committee for amending the Companies Act, the Expert Committee on maintenance of Cost Records and Cost Audits, and the second Naresh Chandra Committee appointed to look into aspects of small and medium enterprises and simplification of company law.
He was recently re-elected as the chairman of the National Committee on Legal Services by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), and is also the chairman the CII National Committee on IT & ITeS for the year 2015-16, a member of the CII Public Policy Council, and a member of the CII Task Force on the Ease of Doing Business in 2016-2017. He has been appointed as the senior vice president of the Society of Indian Law Firms and is a member of the US-India Business Council, the vice-chair of the Corporate Counsel Committee of the IPBA Council, the Union Internationale des Avocats, and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce.
Shroff has been consistently rated as a leading lawyer by international forums and publications, including Who’s Who Legal, Asialaw, Chambers Global, Euromoney and IFLR, and has received several awards and global commendations for his work.
hemant-singh Hemant Singh
Inttl Advocare
Noida
Tel: +91 120 247 0200
Email: hemant@inttladvocare.com
Key practice areas: IP litigation & prosecution
Hemant Singh is the managing partner of Inttl Advocare, which has offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. He has handled over 2,000 IP litigations across India. He was the lead counsel in several landmark IP cases involving contentious and complex issues in trademarks, patents, designs, copyright, trade secrets, geographical indications, and competition law.
Singh has a diverse world-wide clientele that includes several Fortune 100 and 500 companies. He represented INTA in their first ever amicus brief before the Supreme Court of India in a case on a parallel import issue. His leadership led to Inttl Advocare receiving the “Best Trade Mark Counsel – Global Award 2014” from Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
Singh is a member of the International Amicus Committee of INTA; Emerging IP Committee and Council member of Asian Patent Attorneys Association; vice president of AIPPI, India Group; member of the well-known marks team of MARQUES; and chairman of the national council on IP of ASSOCHAM.
karan-singh Karan Singh
Trilegal
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; banking & finance
sajai-singh Sajai Singh
J Sagar Associates
Bengaluru
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; PE; employment law; technology law
sawant-singh Sawant Singh
Phoenix Legal
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 4340 8500
Email: sawant.singh@phoenixlegal.in
Key practice areas: Banking & finance; projects, infrastructure and energy; private equity; labour & employment; M&A & joint ventures
In almost two decades, Sawant Singh has built areas of expertise around PE, project finance, securitization, asset reconstruction, consortium banking, domestic and external commercial borrowings and debt restructuring. He also advises clients on a host of corporate and commercial, labour and employment and real estate issues.
Chambers and Partners describes him as “one of India’s most in-demand banking practitioners”. Clients praise his solution-focused and practical approach in addition to his very calm demeanour, which is a huge plus in high-stakes negotiations.” He is highly recommended as a leading lawyer in banking and finance and projects, infrastructure and energy in Chambers and Partners and one of the most highly recommended Asia-Pacific-focused lawyers in labour and employment, in Asialaw’s Leading Lawyers Survey.
Singh has considerable experience in banking, finance, employment and corporate. His key representations are:
Standard Chartered Bank and IDFC, on the financing of the Jammu-Udhampur section of National Highway 1A, involving a foreign currency loan of US$350 million and rupee loan of ₹5.5 billion to the Shapoorji Pallonji group.
Citibank, devising and successfully implementing India’s first revolving securitization for working capital loans.
IFMR Capital, for structuring the world’s first multi-originator securitization issuance with the underlying pool being micro-loans.
Navis Capital, a PE firm, on investment in Edutech, one of the biggest deals in India’s education sector.
Sanctum Wealth Management, on the management buy-out of the Indian private banking and wealth management business of the Royal Bank of Scotland, including assistance with approvals under the Competition Act, 2002.
Deutsche Mutual Fund on the acquisition of its mutual fund schemes and portfolios under management by another mutual fund, including assistance with regulatory approvals from the SEBI and the Competition Commission of India.
Sojitz, on a US$40 million joint venture (including equity infusion, credit support, exclusive supply arrangement and technical services) with the Archean Group to set up and operate a marine chemicals plant.
