The 10 Most Recommended Corporate and Commercial Law Solution Providers

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COMPANY OF THE MONTH
VOL 5
May - 2019
ISSUE 1
Uday Singh Ahlawat
Founding Partner
Ahlawat & Associates
THE
MOST
RECOMMENDED
CORPORATE
&
COMMERCIAL LAW
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Parul Kashyap, Founder Partner
S u n L e g a l
A Bou que Law Firm Delivering Unmatched Services

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal
Managing Editor Rahul Niraj
Executive Editor
Shruti P. Jambhale
Art & Design Head Amol Kamble
Associate Designer Poonam Mahajan
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Co-designer
Sales Executive
Sapana Shinde
Krutika Kadam
Technical Head Pratiksha Patil
Technical Specialist
Amar Sawant
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SME-SMO Executives Uma, Ketki
Circulation Manager
Tanaji
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May 2019
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From the
EDITOR
An Overview to Corporate and
Commercial Law in India
he law and professions related to legal landscape have been in
Texistence ever since law was instituted and accepted as a
governing force for all sorts of human conduct. This is the only
profession which greatly contributes in the administration of Justice
and is also regarded as one of the noblest profession.
“I only portray mere
possibilities of near
future which may or
may not take course
but the future of
Legal Services is
waiting to unfold to
forge new paths of
our most important
social institution.”
History of this profession in India can tracked back to the establishment
of first British Court in Bombay in the year 1672 by the Governor Gerald
Aungier. And, today, this legal profession is considered as the most
challenging profession amongst others. In India, this profession is
governed by Advocates Act, 1961 and the rules and regulations made
by the Bar Council of India. Although, the structure of legal profession is
difficult to generalize, in Indian context, Legal Profession is occupied by
individual lawyers, in-house lawyers, and law firms.
Over the couple of decades, the practices of Legal Profession have
drastically changed. The world is witnessing the growing role of law
firms in providing legal services. These law firms are technologically
advanced and are serving as a one-stop centre in order to provide
prominent solutions quenching the needs of the clientele.
Irrespective of what the future beholds, the primary objective of the
Legal Profession is to serve humanity and justice. Serving the society
should be an integral part of one’s life. The working of an industry looks
more reshaped than ever before. Now, the Key expectation from the
legal sector is to create a stable and hassle-free legal environment that
can facilitate long-term business and generate profitable outcomes.
Shruti Jambhale
Shruti P. Jambhale

CONT
ENTS
COMPANY OF THE MONTH
16
Ahlawat & Associates
The Next Big Blessing in
the Legal Industry
INTERVIEW
08 COVER STORY
24
Fortune Legal
Evolving as a World-Class Law Firm
SunLegal
A Boutique Law Firm Delivering
Unmatched Services

CXO STANDPOINT
30
38 Tech-trends
Legal Profession in India
A Ringside View
32
20
ARTICLE
Educating the Masses
Virtual Law Firms
30 Athena Legal
A Preferred Name for Qualified
Legal Advice
36
32 J Sagar Associates
Exceeding Client Expectations
36 Lex Jurists
Achieving Best Legal Outcomes
42 Royzz & Co
A Multi-disciplinary Law
Services Provider
42

THE10 MOST RECOMMENDED
CORPORATE
&
COMMERCIAL LAW
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
The Corporate and Commercial Law
Sector in India –The Bioscope
he corporate and commercial law sector in India has witnessed immense growth at a very rapid speed.
TCurrently, this sector is standing tall as the backbone of the Indian economy and is contributing around over
50% of the Indian GDP. Also, there are ample of career and growth opportunities in this sector enabling
aspirants to grab on.
We are very proud to present “The 10 Most Recommended Corporate and Commercial Law Solution
Providers” and become a part of this booming sector. In this issue, we have complied few of well-renowned and
recommended corporate and commercial law solution providers in India.
On the cover page, we have featured SunLegal founded by Parul Kashyap. SunLegal is a new age boutique law
firm that aims to provide top of the line legal services to its clients and an enriching, productive, collaborative and
encouraging work environment to its lawyers.
Along with the cover story, you can also read about other eminent names of Athena Legal, which is a full-service
law firm located in New Delhi. We have J.Sagar Associates a leading national full-service law firm providing its
clients domestic counsel across a range of industries and provide access to quality international legal advice. We
have Lex Jurists which specializes in compliances & regulatory work for major corporate clients. Royzz & Co. is a
full-service law firm providing comprehensive solutions to all national and international businesses.
We have also included a Special Profile of Ahlawat & Associates is one of the unique leading law firms in India,
catering to domestic and international clients and extends across diverse sectors of industry including assistance to
facilitate foreign direct investments and business setup in India.
Alongside, the companies like Aegis Legal LLP, Advocates; Tuli & Co; SNG & Partners; and Vaish Associates have
also been featured in the listing of “The 10 Most Recommended Corporate and Commercial Law Solution
Providers”.
Also, we have Interview with Insights Success with Pankaj Mehta, Founder & MD of Fortune Legal, who gave
some insightful answers highlighting the influences made by his law firm which is a new era law firm dedicated to
provide pioneering solutions to its clients.
We have also encompassed CXO written by the Co-founders of Ashok Dhingra Associates – Ashok Dhingra and
Sonia Gupta, showcasing “Legal Profession in India a Ringside View”.
Our in-house editors have come up with an info-graphic Virtual Law Firms.
So, have a look at the magazine and get the Insights of the Corporate and Commercial Law Sector in India!

C O V E R S T O R Y
Parul Kashyap
Founder Partner

SunLegal
A Boutique Law Firm Delivering
Unmatched Services
SunLegal is a boutique law firm headquartered in New Delhi that provides top of the line legal
services to its both domestic and international clients. The firm is based on the bedrock of
high service standards, quick turnaround time and unmatched client care.
The firm focuses heavily on Infrastructure Projects, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) , Public
Procurement, Project Finance, Commercial Contracts, Corporate Advisory and Dispute Resolution.
Additionally the firm also services two special verticals namely the International SME Desk that
provides multi-disciplinary legal services to International SMEs looking to do business in India and
the other being the Start-up Desk that provides every possible legal support to the new entrepreneurs.
SunLegal is a modern and technology driven firm which makes its service delivery quick, efficient
and effective. With streamlined processes for case management, time recording, billing and
accounting, every care is taken to ensure that the client’s engagement with the firm is a pleasant one.
WE DO
NOT
PONTIFICATEWE
FIND
SOLUTIONS.

