Five things, done properly
And a plain statement of what we will refer out rather than attempt.
Corporate & M&A
Acquisitions, joint ventures, private fundraises and group restructurings. Diligence, transaction documents, CP management and closing. Most engagements run eight to sixteen weeks and are led by a partner who stays on the matter throughout.
Dispute resolution
Commercial litigation before the Bombay High Court and the NCLT, and domestic arbitration under the 1996 Act. We put a written view on merits and exposure in front of you before you commit to a strategy, and we update it when the facts move.
Intellectual property
Trade mark searches, prosecution and opposition; copyright and design; IP diligence on transactions; and enforcement including takedowns and passing-off actions. Filing through to injunction under one team.
Tax
Structuring on transactions, transfer pricing documentation, withholding advice for cross-border payments, and appellate representation up to the ITAT. Advice written to survive an assessing officer, not just to close a deal.
Employment
Senior hires and separations, ESOP and retention documentation, POSH policy and committee training, and independent workplace investigations conducted by counsel from outside your organisation.
General counsel support
A monthly retainer covering contract review, routine compliance and an escalation line to a partner. For companies whose legal function is one person, or nobody.
What we refer out
We do not do criminal defence, family law, real-estate conveyancing or shipping. Each of those is a specialism where a firm doing it occasionally is worse than useless, and in three of the four we can name someone in Mumbai who does it well. We also decline matters where we act for the other side, obviously, and matters where the commercial value is smaller than the cost of running them properly — in which case we will say so in the first call rather than in the third invoice.
Not sure which team you need?
Describe the matter and we will route it, including to another firm if that is the honest answer.