Singh has advised PayPal, BSH, Hilti, JP Morgan, Bajaj Finance, Deutsche Bank, Mizuho Bank, ANZ Bank, Messe Frankfurt, Sanctum Wealth Management, Contiloe Films, JCB Salons, Apollo Tyres and other clients on a host of labour and employment matters.
ravi-singhania Ravi Singhania
Singhania & Partners
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Arbitration & litigation; corporate commercial; defence & aviation; infrastructure; M&A; project finance
vijay-sondhi Vijay Sondhi
Luthra & Luthra
New Delhi
Key practice areas: Corporate commercial & corporate governance; dispute resolution; management, labour & employment; intellectual property; real estate; white-collar crime
srinath-sridevan Srinath Sridevan
HSB Partners
Chennai
Tel: +91 44 2435 5217 
Email: srinath@hsbpartners.com
Key practice areas: Mining; infrastructure; real estate; project finance; banking & finance
A “gold-medallist” from Madras University, and a graduate from New York University, Srinath Sridevan is one of the three founding partners of HSB Partners, a leading law firm in Chennai.
In the past 20 years, Sridevan has built up a very strong reputation in his areas of expertise, which include real estate, infrastructure, mining law, project finance, and banking. He handles the litigation and transactional practice aspects in all these areas of practice.
After graduating from Madras University, Sridevan undertook an internship with Deacons Graham & James (now Deacons) in Hong Kong and went on to obtain an LLM from New York University with a specialization in corporate law. He became one of the youngest recipients of the British Chevening Scholarship in law, to attend a course in Commercial Law at the York University School of Law. Sridevan briefly worked for Allen & Overy in London, before returning to India to practice.
Sridevan quickly established a significant practice in the Madras High Court, and also in the high courts in the other four southern states.
In 2005, he entered into partnership with Harishankar Krishnaswami and TK Bhaskar, to form HSB Partners.
“Entering into a partnership is an entry into a long-term commitment,” Sridevan explains. “It works best if that commitment is entered into with a friend. Bhaskar and Hari were very close friends, with similar backgrounds, and with complementing practice areas. The choice was therefore, natural. And we’ve never looked back.”
HSB Partners has grown greatly since its founding, and is today a full-service law firm with more than 45 lawyers.
Sridevan is a member of the mining law committee of the International Bar Association, and has also made presentations before a parliamentary committee on the 2013 proposed amendments to the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act.
He has written several articles on law, and also contributes a significant portion of his time to pro bono work. Sridevan is a committed supporter of legal education and takes classes at the School of Excellence in Law, Chennai, whenever possible.
priti-suri Priti Suri
PSA
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4350 0500
Email: p.suri@psalegal.com
Key practice areas: Corporate, commercial; M&A; competition; compliance; dispute resolution; labour & employment; PE & VC
Priti Suri, the founder and managing partner of PSA, has more than three decades of experience spread across three continents. A first-generation lawyer, she started her career as a litigator and evolved rapidly as a business lawyer, and is now known for her pragmatic ability to “get the deal done”.
With work experience in the US and Europe, Suri established her base in India. She developed the firm, represents its international and domestic clients in the full range of cross-border M&A transactions and works closely with senior management on various matters. Her representations are worth more than US$10 billion across a spectrum of industries.
An active member of the international bar, Suri chaired the India Committee of ABA for two years and is its senior adviser. She chaired the Women Business Lawyers’ Committee of IPBA for four years. She initiated the formation of Society of Women Lawyers, India, the first platform for female professionals to address their evolving challenges, and is its current president.
sujjain-talwar Sujjain Talwar
Economic Laws Practice
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6636 7000
Email: sujjaintalwar@elp-in.com
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; banking & finance; infrastructure; hospitality; PE & VC
Sujjain Talwar is a co-founding partner of Economic Laws Practice (ELP). He has more than 20 years of experience and is a qualified solicitor in India as well as England and Wales. He ranked first in the solicitor’s examinations and received special awards for company law and direct taxation. Prior to joining ELP, Talwar worked with Crawford Bayley & Co in Mumbai, as well as with Pinsent Masons in the UK.