WE HAVE EMBARKED ON THIS JOURNEY WITH
A HOPE TO BUILD A FIRM THAT IS KNOWN FOR
ITS STRONG ETHICS AND UNMATCHED SERVICES.
The Founder
Parul Kashyap is the Founder Partner of SunLegal. Parul is an experienced legal professional with close to
15 years of experience. Riding on the back strong industry experience, practical knowledge, the honed art of
converting leads into instructions and with the continued patronage from my clients, I knew SunLegal was an
idea whose time had come, she says.
Her initiation into the projects and energy space happened in her early years as a lawyer. She took a deep dive
into this subject during her association with IDFC, an organisation that was a frontrunner and a champion of
India’s PPP movement, where she undertook assignments relating to structuring and drafting of cross sectoral
concession agreements, development models to improve bankability of PPP projects, government advisory,
transaction advisory, bid process management, experimenting with the PPP templates on new sub-sectors, world
bank projects, projects supported by international aid agencies, tender disputes and more. Over the period of
time she became a passionate professional working towards easing the legal and regulatory bottlenecks for all
stakeholders in this sector.
“Throughout my professional journey, I have strived hard to create value for my clients and their businesses
through practical legal solutions.” she says.
From her initial years as a lawyer she had considerable interest in and was also exposed to the business side of
law. Alongside her practice specialisation she continued to gain insights into the functioning of a law firm, the
overall organisational strategy, new business acquisition, practice development, pricing as well as billing
practices.
Parul Kashyap
Parul established SunLegal with a view to provide end-to-end legal advisory services to all the stakeholders on
legal matters relating to Founder infrastructure Partner projects. The firm also caters to other service verticals like public
procurement, contract advisory, corporate-commercial advisory, dispute resolution, SME advisory as well as
start-up advisory. “We have embarked on this journey with a hope to build a firm that is known for its strong
ethics and unmatched service.” states Parul.
Motivation behind Choosing Legal Profession and Taking the Entrepreneurial Plunge
Over the last two decades, law firms in India have grown in size and influence as also in client profile, deal size,
practice groups, geographies and of course in number, proving to be a highly lucrative business model for
experienced lawyers with an entrepreneurial spirit. “As I progressed in my career, I did not lose touch with my
entrepreneurial zeal and I knew that my calling was to ultimately establish my own legal services firm some day
and leverage all that I had learnt on the way.” said Parul. Furthermore, she said “Being politically aware and
opinionated, I found myself drawn towards law and politics during my student days and on a lighter note, being
an avid John Grisham fan, tilted the balance in favour of law as a career as against other subjects.”

Every Matter Matters
The firm’s tagline ‘Every Matter Matters’ speaks volumes about its commitment to providing its best services to
every client of the firm, without any discrimination based on the ticket size of the matter. Parul says, “We only
take up what we can handle efficiently and the moment we take up an assignment we see it through to the
complete satisfaction of the client. We aim to be the trusted advisors of our clients that inspires confidence in
them to entrust us with their both routine and sensitive matters, knowing, that we will do everything that it takes
to deliver results”.
In addition to being the preferred advisors to its
clients, SunLegal is firm on its objectives to
create a safe, positive, efficient, collaborative
workplace, where ideas are genuinely valued and
FOR US,
EVERY
MATTER
MATTERS
where each lawyer is given the opportunity to
maximize their full potential while being
associated with the firm, because the firm
believes, only happy lawyers can deliver happy
clients.
Key Practice Areas
SunLegal’s practice areas complement each other
in a way that the clients can benefit from a seamless service on a range of connected matters.
In terms of the practice areas, the firm helps companies in doing business with the government.
Government offers a variety of business opportunities by procuring goods and services from the private sector

through public tenders. These tenders can be comprehensive, complex,
voluminous and at times complicated. Under its Public Procurement
Practice, the firm assists companies right from the tender stage till the
award of the contract, navigating legal and regulatory risks on the way.
The firm’s Contract Advisory services helps clients in structuring and
management of contracts while the Corporate Advisory services provide
all possible legal assistance on day-to-day matters of a company including
employment laws and compliances, legal due diligence, corporate
compliances, setting up of business in India and so on. SunLegal’s dispute resolution practice works in tandem with the
clients and of counsels to formulate strategy for effective resolution of disputes. “While dealing with an impending dispute,
we pay an equal amount of stress on dispute avoidance strategies as we remain mindful of how sometimes avoiding a court
fight, may be worth fighting for” says, Parul.
The firm supports both Indian and foreign SMEs in a big way. Similarly, they have a dedicated vertical for start-ups that
helps the entrepreneurs deal with legal risks and compliances.
Core Competencies – Infrastructure Projects and Energy
Infrastructure is amongst the high priority areas in India with massive government spending at the federal, state and
municipal levels. There are numerous development models that are employed to build infrastructure assets in India like BOT,
BOOT, DBFOT, Hybrid Annuity etc.
The firm understands both the opportunities and challenges in the sectors hence, provides full board of services in the
infrastructure sector. Since development of infrastructure requires private sector capital, the services of the private sector are
generally procured through open competitive bidding. The firm amongst other things supports the clients through the tender
process by:
• Advising on the bidding parameters and selection criteria
• Analyzing the legal, regulatory and contractual risks in a project
• Drafting the terms of the JV/consortium agreement
• Advising on the principles of forfeiture of bid security
• Assistance with dealing with black-listing by the authority
SunLegal works closely with the government as well as the concessionaires, developers, contractors, equipment suppliers,
design engineers, infrastructure consultants and advises them on drafting, vetting and negotiating contracts such as
Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract, Operation and Maintenance Contract, Concession Agreement,
Shareholders Agreement, Consortium Agreement, Off-take Agreement, Supply Agreement, Service Agreement and more.
For companies involved in execution of complex contracts involving provision of works and services, the significance of
effective contract management cannot be overstated, therefore it is crucial for such companies to progressively consider
moving towards a robust contract management regime. The firm assists its clients in comprehensively managing project risks
over the entire life cycle of the projects. Once the contracts are in place, the firm takes over the contract management
function from the clients. Every aspect of the contract is reviewed in detail and every obligation managed in collaboration
with the business and project teams to ensure that there are no unpleasant surprises down the road.
The Best Investment
THE10 MOST RECOMMENDED
The firm is ‘invested in technology’ that offers simplified process and services to clients and the benefits derived from such
operational efficiencies are swiftly passed on to the clients. With experience of working alongside international law firms the
firm is completely at home with the global best practices. The firm is well networked with law firms in all major cities
worldwide, thereby has the ability to help the clients in connecting with the right legal advisors for their cross-border needs.
Social Responsibility
CORPORATE
&
COMMERCIAL LAW
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
First and foremost, SunLegal is an equal opportunity employer. Further, it supports initiatives concerning children in relation
to provision of shelter, education and nourishment. The firm is also passionate about the cause of skilling women from the
marginal sections of the society as it believes that an empowered woman is the bedrock of an empowered generation.

“WE BELIEVE IN COLLABORATING
WITH THE CLIENTS TO FIND VIABLE
SOLUTIONS TO THEIR CONCERNS
WHILE ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH
APPLICABLE LAWS AT ALL TIMES”
Words of Wisdom for New Entrepreneurs
To the budding entrepreneurs I would say, take the entrepreneurial plunge when it feels
right. Notwithstanding the thrill and glamour of owning your own business one needs to
take a cautious and calculated approach because entrepreneurship is and has always
been a tough call. My advice would be to know your market, identify the need for your
services, refine your product or service, identify the risks, take small steps and stay the
course. A successful enterprise is a holy grail that is a result of sustained and unrelenting
effort of its promoter. Foresight and preparing ahead for eventualities is the only hedge
against business risks.
Future Planning
Apart from the overall range of services in the energy and infrastructure sector, SunLegal
is also developing specialties within specialties to provide sector specific advice with
accuracy and precision.
The firm is devoted to providing superior legal representation and dedicated service to its
clients. The firm believes that the diversity of practice, its quick turnaround, adherence to
deadlines, transparent billing and impeccable integrity will hold it in good stead.
Furthermore, Parul said “We will continue to do good quality work and remain focussed
on consolidation of our clients and practices. On questions regarding growth, she says
“Growing for the sake growth is not something that we will buy into. We will grow only
when our clients want us to grow.”
Parul Kashyap can be reached on Parul.kashyap@sunlegal.in. Website: www.sunlegal.in

