India Business Law Journal

27/02/2025

India Business Law Journal's annual Billing Rates Survey 2024 https://law.asia/india-billing-rates-survey-2024/

India Business Law Journal’s annual Billing Rates Survey 2024 reflects changing expectations from both general counsel and law firms amid growing demand for specialised legal expertise, efficiency, and cost predictability.

The search for specialisation and flexible fees is shaping law firm billing patterns in India.

Featuring insights from:
Gopal Trivedi, at Chadha & Chadha in Mumbai;
Vardaan Ahluwalia, at Premji Invest in Bengaluru;
Mathew Chacko, at Spice Route Legal in Bengaluru;
Moksha Bhat, at AP & Partners in New Delhi.

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27/02/2025

Climate change and a rapidly growing global population have intensified pressure on energy and water resources. Water scarcity disrupts agriculture, industry, energy production, and environmental balance. Increasing water pollution has rendered many rivers and aquifers incapable of supporting ecosystems or sustaining human activities.

Sharath Chandrasekhar, Rimali Batr, and Aravind K of DSK Legal discuss India's energy and water conservation challenges, government policies, and corporate sustainability initiatives.

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Climate change and a rapidly growing global population have intensified pressure on energy and water resources...

26/02/2025

💡 In-house Counsel Awards 2024-25 https://law.asia/india-in-house-counsel-awards-2024/

Following extensive research and nominations, India Business Law Journal is delighted to unveil the in-house counsel and corporate legal teams honoured by their peers and industry professionals for their exceptional legal achievements.

Congratulations to all the awarded legal professionals! 👏

26/02/2025

Vivek Malhotra is now the director of legal (South Asia) at Zimmer Biomet, a publicly traded American medical device company headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.

He has led institutional arbitrations and is empanelled as an arbitrator at the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the Indian Council of Arbitration.

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Vivek Malhotra is now the director of legal (South Asia) at Zimmer Biomet, a publicly traded American medical device company...

25/02/2025

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and A&O Shearman have counselled parties on the 14-year multibillion-dollar LNG sale and purchase agreement between the Indian Oil Corporation and Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company (ADNOC).

SAM advised IndianOil in this transaction, while A&O Sherman acted as international counsel for ADNOC.

“Working on this transaction was a rewarding experience and an opportunity to learn from the leaders in the energy sector,” said Prashant Sirohi of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.

VR Neelakantan and Sirohi led the SAM team, along with Siddharth Jain.

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Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and A&O Shearman have counselled parties on the 14-year multibillion-dollar LNG sale and purchase agreement...

25/02/2025

Data privacy compliance in Singapore https://law.asia/singapore-pdpa-compliance/

Singapore and India have long maintained a close economic relationship. While establishing and expanding their businesses in Singapore, companies from India will inevitably collect and process personal data from consumers, business partners and employees in the city-state.

In doing so, it is critical for them to understand and comply with Singapore data protection requirements.

In this video, Zhijing Yu of Cooley LLP explains the key data protection considerations under Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act and offers practical guidance for Indian businesses navigating this important compliance landscape.

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25/02/2025

Atul N Menon has joined Saga Legal as a partner in its Bengaluru office, and will lead the litigation and dispute resolution practice.

Before joining Saga Legal, Menon worked at AZB & Partners as counsel.

Menon is the second partner to have joined the firm’s Bengaluru office after Neeraj Vyas moved from Samvad Partners.

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Atul N Menon has joined Saga Legal as a partner in its Bengaluru office, and will lead the litigation and dispute resolution practice

25/02/2025

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of INR4 million (USD46,174) on Goldman Sachs (India) Alternative Investment Management for failing to notify the regulator of buying 3.81% in Biocon Biologics after finding the investment was not ordinary.

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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of INR4 million (USD46,174) on Goldman Sachs (India)...

24/02/2025

In-house Counsel Awards 2024-25 is now live ✨

The In-House Counsel Awards by India Business Law Journal acknowledge and celebrate the strong performance of in-house counsel in India. Our winning in-house counsel have served as guardians and go-to authorities on legal matters for their companies.

The winners were nominated by other professionals in the industry – peers and practising lawyers alike who have worked with them and feel that the winners have done exceptionally well in the past year.

Among the honourees, Sandhya Tolat, General Counsel of Aarti Industries, has been named the General Counsel of the Year.

Congratulations to all the laureates for individual awards, including:
Nitu Agarwal
Vardaan Ahluwalia
Tanmay Amar
Kumar Ankit
Bharati Balaji
Farida Balsara
Vinay Bhagawan
Devika Chadha
Soumyadri Chattopadhyaya
Arjun Chaturvedi
Himavat Chaudhuri
Kapil Chaudhary
Subha Chauhan
Chetan Chopra
Amit Kumar Das
Anirban Deb Ray
Shaswata Dutta
Pratibha Jain
Aarti Joshi
Anubhav Kapoor
Ajay Kapoor
Shivli Katyayan
Samir Kazi
Shalinee Kulshreshtha
Ashish Kumar
Madan Mohan Kunnathele
Manish Lamba
And more

In-house counsel and corporate legal teams honoured by their peers for outstanding legal work. Katherine Abraham reports

24/02/2025

In-house Counsel Awards 2024-25 is now online 🌟

The In-House Counsel Awards recognise and celebrate the excellence and achievements of in-house counsel in India, honoured by their peers and practising lawyers for their exceptional contributions to the legal profession.