He has been ranked as a leading lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific; IFLR 1000 Energy & Infrastructure Guide; The Asia-Pacific Legal 500; Who’s Who Legal and Asialaw Leading Lawyers. He was recently on the panel of judges for the ALB SE Asia Law Awards 2016 and also on the jury for the Hotel Investment Forum of India’s 2015 awards.
shardul-thacker Shardul Thacker
Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6634 5496
Email: shardul.thacker@mullaandmulla.com
Key practice areas: Admiralty & maritime; banking & finance; arbitration; litigation; corporate & commercial law; energy; insurance & reinsurance
Shardul Thacker heads the banking and maritime practice at Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe.
Lloyd’s List recently ranked him third in its Top 10 Lawyers, stating he was “highly regarded for his work in the LNG sector, particularly for interesting and highly geared finance deals”.
Thacker handles structured ship and asset finance, acting for overseas lenders for ship finance of LNG vessels flying foreign flags and chartered by Indian companies. He advises foreign rig owners, LNG companies and terminal operators on regulatory issues, Indian flagging, cabotage, tonnage tax, applicable taxes, licensing, etc.
Thacker has written the India sections of the Maritime Law Handbook, Kluwer; The Transport Finance Law Review; Limitation of Liability, Griggs and Williams; Time Bar in Reinsurance, An International Comparison, Clyde & Co; Cross-Border Security, Norton Rose; Shipping Law 2014, GLG Publication. He features in the International Who’s Who of Banking Lawyers.
Thacker is the India correspondent for Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly Digest, and vice president of the Indian Maritime Law Association.
kunal-thakore Kunal Thakore
Talwar Thakore & Associates
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 6613 6961
Email: kunal.thakore@tta.in
Key practice areas: Corporate & commercial; M&A; PE; project finance
Kunal Thakore has extensive experience advising on a wide range of transactions involving India, including in relation to joint ventures, acquisitions and disposals (both public and private), private equity investments and project financings. His clients are Indian and multinational banks and companies looking to establish and/or expand their business and footprint in India. He has expertise across a wide range of industry sectors and has advised on some of the most important transactions involving India, including Vodafone’s acquisition of Hutchison, Unilever’s open offer for HUL and AXA’s stake increase in its insurance joint venture.
Prior to joining Talwar Thakore & Associates, he was a partner at Linklaters.
neeraj-tuli Neeraj Tuli
Tuli & Co
New Delhi
Tel: +91 11 4593 4000
Email: neeraj.tuli@tuli.co.in
Key practice areas: Insurance & reinsurance; dispute resolution; construction
Neeraj Tuli is the senior partner of Tuli & Co. Before setting up the firm in 2000, he was with insurance law specialist Kennedys in London.
Tuli is widely recognized for the depth of his knowledge and his understanding of the contentious and non-contentious aspects of the insurance and reinsurance industry. His practice is recommended in various editions of the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners legal directories, with market sources describing him as having “remarkable knowledge” (Legal 500, 2016) and “a name to be reckoned with, an authority” (Chambers and Partners, Asia Pacific, 2016).
Tuli regularly assists clients with regulatory advice, product development and insurance coverage issues. His coverage advice for insurers and reinsurers encompasses a wide range of policy lines, including D&O, E&O/professional indemnity, CGL, product liability, public liability, MD, BI, CPM, DSU, ALOP, EAR and CAR.
Tuli and his team also specialize in litigation and arbitration. They handle ad-hoc arbitrations as well as institutional arbitrations, including those conducted under the auspices of the London Court of International Arbitration, International Chamber of Commerce, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Dubai International Arbitration Centre, and the Indian Council of Arbitration. Tuli is currently managing claims on behalf of insurers and reinsurers in India, the US, the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Tuli also acts as an arbitrator and was invited to be the first president of the Insurance Law Association of India being formed in association with the British Insurance Law Association. He is also a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s National Committee on Dispute Resolution and former chairman and current committee member of the Indian Associated Chambers of Commerce Expert Insurance Committee.
bahram-vakil Bahram Vakil
AZB & Partners
Mumbai
Key practice areas: Banking & finance; project finance; energy & infrastructure
vivek-vashi Vivek Vashi
Bharucha & Partners
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 2289 9300
Email: vivek.vashi@bharucha.in
Key practice areas: Litigation; arbitration; intellectual property; real estate; testamentary & family law; telecom
Vivek Vashi is a solicitor and founding partner of Bharucha & Partners. He heads the firm’s litigation practice, and deals with complex commercial, corporate and intellectual property litigation, as well as conveyancing and real estate work.