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in

Ahlawat & Associates
The Next Big Blessing
in the Legal Industry
The advent of the corporate industry over the last
few decades in India has been tremendous and
accordingly, it has revamped the entire business
eco-system. With a steady rise in the trajectory of
corporate industry, multiple new avenues and verticals
have witnessed a surge of growth – that marginally existed
in the earlier decades. Corporate Legal practice is one such
sector that has gained prominence over the last few years
and has emerged as a matured vertical for the lawyers.
Ahlawat & Associates (A&A) is one such leading
full-service law firms in India addressing issues related to
Foreign Direct Investment, Joint Ventures, Corporate
Compliance & Governance, Dispute Resolution as well as
advisory support to the booming startup ecosystem.
Delivering paramount legal and business solutions to
countless domestic and global clients since 2011, A&A has
successfully evolved as a matured player in the Indian
legal industry. It has adopted an approach that demands
the highest levels of knowledge, technical skill and service
delivery that empowers A&A to provide accurate, reliable,
timely, and cost-effective services to a plethora of industry
groups and sectors.
Today, A&A takes prides for being amongst the most
sought legal service providers that offers a comprehensive
range of services including Mergers & Acquisitions,
Private Equity, Real Estate, Education, Intellectual
Property, Employment, Labour, Commercial Litigation and
much more.
A&A aims to innovate an even mix of highest global
standards and local expertise while delivering high quality;
practical, strategic legal solutions alongside helping clients
to accomplish their goals. It is committed to
revolutionizing the approach to legal service in a way that
clients are not hesitant in seeking services at any stage.
The Founding Duo
Avnish Ahlawat – Founding Partner
Uday Singh Ahlawat
Founding Partner
Litigation & Dispute | Resolution Employment & Labour
Law | Real Estate | Taxation
The journey of excellence commenced in 1976 when Mrs.
Avnish Ahlawat started practicing and gained the status of
being one of the most sought after litigators. Opining the
legal profession as the noblest profession, Mrs. Ahlawat
started her independent litigation practice in 1981 and had
been leading various government departments to successful
conclusions. She has over forty years of experience in
service, criminal and civil matters in the Supreme Court of
India, the Delhi High Court, the subordinate courts and
16 MAY 2019

service tribunals. She also has vast experience in arbitration
dispute resolution work, including company/commercial.
With her acumen, A&A has accomplished the unique ability
to handle all dispute related matters within the firm and
does not have to rely on outside counsels.
Uday Singh Ahlawat – Founding Partner
Corporate Commercial Law | Foreign Direct Investment |
IT/ITES | Merger & Acquisition | Technology Transfer
Much later in 2011, her son Uday Singh Ahlawat –
Founding Partner, joined her Mother and collaborated their
expertize to deliver innovative services after analyzing the
gaps in the legal sector. While both of them had their own
respective areas of practice, the mother-son duo came
from the same trail of thought that strongly believed in
honesty, hard work, and been true to clients. Embracing
these family values and work ethics in their profession to
the core, they have managed to evolve amongst the most
preferred firms in the legal domain.
Right from the beginning of his career, Uday was focused
to acquire expertize in the area of corporate commercial
legal services. Staying true to his area of expertise, i.e.
mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate
restructuring, private equity, and fund formations, he
focuses on providing the best solutions and correct advice
to his clients. His ability and acumen of managing complex
legal issues ensured the transition from an employee in a
law firm to founding his own law firm was an obvious
progression. Uday is a specialist in Foreign Direct
Investment and has structured numerous India entry
strategies for his clients.
“It is the discipline that the profession brings to your life
and that is what motivates me. Every day there are
professionals like us who are solving some or the other
legal issues. Reducing the legal burden is what keeps me
going” – asserts Uday.
Focus Areas - Pursuing an Agenda of Continuous
Evolution
In its endeavor to contribute and build a stringent business
eco-system, A&A focus is to assist the evolution of
startups, early-stage companies, and investors. It plans to
work along with all the phases of their growth process that
includes incorporation, structuring, compliances, funding
options, employee stock options, and much more!
By crafting efficient and cost-effective legal services for
these segments, it encourages them to seek sound legal
advice to avoid complex issues for them in the future. Since
inception, A&A has been aligned with startups from diverse
fields - education, health, logistics, food, technology, and
continues to strive to identify people and ideas that we can
service towards their growth. Over the years, it has
maintained this ideology that has resulted in winning the
hearts of innovative thinkers, entrepreneurs and path
breakers as clients. Along with understanding the nuances
of large enterprises it has a highly-experienced team of
startup lawyers. These lawyers advise and assist clients
from setting up new businesses, raising funds as well as
addressing roadblocks faced by new companies.
Alongside working with budding professionals, A&A
extends its services across diverse industry segments. From
extending assistance to aid investment, obtaining licenses
and completing various registrations in the areas of HR &
Labour, Infrastructure, Tax, Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Intellectual Property (Trademark, Copyright, Patent) along
with other support services.
“
Adopting an innovative
approach that demands
the highest levels of
knowledge, technical skill,
and service delivery
“
MAY 2019 17

Always strive for quality and
not quantity. Respect your clients’ time,
“as they will always respect yours
“
USP - Exceptional Services and Innovative Practices
Understanding the fact that every client is unique and has
different needs and concerns are one of the most
distinctive features of A&A that cement their brand and
help them to shine in the market. By adapting modernbusiness
approaches and solutions, A&A aims to deliver
premium-quality legal services, enhance client interaction
and create a personalized approach to answer their legal
issues. The fee structure is tailored to meet the client’s
specific requirement and is highly customized that results
in erasing financial burdens from the client that ultimately
leads to winning countless hearts by the end of each
assignment.
Having an insight into unexplored territories helped A&A
to concentrate on the issues coming from specific
geographical territories. This paved the path of extending
its footprints out of the Indian sub-continent as it took a
ubiquitous approach for regions such as the U.K, Japan
and Korea. The firm has dedicated desks for these
territories, which are led by experienced foreign resident
specialist professionals. A&A is perhaps the only law firm
in India to offer comprehensive solutions while
eliminating even grassroots level difficulties faced by
clients and have helped them seamlessly facilitate foreign
direct investments and business setup in India.
The Next Year and Times Ahead
The firm strongly feels that India has evolved as one of the
hottest investment destinations at the global platform. As
the focus has shifted towards the inbound and outbound
investments, A&A expects a rise to the practices relating to
Foreign Direct Investment, India Entry Strategy, and
Mergers and Acquisitions. Due to the changes in the
insolvency laws and the arbitration laws, the firm is
witnessing a steady growth in these practices over the last
year. A&A is optimistic that these trends will prevail for a
long time and continue to grow in the next year.
Talking about the future prospects of A&A, the firm has
set a positive foot forward to expand organically with
more lawyers coming onboard and taking leadership roles
within the firm. It also plans to setup three-four
international desks that are in tune with the firm’s current
growth trajectory.
18 MAY 2019

Virtual
Law Firms
Every sector is evolving
including legal sector and
lawyers are embracing the newedge
technologies. This is what truly
transforming the way legal firms and
lawyers serving clients and their
way of working. With this
growing law firms and solopractitioners,
implementation
of the virtual firm has
become the primary way to
serve clients and deliver
services. Most of the
lawyers believe in an online
law firm which helps them
to connect with clients more
efficiently and effectively.
Understanding the concept of an
online lawyer one that the legal industry
should embrace:
Virtual Firm- Definition
Providing remote access to the legal services with the
assistance of lawyers app and some of the cloud-based
law firm software can be defined as virtual law firms.
This virtual law firm may not have an official and
permanent physical office address, but they have their
clients connected through their law firm website and
stay connected through emails.
20 MAY 2019

