PDF: 2962 pages, 5.2 MB - Bay Area Council Economic Institute

Global Reach
Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley, in San Jose, represents twenty Indian companies
doing business in the U.S. According to managing partner Michael Ioannou, at least
half are looking to buy American companies.
The Chugh Firm, with an office in Santa Clara, is a rarity: a cross-border Indo-
American law firm, founded by Navneet S. Chugh, a CPA and attorney who emigrated
from Nagpur in the early 1980s, received an MBA from the University of Southern
California in 1985, and earned a law degree from Western State University in 1992. Chugh was
instrumental in founding the Southern California chapters of SABA and TiE in 1995 and 1997
respectively.
Today The Chugh firm has 135 employees, including 58 attorneys and CPAs at offices in
Cerritos and Santa Clara in California and Iselin in New Jersey, as well as in Bangalore, Chennai,
New Delhi, and Manila. The firm’s cross-border business focuses on advising in the areas of
immigration, banking and finance, insurance, real estate, and intellectual property. In 2004, it
established Indian affiliate Universal Legal, which advises primarily on employment and workplace
issues in India.
Nishith Desai Associates is a research-based corporate and tax counseling law firm,
launched in 1984 in Mumbai by attorney Nishith Desai. Its Mumbai headquarters
employs some 50 attorneys focusing on finance, investment, M&A, dispute resolution,
intellectual property, and real estate. A smaller Bangalore office specializes in corporate/M&A.
Desai and his firm have advised the Securities and Exchange Board of India on venture capital
and employee stock option plan guidelines for India, including the structure for offshore
incorporation in Mauritius.
An office opened in Palo Alto in 2003 specializes in IP. The practice has a fourth office in
Singapore and a research center at Juhu outside Mumbai. Nishith Desai Associates is the first
Indian firm licensed by the State of California to practice and interpret Indian law, and it acts as
an advisor to Silicon Valley businesses and other U.S. law firms.
Desai told the legal trade publication Metropolitan Corporate Counsel that 70% of the firm’s clients
are in the U.S., so the Palo Alto office is a “service station,” providing clients with a local link to
counsel and researchers in India and an in-person point of contact 24 hours a day. At the same
time the Palo Alto office was established, Desai launched IP Pro, a service made up of Indian
engineers and lawyers doing patent research and drafting patent specifications and initial patent
claims for U.S. attorneys and their clients. Nishith Desai Associates acted as underwriters or
issuer counsel for share issues on NASDAQ and NYSE by Infosys, Satyam Infoway, Rediff Ltd.,
Wipro and Mumbai BPO/IT solutions provider Silverline.
Cooley Godward used Nishith Desai as Indian advisor on behalf of its client eBay in the $50
million June 2004 acquisition of India’s largest online auction site, Baazee.com. Desai also helped
Amazon, Google and other firms set up their India operations.
96