Vashi’s disputes practice covers a wide spectrum ranging from telecom, infrastructure, airport privatization, slum rehabilitation, indirect taxes, bankruptcy protection, derivatives, employment law, and family law.
Vashi has been recognized and acclaimed by Chambers and Partners Global, Chambers Asia Pacific, Legal 500, and Asialaw for his work in the practice areas of litigation and dispute resolution.
bhumesh-verma Bhumesh Verma
Link Legal India Law Services
New Delhi
Tel: +91 9811336533
Email: bhumesh.verma@linklegal.in
Key practice areas: M&A; general corporate & commercial; foreign investment; joint ventures; PE; employment law
Bhumesh Verma is a partner in the corporate and regulatory practice team of Link Legal India Law Services, New Delhi. He began his career at Ajay Bahl & Co (now part of AZB & Partners) and went on to become a partner at Khaitan & Co and PKA Advocates before joining Link Legal.
Verma has 22 years of experience in domestic as well as international corporate and commercial matters. He has advised clients from more than 50 countries on issues concerning mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment in India, incorporation of companies, regulatory approvals and compliance, financial and technical collaborations, exchange control issues, structuring cross-border transactions, negotiations on clients’ behalf, formulation of strategy on legal and business issues, joint ventures and other business transactions, corporate and securities law, private equity, venture capital, business agreements, due diligence, and so on.
In addition to advising his growing list of worldwide clients, Verma is an avid reader, prolific speaker and writer. He has contributed to the in-house journals of many international law firms on Indian law. His views have been published by various international journals. Considered a thought leader in his areas of specialization, he is passionate about imparting his legal knowledge and experience to younger lawyers and students. He has initiated and been part of continuing legal education initiatives at firms where he has worked. He is currently working on a book about FDI.
Verma has been a guest lecturer on matters such as India’s FDI and M&A regime, SEBI regulations and start-ups at NYU School of Law, Singapore, NLU Ranchi and Delhi University, to name a few. His frequent blog posts on India’s FDI policy get a very healthy readership. His presentations at Pune University, the Institute of Company Secretaries, etc., have also been well received. He takes pride in seeing some of the lawyers he mentored become partners at the largest Indian law firms.
Verma’s legal acumen and sound, friendly advice with a solution-centric approach are appreciated by clients and lawyers alike. He is the first port of call in India for innumerable international lawyers from big, mid-sized and even boutique law firms.
dina-wadia Dina Wadia
J Sagar Associates
Mumbai
Tel: +91 22 4341 8506
Email: dina@jsalaw.com
Key practice areas: Banking & finance; general corporate commercial; M&A; PE; projects
Dina Wadia has advised Indian and multinational banks and clients in banking and finance transactions, real estate financing and debt restructuring. She has also advised banks and large Indian companies on raising debt capital in India and overseas. Wadia has advised the fund and asset management industry since its opening to banks, offshore and private players as well as the offshore depository receipt and convertible bond programmes of Indian issuers since these transactions began. She advises on the formation and establishment of onshore and offshore funds and pooled investment vehicles, including general or sector-specific PE funds, VC funds, alternate investment funds, infrastructure investment trusts, real estate funds (REITS) and mutual funds. She also has extensive experience in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures.
Wadia has been practising law for 35 years. Chambers and Partners, 2016, ranks her as a Band 1 lawyer in India. It said: “Wadia retains an eminent reputation in the market, having worked on a multitude of domestic and cross-border lending transactions”. She was named a leading individual by Legal 500, 2016.

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