Retaining Existing Clients
By providing deeper information
to the existing clients can benefits
in retaining the existing clients.
The virtual law firm is the only the
best possible way to maintain the
active relationship between the
clients and the firm.
Capturing Legal Savvy Clients
Many people use the internet today for
understanding or gaining basic
information about some legal issues.
Some clients feel confident that they can
now solve legal issues. But the best thing
about the virtual law firm is that it not
provides the information but also helps
them to understand solving the issue.
Educating the Masses
Expanded Reach
As having a virtual firm, you don’t
require To have present with the team
physically in The room. But rather you
have the Opportunity to expand in
every possible way where it is difficult
for the traditional law firms. It is very
cheaper to hire a lawyer in virtual law
firms. The lawyer can work from
another city by sitting at the home.
Benefits
Here we have mentioned
some of the core benefits of
virtual law firm
MAY 2019 21

Client Expectations
If you are looking at the true desire of the
client, they only want good value for their
money. Problem with a traditional law firm is
high overhead and very high prices for legal
services. But many of the clients want to pay
lower fees and thus they won't mind working
with virtual law firms.
Adapting
Change
Good Customer Service
The core of any firm is to provide good
customer services to the clients. To
maintain professional relation is by
delivering quality services to the
clients, to satisfy them to maintain
business with the firm.
Some changes are hard to
accept, and especially when it
is about the legal industry.
Here we have listed a few
points that every law firm
should think about, as the legal
sector is looking forward to the
great success.
Quality Information
The days have gone when the clients staying
in the dark about their legal troubles. Every
client wants quality information about their
legal issues just to understand clearly what’s
happening. Whether it is a virtual law firm or
physical law firm, providing quality
information on their leg.
Shruti P. Jambhale
Editor
22 MAY 2019

Interview with Insightssuccess
Fortune Legal
Evolving as a World-Class Law Firm
new era law firm, Fortune Legal is a dedicated to
Aprovide pioneering solutions to its clients. In an
interview with Insights Success, Pankaj Mehta,
the Founder and Managing Partner of Fortune Legal
Advocates and Legal Consultants have shared some
insightful views and highlighted the influences made by
their company to be the most recommended law solution
provider.
01. Kindly brief us about your company and its initial
journey.
The Firm, Fortune Legal Advocates and Legal
Consultants, was incorporated in the year 2013. Ever
since its inception, the firm’s professional team of
lawyers work tirelessly to secure justice in a time
bound and cost effective manner. The initial years of
running the firm was an arduous task as it involved a lot
more than just knowing the law or possessing business
acumen. It taught me a lot about sacrifice, prioritizing
and resilience. It was a challenge to maintain a balance
between making court appearances and also staying
afloat while doing this. No big client would trust a new
Firm like ours but the passion for the profession kept us
going. There were times when I did not draw a salary as
I had to make sure that my staff was paid and all the
overheads were met but looking back at it now, it’s all
worthwhile. The firm used to handle a lot of small
litigations back then most of which were pro bono as
the clients were not in the condition to pay but we made
sure that whether the work was pro bono or paid
handsomely, the quality should be exceptional and
that's what got us to where the firm stands today.
The firm’s fine work was slowly getting attention with
every passing day. All the effort, determination and
resilience were paying off. Then in 2013, the firm filed
a Public Interest Litigation captioned Shweta Singh Vs
Union of India & Ors, WP(C) 383 of 2013, before the
Hon’ble High Court of Delhi and got the Court to
constitute a committee of 3 district judges to formulate
guidelines on protection and preservation of judicial
records and further direct the reconstruction of court
files in a 20 years old rape case. This was the case
which put the name of the firm on the map and got us
on the radar of big clients. After the PIL, Clients came
flooding in with varied problems and even more varied
areas of litigation. This enabled the firm to learn and
grow and gain expertise in several areas which were
hitherto unknown to the team. This was the time which
also led to the expansion of the team at the Firm.
All this while, the firm also used to handle a few small
corporate clients, taking care of their agreement vetting
and drafting and handling their legal compliances,
Beumer Group approached us to handle their Corporate
Compliance and other related work. After being
engaged by Beumer Group, the firm did not stop.
Litigation work was ever increasing and so was the
corporate portfolio of the firm. After Beumer Group,
the firm got engaged by many corporate portfolio such
as Deepak Builders, M&C Saatchi February
Communications, Gasotech Engineering, Dynamic
Staffing Service India, Datar Security Group, World
Bank, Delhi Government, Decathalon, Ralph Lauren,
Siemens India, Espire Infolabs, Alf Engineering, Rai
Foundation, Wazzeer Consultancy, Taction Software,
Double AA Restaurants Private Limited, Tabula Beach
Restaurants, Vijohn, Wembley Systech Private Limited,
Keventers and the clientele kept growing.
24 MAY 2019

Pankaj Mehta
Founder & Managing Partner
02. Brief us about the Founder/CEO and the motivation
behind choosing Law as a profession.
The Founder and Managing Partner of the firm,
Mr. Pankaj Mehta is a passionate lawyer and an
inspirational leader. He strongly believes in the concept
of teamwork and is always encouraging the team to
learn. He makes sure that people at the Firm are
learning. He strongly believes that mistakes should not
hinder anyone from making an attempt but ensure not
to repeat the mistakes by learning from previous
mistakes.
Mr. Mehta ensures that every Associate at the Firm has
the liberty to express his opinion and show their
MAY 2019 25

personality when assigned a task. Any corrections, if
needed, are made by Mr. Mehta in a respectful and
educational manner. His motivation behind choosing
Law as a profession springs from his ideology of
‘justice for all’. He strongly believes that the money is
not important but client satisfaction and justice is. He is
enrolled with the Delhi Legal Service Authority and
takes up pro bono cases for those less fortunate and
ensures that they get the relief they desire in law. He
finds the legal profession to be comparable to what
superheroes do; the superpower that lawyers possess is
that of knowledge and determination. He strongly
believes that the black robe puts a lot of responsibilities
on the shoulders of the one who wears it and he makes
sure everyone at the firm understands the gravity of the
work done at the firm and how it impacts lives of the
parties involved.
03. What kind of ethics, principles and manner of
working does company follows while running the
business?
The firm and its advocates have attained sterling
testimonies from its clients for their integrity, honesty,
trustworthiness and cohesion. Our firm deeply believes
in the principles of ethics and integrity, and the firm has
always promoted and contributed to the well-being of
the society by fighting for justice by using every single
legal remedy at our Client’s disposal and handling each
and every matter with responsibility and accountability
as if the firm has a personal interest in every case.
Other undertakings of the firm which separates us from
the rest are as below:
i. Associates are deputed to work with different teams
of firm for their all-round development so that they
have the knowledge in every field.
ii. Workshops, conferences and seminars for employees
to keep them update and familiar with the legal
developments and to ensure that employees should
never be made to falter because their knowledge or
exposure is restricted.
iii.Work from home: Our firm makes all endeavors to
increase productivity of its people and also giving
them the space to maintain a healthy personal life.
This also provides for greater flexibility with work
schedules and reduces the stress of juggling work
and personal life.
iv. Motivating and supporting the Employees to
participate in seminars, conferences and research
work.
v. Recognize Efforts and Reward Laudable
Contributions of the Associates: At our Firm, the
Associates are given the liberty to take initiative and
convey their ideas and decisions to the Partners,
making them feel confident and also to reward them
for the initiatives taken for the betterment of the
Firm. This instills in the Associates the reassurance
that their thoughts and opinions are valued and
appreciated, making them all the more likely to
work for the Firm as its own.
vi. Independence: At our firm, every individual is
allowed to take some independent decisions in the
case/task allotted to them. This enables them to take
ownership of their work and also increases
accountability for the effects of their own decisions.
Through empowerment, the individual is capacitated
or warranted to conceive, function, perform, and
control work and determine the course of events
independently.
04. State the vision and mission of the company.
The firm deeply believes in the latin maxim servimus,
which means simply ‘We serve’. Our lawyers are
compulsive about client service, and at any stage never
compromise with the quality of client satisfaction. The
vision of the firm that is deeply imbibed in the
undertakings and functioning of the firm and from the
Partner level to the Associate level, is to ensure
efficient, sincere and unhindered delivery of top notch
legal services to the clients. The firm strives to provide
for the all our clients’ legal needs and ensure so at
reasonable costs. The firm also believes in giving back
to the society and helping those in need. Assisting
start-ups right from their incorporation to their
functioning and compliances, the firm does it all and at
extremely reasonable costs so as to make sure that
these new companies can grow and contribute to the
economy, not just in taxes, but also by creating
employment. The firm’s mission is to ensure that every
individual has access to justice, that the fear of
approaching a court of law wanes away gradually and
people can approach courts as matter of right and not
because of desperation and helplessness.
26 MAY 2019

