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India Business Law Journal reveals the top 100 India-focused legal experts outside the country

For more than 20 years the opening of India’s legal market to foreign law firms has been the source of controversy, debate, speculation, anticipation and ultimately disappointment for many foreign lawyers. Despite several false starts, most recently in 2017 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was said to have taken a personal interest in seeing the matter through, India’s legal market remains stubbornly closed.

In the years that passed, as law firms developed new strategies to serve India without a physical presence on the ground, a considerable body of India-focused legal expertise amassed in international business centres outside the country. Prohibited from practising Indian law or setting up offices in India, this new generation of international India experts advise their clients from afar and on a fly-in, fly-out basis.

Their numbers are growing. From a glance at the website of just about any international law firm, one can see the names of numerous partners and associates who have experience working on India-related matters. But of the hundreds of lawyers around the world who claim to be India experts, which ones are leading the field?

To find out, India Business Law Journal turned to those who know best – lawyers at Indian law firms and India-focused in-house counsel around the world. During a month-long nomination process, we asked these professionals to nominate the lawyers that they consider to be among the top legal experts for advising on the international aspects of India-related matters.

The analysis that follows provides highlights of the International A-List, including endorsements of many of the recognized lawyers by those who nominated them. Space did not permit us to include editorial coverage of every A-List lawyer, but the full list of all 100 International A-List lawyers can be found here.

Seasoned professionals

So, what does it take to be one of the leading international lawyers for India? Daksh Ahluwalia, a partner at J Sagar Associates, gives an apt description of one, describing A-List lawyer Chris Parsons, the chairman of the India practice at Herbert Smith Freehills, as a “senior statesman” with a “very wide network in India”.

“Strong connections and deep understanding of the Indian legal system and business processes” are the qualities that Vishwanathan Iyer, the head of legal and corporate affairs at Tata Consultancy Services, finds in Deepak Nambiar, a New York-based partner at Kelley Drye & Warren.

Biswajit Chatterjee, the co-chair of the India practice at Squire Patton Boggs, who divides his time between Singapore and Dubai, is described by Vinay Sirohia, a principal associate at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, as a “seasoned capital markets lawyer with numerous years of India capital markets experience”. According to Sirohia, this experience includes advising on the initial public offerings (IPO) of SBI Life Insurance, Quess Corp, Infibeam, Prabhat Dairy, and Hinduja Leyland Finance.

Over at Latham & Watkins in Singapore, partner and India practice head Rajiv Gupta is applauded by Prashant Gupta, a partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, for advising on “some of the largest and most prominent capital markets deals out of India,” including IPOs by HDFC Life, InterGlobe Aviation, MakeMyTrip and Azure Power, as well as a host of large bond offerings.

Meanwhile, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Arun Balasubramanian is praised by Gupta of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co for being “active in India for over 15 years and advising on several prominent mergers and acquisitions and capital markets deals”.

Akshay Chudasama, the managing partner of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co in Mumbai, cites “strong client relationships, and acting as the single point of contact for many of the firm’s Indian clients” as two of the reasons why Baker McKenzie’s India head Ashok Lalwani makes it onto the International A-List.

“Ashok has been doing India work for close to 30 years, more recently as head of the global India practice of Baker McKenzie for over 10 years, and he has a solid reputation,” says Chudasama.

Quotes-Akshay-Chudasama-Shardul-Amarchand-Mangaldas-&-Co

Chudasama also has high praise for Shearman & Sterling partner Sidharth Bhasin, who divides his time between the firm’s Singapore and Hong Kong offices. “Sidharth is the head of the firm’s India practice and advises on complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, investments, financings, and restructurings globally … Most recently he advised Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec on its acquisition of a 40% interest in CLP India, and Capital Square Partners in connection with its acquisition of a controlling interest in StarTek, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, and the sale of its subsidiary Aegis to StarTek.”

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