Practice areas, and the advocate who leads each one

1.Corporate law and M&A

1.1Scope

Share purchases, asset sales, joint ventures, demergers and schemes of arrangement under the Companies Act¹, shareholder agreements for family-held companies, and the diligence that comes before any of these. Most of our clients are mid-sized manufacturers and promoter groups in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

1.2Lead counsel

1.3Typical matters

1. Acquisition of a listed NBFC by a private equity consortium, including the RBI change-of-control approval.
2. Demerger of a manufacturing subsidiary through an NCLT scheme ahead of a planned listing.
3. Buyback and share transfers across three family-held companies after a partition among brothers.

2.Intellectual property

2.1Scope

Trademark and patent prosecution, oppositions, infringement suits and the licences that let other people use what you own. We act for pharmaceutical manufacturers, consumer brands and software companies, under the Trade Marks Act and the Patents Act².

2.2Lead counsel

2.3Typical matters

1. Defending a generic drug maker against a patent revocation petition in the Delhi High Court.
2. Trademark enforcement for a packaged-foods brand in India, Singapore and the UAE.
3. Software licence and source-code escrow terms for a Pune SaaS company selling to banks.

3.Litigation and dispute resolution

3.1Scope

Commercial suits, writ petitions, shareholder oppression claims, and insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code³, from first filing through appeal. Much of this work comes to us from transactional lawyers, including our own, once a deal has turned into a dispute.

3.2Lead counsel

3.3Typical matters

1. Interim injunction within 48 hours of filing, in a promoter dispute over a ₹900 crore land-holding company.
2. Acting for a financial creditor through a six-year corporate insolvency process, NCLT to Supreme Court.
3. Challenge to a ₹320 crore income tax reassessment before the Bombay High Court.

4.Real estate and construction

4.1Scope

Land acquisition and title diligence, joint development agreements, RERA registration and complaints⁴, and construction claims for delay and extra work. We act for developers, landowners and the contractors who build for them.

4.2Lead counsel

4.3Typical matters

1. Title diligence and structuring for a 42-acre commercial land purchase on the Pune ring road.
2. Defending a developer in RERA complaints across three delayed projects in Surat and Vadodara.
3. Arbitration for a road contractor claiming ₹480 crore in delay costs from a state authority.

5.Regulatory and compliance

5.1Scope

Regulator inquiries and show-cause notices, merger filings with the Competition Commission, insider trading policies⁵, and compliance reviews for boards and audit committees of listed and regulated companies.

5.2Lead counsel

5.3Typical matters

1. Reply to a SEBI show-cause notice for a board member of a listed company in an insider trading inquiry.
2. CCI merger notification and approval for a hospital chain acquisition.
3. RBI compliance review and remediation plan for a licensed payment aggregator.

6.International arbitration

6.1Scope

Commercial arbitrations with a foreign party on either side, emergency arbitrator applications, and enforcement of foreign awards in Indian courts⁶. We act as counsel; two partners also sit as arbitrators.

6.2Lead counsel

6.3Typical matters

1. SIAC arbitration for an Indian joint-venture partner against its foreign partner, claim of USD 40 million.
2. Emergency arbitrator order and asset preservation in India, Singapore and the UAE.
3. Enforcement of an ICC award against an Indian company before the Delhi High Court.

7.How a matter is taken on

Every instruction goes through the same four steps. We decline matters where we have a conflict or where another firm would serve you better, and we say so in writing.

1. 7.1Conflict check. Before we read anything about your matter, we check the other side's name against our client list. This takes one working day.
2. 7.2First meeting. You meet the advocate named above for your practice area, in chambers or by video.
3. 7.3Written assessment. Within five working days: what the law says, what the risks are, and what we would do first.
4. 7.4Engagement letter. Team, timeline and fee, in writing, signed before we file or send anything on your behalf.