05. What are the distinct areas of practice of the
company?
Corporate and Commercial laws, foreign investment in
India including joint ventures and collaborations,
handling complete portfolio of the companies from
incorporation of the company, handling all the statutory
compliance, agreements pertaining to various services
and all the related work, trademark, copyright, patent
related registration and litigation, civil and criminal
law, opinions on various compliances required under
laws of India, banking sector, retail, energy, education,
IT, media and entertainment laws, cross-border
transactions, theft/ fraud/ embezzlement, matrimonial
laws/ divorce, child custody/ adoption, immigrations
laws, due diligence, infrastructure and construction
law, consumer protection and labour laws in India.
06. Kindly highlight your achievements. Please mention
your awards and accreditations.
i. The Managing Partner of the firm, Mr. Pankaj
Mehta is recommended as preferred lawyers by
Embassy of United States in India;
ii. The Managing Partner of the firm, Mr. Pankaj
Mehta is empanelled with Delhi Government for
advisory and litigation; and
iii. The firm has contributed for ease of doing business
in India for World Bank for year 2016, 2017 and
2018.
iv. The firm was awarded the Social Impact Initiative
Law Firm of the Year Award 2016 by IDEX Legal
v. The firm won the Law Firm Innovative Award at the
India Legal Awards, 2018
vi. The firm qualified amongst the Top 3 Criminal Law
Firms of the year at the Asia Legal Business
Awards, 2019.
vii.The Managing Partner of the firm has been
nominated as Young Achiever of the Award by
Legal Era Award, 2019
07. Share with us the challenges that start-up law firms
face in India.
Start-up law firms face the challenge with the trust
factor and the reliability as there are already established
law firms who are already in the profession and have
made a mark for themselves. Ensuring clients that the
quality deliverable with confidentiality is the focus of
the firm and once they rely on us, our attorney’s will do
every needful required to ensure they get the desired
results. Another challenge is regarding the fees, initially
clients are reluctant to pay higher fees as the firm is
new and don’t have much experience but as they see
the quality and the results, the trust factor spirals and
clients are also happy to compensate for the
professional services.
08. How does the firm intend to handle its Societal
Responsibility? Please mention any special charity
or educational program as such.
The firm is already very aware of its Social
Responsibility and is actively discharging it. Not only
some lawyers being empanelled with the Delhi Legal
Services Authority but also the firm take up pro bono
cases outside of their time at DLSA. The firm also
actively supports various NGOs and provides legal
services to those under privileged who the NGO send
to the firm for legal services free of cost. The firm and
its Managing Partner, Mr. Pankaj Mehta, deeply believe
that justice should be accessible to all and they do
everything they can to ensure that justice is delivered
even to those who cannot necessarily afford the process
of it.
09. Share your views on the current ‘Corporate and
Commercial Law Solution Provider’ in India.
One has to keep himself apprised of the various
judgments given by Hon’ble Supreme Court and High
Courts on varied issues pertaining to the corporate
structure and liabilities of the corporate houses. While
drafting contracts and even for the compliances part,
the law of the land which is continuously evolving and
changing has to be taken incorporated. Updated
attorneys deliver the quality services.
10. What would be your advice for the budding
start-ups and entrepreneurs in the industry?
Focus on the quality of work and ensure you do justify
your professional commitment. Money will follow for
sure for those deserving and ensuring timely and
quality services.
11. Brief us about the company’s future perspectives.
Our firm is looking to expand to other cities in India
like Mumbai and Bangalore and hope to grow bigger
and better in the coming time with a name valued by its
clients and attorneys.
MAY 2019 27

Athena Legal
A Preferred Name for Qualified Legal Advice
“We are dedicated to provide a full range of corporate
and litigation legal services to clients”
The legal profession has gone through some
drastic transformation over the last few years.
Today, ambitious legal firms are marking their
presence in various corporate houses, law agencies,
litigation, administrative services and many more. The
law firms are playing a vital role in shaping up various
economic laws and an implementation through their
practices across all their workplaces. These firms are also
playing important role in even the executive accords of
the various industrial sectors.
With a vision to provide top class services to all clients,
Athena Legal was established in August 2012 as a
boutique Law Firm with specialization in Dispute
Resolution. With over six and a half years of its
existence, the Firm has evolved as a Full-Service firm
advising numerous clients across the globe. Currently,
the Firm has tie-ups with approximately 200 lawyers
across India and approximately 30 lawyers globally to
take advantage of global exposure.
Driving Force of Athena Legal
Expert in Corporate Laws and Capital Market, Rajat
Prakash is the Founder & Managing Partner of the
Firm. A first-generation lawyer, he is equipped with cross
border experience of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
(Washington D.C), Mayer Brown LLP (Brussels) and
Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh Suresh A Shroff &
Co. (India).
He also has experience in Indian equity capital market
and transaction advisory including legal due diligence,
drafting, negotiation. He has extensive experience in
general advisory work in relation to an Initial Public
Offering, Qualified Institutional Placements, and Rights
Issuances in the capacity of the Firm’s transaction
counsel.
At Athena Legal, his vision is to combine legal
professionalism with business acumen to effectively
support the success of clients. It is his vision which has
directed the Firm in its various endeavors. He was
awarded as the Rising Star in recognition of Achievement
& Excellence by Legal Era 2015-2016. He was also
awarded Mahatma Gandhi Samman by the NRI Welfare
Society of India at the House of Lords, London, and the
U.K. in September 2016 and is also the recipient of
‘Visionaries of Uttar Pradesh’ award by Dainak Bhaskar
Group. Under the Rajat’s leadership, the Firm is
continuously scaling to greater heights.
A Single Window for all Legal Needs
Athena Legal is a full-service law firm. The practice
areas of the Firm are divided into Dispute Resolution,
Corporate & Commercial law advisory and Intellectual
Property & Technology, Media and Telecommunications
laws. The Firm is dedicated to catering the distinctive
needs of every client with fair assessment, best practices,
and innovative techniques.
30 MAY 2019

THE10 MOST RECOMMENDED
CORPORATE
&
COMMERCIAL LAW
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
The Firm’s core value lies in giving an unbiased opinion
to its clients. The Firm not only helps its clients with their
legal needs but also further emulates to act as their partner
in the expansion of their business and opportunities across
the globe. Having an office in New Delhi, the Firm’s
clients include amongst others Leading Indian FMCG
company, a global real estate company, leading Indian
conglomerate, mid-sized IT- Company. The Firm believes
that the talent and viewpoint of a diverse team create a
fulfilling professional environment, and this has brought
them a consistent recognition from clients.
Thriving Values that Signify Firm’s Strength
With a growing network of lawyers across the country,
the Firm strives to provide the best legal services not only
to corporates but to each individual. The Firm is giving
access to its services to individuals who do not have
recourse or who cannot afford these services. The Firm’s
vision is to educate each and every individual about their
legal and fundamental rights and fighting for their justice.
In a country like India it is difficult for a vast number of
people to get quality legal services. The Firm has done
pro-bono work for under trial prisoners by representing
them before courts. The Firm has provided assistance to
NGO’s and public-spirited individuals to draft their
contracts and other documents. Going forward one of the
missions of the Firm is to create more avenues of making
legal advice accessible to people at large by use of
technology.
Leader’s View on Guiding Budding Businesses
Rajat Prakashh
Founder & Managing Partner
The Journey towards Flourishing Future
The Firm has grown tremendously in the last six years.
Progressing forward with a positive approach, the
Firm’s one of the endeavours is to expand practice
internationally. In addition, the Firm would like to
nurture and grow its team and be an employer of choice
for lawyers and para-legal staff.
From inception, it is important for start-ups/ small
businesses to seek proper legal advice. In most cases,
early-stage start-ups/small businesses see legal
consultation as a cost.
However, getting proper legal advice and doing things in
a legally sound manner is very beneficial in the long run.
“By the time startup, founders realise their folly it is
usually too late. Also, a good lawyer due to his experience
can be a trusted advisor for start-up founders. Hence I
would advise start-ups to engage with an experienced
legal advisor from the very beginning”, says Rajat.
MAY 2019 31

J Sagar Associates
Exceeding Client Expectations
We invest in our attorneys with focused continuing legal education and training in industry related
issues and soft skills. We have been consistently ranked as the No.1 “Best law rm to work”.
Established in the year 1991, J. Sagar Associates
(JSA) is one of the leading national law Firms in
India. For the past 28 years, the Firm has provided
legal representation, advice, and services to leading
international and domestic businesses. Also, it provides
services to the leading banks, financial services providers,
funds, governmental & statutory authorities, and
multilateral & bilateral institutions.
JSA is the first Tier 1 Indian law Firm to have undergone
democratic leadership selection processes ensuring partner
succession with institutional support. JSA operates from
Gurugram, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,
Chennai, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT),
and Hyderabad with the vision to become the finest Indian
law Firm.
The Core Ideology
JSA’s core building blocks are its values that include
exceeding client expectations, serving them best with the
teamwork & collaboration, believing in the fact that
‘people matter’, and the constant learning which is the
beauty of this profession is the secret mantra for the pace of
the Firm’s growth. At 300 lawyers and growing, it believes
in intergenerational equity, ensuring that its lawyers of
today have opportunities to be equity partners of the Firm
tomorrow.
The Founding Partners
Jyoti Sagar is the Founder & Chairman of JSA. He
founded JSA in New Delhi, in 1991. Berjis Desai started
the Firm’s Mumbai office in 2003 and remained as the
Managing Partner of the Firm till 2015. The retirement
age of Partners at JSA is 65, both Jyoti and Berjis chose to
retire a few years earlier.
The partnership structured its management and
administrative duties such that it is led by an executive
committee and two joint managing partners.
The executive committee and the managing partners have a
term of three years, on the expiry of which a new
management team is democratically elected by the equity
partners of the firm. Currently, the firm has 35 equity
partners including managing partners Amit Kapur (Delhi)
and Vivek Chandy (Bangalore).
Regional Growth and Operations
JSA is one of the top national law firms that has a robust
presence in the south of India operating from Bangalore,
Chennai and Hyderabad. In the west, the firm has a strong
presence in Ahmedabad and the Gift City (Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City).
In these regions, the firm believed in merging practices of
practitioners with strong practices than adopting a brick by
brick set up approach. In Chennai, Aarthi Sivanandh and
Vinod Kumar who had co-founded Vichar Partners as a
boutique firm merged their practice with J.Sagar Associates
in 2014. Similarly, Bangalore office was formed as a
product of a merger with the practice of Vivek Chandy
combining hands with existing JSA practice then in
Bangalore. The Ahmedabad office was created by merging
the practice of Bijal Chatrapathi.
All these offices integrated with JSA in vision, mission, and
philosophy making it a force to reckon with in the Indian
sub-continent.
Company’s Distinct Areas of Practice
JSA’s practices are organized in three practice clusters –
Corporate, Finance and Disputes. These clusters
collectively contain 30 service lines.
· From restructuring, mergers and acquisitions (including
those in the public space) to private equity and joint
32 MAY 2019

THE10 MOST RECOMMENDED
CORPORATE
&
COMMERCIAL LAW
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Aarthi Sivanandh - Partner
Vinod kumar- Partner
ventures, we advise clients through all stages of
complex and marquee assignments. We also assist our
clients in dealing with diverse corporate governance
and compliance issues.
· JSA has perhaps the widest and deepest commercial
and regulatory disputes capacity in the field of
complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary
dispute resolution
· Our finance practice caters to the legal needs of asset
reconstruction companies, banks, corporates,
developmental finance institutions, market
intermediaries, multilateral financial institutions for
raising and lending money in the form of credit
facilities, debt capital market instruments and equity
capital market instruments.
Rewards and Recognitions
JSA is recognized as the Indian law Firm that continues to
lead India with a fundamental shift towards
institutionalising and professionalising law Firm ownership
and management. JSA places Firm belief in providing
quality legal advice to parties and representing them on
their journey to justice. It has been the recipient of global
pro-bono awards where its attorneys co-worked with
lawyers across other jurisdictions. Ranking agencies across
the world count JSA as amongst the leaders in capital
market services, M&A, Private Equity, go to counsel for
disputes resolution that require sector specific expertise.
Societal Responsibility
Aarthi Sivanandh, who is currently leading the pro bono
efforts of the firm describes that as part of its commitment
to community outreach and pro-bono activities, the Firm
associates with various organisations like Trust Law
Connect (the global pro-bono service of the Thomson
Reuters Foundation), Give India and Healing Hearts that
serve as connects to the people who need pro bono legal
services and the lawyers who give their time freely away
from their usual commercial engagements. Pro bono time
committed by attorneys is also counted for their appraisal
within the firm year on year, the strong culture to give back
to the community we live and work in is encouraged.
Advice for the Budding Start-ups
Budding entrepreneurs and start-ups who are building for
the future should focus on fundamentals of getting good
legal advice. Start ups are big game changers for mature
players who are increasingly acquisitive in todays
environment. The need for start ups to think big on
compliance and thinking like mature companies cannot be
overemphasised.
Future Perspectives
JSA is encouraging partners to specialize and acquire deep
industry knowledge & engagement as a part of the value
proposition to its clients i.e. providing advice of very high
calibre in quick time as compared to generalists.
While concluding the interaction with Insight Success,
partner Aarthi Sivanandh said -“As a firm we hire partners
for the future not just lawyers for today. There is no better
time to specialize in offering quality advice than now, in a
time where today’s client has global ambitions.”
MAY 2019 33

Lex Jurists
Achieving Best Legal Outcomes
“Best Litigation Law Firm in India in terms of Strength and Revenue”
With an objective to provide best quality legal
advice and services acknowledging the time and
cost efficiencies for its clients, Lex Jurists®
have been in the Legal Sphere since 1993. Based out of New
Delhi, the Firm specializes in compliances & regulatory
work for major corporate clients and deals in arbitration
matters both in India and at London Court of International
Arbitration (LCIA). It provides comprehensive professional
services for obtaining registration for clients under various
applicable local and central laws including under Shops &
Establishments statutes, Trade Licenses, Legal Metrology
Act etc. The Firm has extensive experience in advising
Indian as well as international clients including High
Commissions of foreign countries in India.
A Renowned Founder
The Founder member –Rajinder Singh is a Law Graduate
from the esteemed Faculty of Law- Campus Law Centre,
Delhi University. He has extensive experience in litigation
and has been counselling some of the most publicized cases
in India. Over the years, he has earned a formidable
reputation in criminal law practice. He had been the Legal
Coordinator of Rape Crisis Intervention Centre of Delhi
Police for more than 10 years. He has also delivered lectures
at various institutes including HR Academy of Delhi Police
and has conducted conferences in the UK on issues relating
to matrimonial laws for Non-resident Indians. He has
successfully contested cases at London Court of
International Arbitration and has led Corporate Fraud
Investigation Teams in Cyprus. He has also undertaken
numerous pro bono assignments for various clients which
have added to the stature and prestige of the Firm.
During Rajinder’s school and college days, he had been a
sportsperson of national and international repute and won
laurels for the country. In his spare time, he was also a
drummer with leading rock bands in India. He is an avid
Golfer and a Harley Davidson rider. He has given various
presentations to teachers of Government and Leading
Private Schools on POCSO Act.
Awards and Rewards
• The Founder and Managing Partner of the firm have been
honoured with the award for “Excellence in Criminal
Litigation” in CXO + GC Leadership Summit 2018.
• The Firm has received the award for “Criminal Litigation
Law Firm of the Year” in December 2018.
The Significant Partners
The Significant Partners Moinuddin Khan began his
career at Lex Jurists ® in the year 2010, and with his
commitment, discipline and toil he earned a position of
Partner in the Firm in 2017. He is successfully leading the
Civil Practice of the Firm and also catering to corporates
for criminal law advisory work. He has participated in the
conferences on International Law and practice areas in
India.
Nirpreet Kaur also began her career as an Associate at
Lex Jurists ® in the year 2013, and with her sheer
dedication and hard work has earned a position of Partner
in the Firm in 2019. She qualified as a lawyer in the year
2012 from Jamia Millia Islamia University and done her
post-graduation in IPR from Guru Govind Singh
Indraprastha University. She had been actively involved in
Criminal Litigation at trial Courts in the Firm. She is also
an External Member of IC’s of many corporates under the
POSH Act.
Mani Chander is a dual qualified attorney, admitted to the
practice of law at the New York State Bar and the Punjab &
Haryana Bar Council. She is an LL.M. graduate from the
John W. Glynn Law & Business Program of the University
of Virginia and holds an LL.B. from Panjab University,
Chandigarh. Previously, Mani worked at the New York
office of Duane Morris where she worked on various
36 MAY 2019

THE10 MOST RECOMMENDED
CORPORATE
&
COMMERCIAL LAW
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
corporate compliance and regulatory matters. She is an avid
golfer and sports enthusiast.
Area of Specialization
The Firm specializes in three core areas of practice:
Litigation; Compliances; and Registrations & Due
Diligence
Criminal Litigation
The Firm deals in matters related to cheating, forgery,
criminal breach of trust, misappropriation, cyber-crimes,
corporate fraud, Motor Vehicle Act, negligence, counterfeit
currency and others. It specializes in cases related to
economic offences and serious fraud investigation office.
Matrimonial Disputes
The Firm deals with matters related to divorce,
maintenance, domestic violence, dowry and custody etc. It
has a holistic approach and humane touch in handling
matrimonial disputes.
Consumer Forums
The Firm deals in matters related to consumer disputes at
District Consumer Forums, State Consumer Commissions
and National Consumer Commission.
Sexual Harassment
The Firm deals in matters related to sexual harassment laws
including sexual harassment at workplace issues. It has
successfully advised multinational and foreign companies
established in India on this issue. It specializes in drafting
sexual harassment policies for Corporate Clients.
Civil Litigation
The Firm deals with matters related to Civil Recovery
proceedings, Injunction Suits, Partition Suits, Writs, Suit for
Specific Performance, Will, Probates, Succession,
Surrogacy, Adoption, Rent Control Act cases, Property
Disputes, Commercial Disputes and Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Cases.
Arbitration, Mediation & Conciliation
Lex Jurists deals in arbitration matters and has successfully
resolved several matters through the Mediation and
Conciliation process.
Compliances
The Firm has successfully undertaken compliances &
regulatory work for major corporate clients including
MNCs. The compliance requirements relating to real estate,
operations, environment and labour & employment laws etc.
are forte of the Firm.
Registrations
The Firm provides comprehensive professional services for
obtaining registration for clients under various applicable
local and central laws including Shops & Establishments
statutes, trade licenses, Legal Metrology Act, etc.
Rajinder Singh
Founder
Due Diligence
The Firm undertakes real estate related due diligence
covering title searches of properties. The Firm is equipped
to undertake due diligence throughout India at short
notices.
Presentations
It specializes in presentations on various legal aspects for
clients including detection of fake currency notes, sexual
harassment at workplace, women rights, domestic
violence, etc. The Firm is equipped to depart training on
various legal aspects to employees and employers.
Miles to Go
An equal opportunity employer, Lex Jurists® has an
efficient mix of lawyers. It has a team of 30 full-time
lawyers including Senior Associates and Associates who
handle litigations, due diligence, compliances and
regulatory work at very short notices. Each year many
legal interns join the Firm as para-legal for a fixed term
from various prestigious law colleges of India. The Firm is
standing tall since twenty-five years and plans to repeat its
feats for several more years to come.
MAY 2019 37

LEGAL
PROFESSION
IN INDIA
A RINGSIDE VIEW
egally India in an article dated February 18, 2013, had stated that in 2011 there were around 1.3 Million attorneys in
LIndia which had grown at the rate of 4% during 2007 to 2011. Fancy for legal education has led to a boom in the
growth of legal professionals in India since 2011. Based on rough estimates as of now, there are around 1.5 Million
attorneys in India, which is much more than 1.34 Million attorneys in the USA upto 2018 as per data available in public
domain. Hence, India has the largest pool of legal professionals engaged with big, medium to small firms providing full
services across sectors, boutique law firms offering niche services to compete with larger counterparts, litigators in courts,
especially lower courts and in-house counsels.
India has a federal structure and in terms of constitutional provisions, revenue and law & order subjects are with State
Governments. Hence, the majority of criminal and civil matters are fought in lower and district level courts, appeals against
the order of which lies to the High Court of the State. While not many cases arising out of orders of High Courts travel to the
Supreme Court but still vary a large number of cases are pending decisions before Supreme Court, the highest judicial dispute
resolution Institution.
38 MAY 2019

Tech-trends
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Ashok Dhingra, the Co-founder of
Ashok Dhingra Associates, worked
with Indian Customs for more than 22
years, 7 years with Big4 Consulting
Firms and for 9 years with law rms
Khaitan & Co. and J. Sagar
Associates (JSA). In 2014, three
partners moved out of JSA to set up
Ashok Dhingra Associates. Ashok
heads White Collar Crimes,
Investigations and Regulatory
practice group.
Ashok Dhingra
Co-founder
Sonia Gupta is one of the Co-founder
of Ashok Dhingra Associates having
the dual qualication of Chartered
Accountant and an Attorney. She
heads Customs and Trade including
Export Controls and Sanctions
practice group of Firm.
Sonia Gupta
Co-founder
MAY 2019 39

The large part of Indian legal professionals comprises of litigators practicing in lower courts across Country which
constitute around 80% percent or more of litigators. Over a period of time, there is steady migration of litigators from
lower Courts to District Court to High Court and some make it to Supreme Court. Thus, litigation practice is the
backbone of the legal profession in India.
The other areas of practice are boutique, small, medium and large firms providing specialised or full services to clients.
Boutique firms are a recent trend. Many boutique firms are set up by former partners of large firms catering to specialised
practice areas or sectors having expertise in these areas. Thus, clients are also benefited by the availability of domain
experts at a reasonable fee and service teams led by partners and not mid-level attorneys, as is the practice in some larger
firms.
Similarly, small firms are also being set up by attorneys having few of years of experience to enjoy independent practice,
carve out a name for them and serve the community. At times few partners with teams from large or mid-size firms split
and set up firms which grow over a period of time. Yet large full services law firms have not lost out their charm, which
corners a big chunk of work in every practice area they have.
Corporate practice including merger and acquisition are the mainstay of large firms, which also has teams in other
practice areas like dispute resolution, white-collar crimes, intellectual property, taxation, etc. However, most of young
attorneys’ dream of working as corporate lawyers and work on big transactions or some of them go for litigation practice.
While big full services law firms have no competition in corporate practice, these firms don’t have much to offer in
taxation and valuation of deals arena in front of Big4 accounting firms.
India is big on the global map as a land of opportunities to set up a manufacturing base here, which has the dual
advantage of the availability of a talented pool of professionals and large population driving consumption. In addition,
the Government of India is promoting India with various initiatives to make India as a manufacturing hub like Make in
India, Ease of Doing Business and pan India roll out of Goods and Service Tax creating a unified market. These
initiatives have also created demand for quality legal services in the Country.
In this wave of globalisation, Indian legal industry has a high potential of growth. However, India has protected and
reserved legal market barring entry of International Law Firms in India and denying foreign law firms or foreign lawyers
practice law in the Country. Even fly-in to provide service and fly-out attorneys are not welcome.
While foreign law firms are not interested in doing litigation practices in lower or superior courts, they are definitely
interested in the more lucrative market of corporate practice, arbitration, and other specialised services. On the other
hand, a large population of legal professionals opposes entry of foreign law firms in India on the fear of being driven out
of practice or losing big clients.
Entry of foreign law firms in India has its own advantages and disadvantages. While foreign law firms bring in best
practices and international expertise they would also heat up the Indian market with a high cost of legal services. On the
other hand, existing Indian large and medium law firms will be benefited by getting better realisation per hour of billable
rates. Of course, the fear of Indian firms of losing good and talented professionals to foreign law firms who have deep
pockets is also well-founded.
Having said that there are no sides that one can take. We would refrain from expressing our personal views on the issue.
It shall be the Bar Council of India which is the regulatory body of the legal profession to tackle this big question on
whether or when these foreign law firms will be allowed entry into the legal profession in India.
40 MAY 2019

Royzz & Co
A Multi-disciplinary Law Services Provider
“The rm’s vital pillar of strength is its multi-disciplined and experienced team
which endeavors to provide end to end superior services”
Afull-service law Firm, Royzz & Co was
founded by Mahua Roy Chowdhury.
Headquartered in Mumbai, it has its presence
in Chennai, Delhi and Pune. It works with
correspondent counsels and Firms spread across 55
cities in India and 150 counsels offshore, with a
worldwide reach. The Firms’ vision is to:
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Be Honest & Upfront to Clients
Step out of the books to provide pragmatic
advice
Initiate and work towards closure with the same
zeal
Strategize holistically advise to facilitate a
business
Litigate as a last resort
Clients are long term investment of goodwill
Ÿ Never compromise on ethics & hard work
A Founder par Excellence
Mahua Roy Chowdhury is the Founder and
Principal Partner of the Firm. She is a qualified
advocate and a registered Patent Attorney and has had
varied experience spanning from criminal as well as
civil cases. In relation to Intellectual Property, she has
successfully litigated matters related to Copyright,
Patents and Trademark infringement in various courts
in India. She also has hands-on experience in Anticounterfeiting
actions and has coordinated more than
500 IP enforcement actions with the help of Police and
Investigation agencies. She now enjoys resolving
disputes related to complex technology transactions.
She has been a speaker/moderator at several
conferences and workshops, conducted lectures at
various National and International forums. Also, she
has authored several articles published in the various
national and international reputed magazines and
conducts in-house IP orientation workshops for
Management, in-house counsels and scientists.
Superior Services
Royzz & Co comprises of dynamic, curious-minded
tech-savvy engineers, and lawyers who excel at
marrying the unconventional creative and scientific
temperament with fast-paced business needs. The team
strives to constantly modernize its knowledge and give
its clients relevant advice and subsequently succeed in
unprecedented and challenging cases. The team
members are from multidisciplinary practice areas
enabling the Firm to provide comprehensive solutions
to all national and international businesses.
It has a team with strong expertise in litigation,
42 MAY 2019

THE10 MOST RECOMMENDED
CORPORATE
&
COMMERCIAL LAW
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
ransactional, advisory related matters for IPR. Its IP
tpractice consists of all IP laws such as patents,
designs, trademarks, copyrights. The attorneys and
technology specialists focus on preparation and
prosecution, licensing, management, valuation, and
litigation of IP portfolios. The team also advises on food
law, advising clients on the implementation of the FSS
Act and Rules, and different regulations, notifications
and advisories issued by FSSAI. Some distinct areas of
practice by the Firm are:
General Corporate - All areas of practice including
structuring, mergers & acquisitions, compliances.
Real Estate - Beginning from due diligence and title
search of properties, transaction and convincing as well
as litigation and dispute resolution.
Intellectual Property - The Firm takes care of
Intellectual Property rights comprising Trademark,
Patents, Designs, Copyright, Transactional and Due
Diligence for content acquisition.
Dispute Resolution - Strategizes and advises on
complex national and cross border disputes through
litigation and arbitrations.
A Responsible Firm
As a Firm Royzz & Co is always on the lookout for
avenues by which it can work in the academic front. The
Firm has tied up with the University of New Hampshire
and has partnered offering a scholarship to students
applying for LLM in Intellectual property rights.
The Firm is part of an initiative of the Government of
India for promoting root level innovation and assisting
in protecting them through an organisation called
National Innovation Foundation (NIF). The Firm also
works with different institutes such as SVKM, MNLU,
VIT, IIT among others for IP related training sessions
and in an advisory capacity.
Mahua Roy Chowdhury
Founder & Principal Partner
Miles to Go
The Firm has over the years handled over 20,000
cases. Some of its most prominent clients include
names like Wadia Group (Bombay Dyeing, Bombay
Realty, Go Air, Bombay Burmah), Walmart,
Samsonite, Symantec, Rolta, Jain Irrigation, NSE –
IT and Star TV. The Firm now seeks to go even
beyond its current horizons. Over the last 2 years,
the Firm has worked hard to diversify its practice
and has successfully built a strong general corporate
practice. The Firm aims to diversify across India
and build strong teams who can widen its network
and provide services pan India.
MAY 2019 43