Congratulations to all the honourees for individual awards, including:
Rajiv M.
Santosh Mane
Parag Mathur
Vani Mehta
Priya Menon
Rajendra Misra
Subha Narayan
Ameet Nayak
Anil PM
Rakesh Rai
Vivek Raizada
Gauri Rao
Lopamudra Rao
Shilpa Sachdeva
T. N. Sharad
Ish*ta Sharan
Anurag Sharma
Swati Sharma
Dr. Mukul Shastry
Priyam Singhvi
Ojasvita Srivastava
Ketaki Suklikar
Jitender Tanikella
Sharon Thomas
Srikumar Varieth
Sheela Vadavalli
Saguna Vaid
Vineet Vij
And more

In-house counsel and corporate legal teams honoured by their peers for outstanding legal work. Katherine Abraham reports

24/02/2025

Live now: In-house Counsel Awards 2024-25 🏆

The In-House Counsel Awards, presented by India Business Law Journal, honour and celebrate the outstanding achievements of in-house legal professionals across India.

The winners were nominated by their peers and industry professionals who have collaborated with them and recognized their exceptional contributions over the past year.

Congratulations to all the recognised rising stars, including:
Mahima Ahluwalia
Smriti Badri
Nanditha Balaram
Prithwish Bhattacharya
Suvajit Chakraborty
Aditi Gopalakrishnan
Pooja Gupta
Akshay Gupta
Pooja Katara, LLB, MBA
Jayantho Mukherjee
Bopaiah N P
Nishant Prasad
Sachin Saurabh
Amit Kumar Singh
Manali Singhal
Parth Trivedi

In-house counsel and corporate legal teams honoured by their peers for outstanding legal work. Katherine Abraham reports

24/02/2025

Revealed: In-house Counsel Awards 2024-25 🏅

India Business Law Journal is proud to reveal the in-house counsel and corporate legal teams honoured by their peers for exceptional contributions to the legal field.

The legal team at Culver Max Entertainment, led by Ritesh Khosla, has been distinguished as the In-house Legal Team of the Year.

Congratulations to all the recognised teams and their leaders, including:
Harshdeep Arora at HCL Tech;
Bharat Vansh Bahadur at SNV Aviation Private Limited;
Abhishek Bardhan Roy at Hexaware Technologies;
Vinay Bhagawan at Daimler India Commercial Vehicles;
Damini Bhalla at Zomato;
Devika Chadha at Sunsure Energy;
Kapil Chaudhary at Info Edge India;
Dr. Rajeev Chopra at Accenture India;
Shailesh Jain at BSE;
Nirupama Jayasimha at Google India;
Prabhat Kumar at Fortis Healthcare;
Raghu Raman Lakshmanan at HCL Tech;
Dibyojyoti Mainak at Galactus Funware Technology Pvt. Ltd. (Mobile Premier League);
Rajendra Misra at Indian Hotels Company Limited;
Ameet Nayak at FIL India Business and Research Services Private Limited;
Arvind Pai at Prestige Estates Projects Limited;
Jyoti Pawar at Microsoft Corporation / Microsoft India;
Rakesh Rai at Aditya Birla Finance;
Bhawna Sangwan at Garagepreneurs Internet Private Limited;
Hardeep Singh at CRED;
Jinni Sinha at Paytm (One97 Communications Ltd.);
Anand Vardhan at Piramal Enterprises Limited;
Vineet Vij at Tech Mahindra;
Kanishk . at Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd.

In-house counsel and corporate legal teams honoured by their peers for outstanding legal work. Katherine Abraham reports

24/02/2025

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has released a consultation paper on a draft circular for investors to make safe and efficient transfers via the unified payments interface (UPI).

The regulator’s circular outlines plans to issue unique UPI addresses for SEBI-registered intermediaries, allowing investors to make payments to the regulator legitimate, convenient and efficient. This move will make it difficult for impostors and fraudsters to take money from investors in the SEBI’s name.

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has released a consultation paper on a draft circular for investors to make safe...

21/02/2025

SAM, A&O Sherman act on USD7bn ADNOC-IndianOil deal https://law.asia/indian-oil-lng-deal-adnoc/

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and A&O Shearman have counselled parties on the 14-year multibillion-dollar LNG sale and purchase agreement between the Indian Oil Corporation and Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company (ADNOC).

SAM advised IndianOil in this transaction, while A&O Sherman acted as international counsel for ADNOC.

“Working on this transaction was a rewarding experience and an opportunity to learn from the leaders in the energy sector,” said Prashant Sirohi, lead partner on the transaction team from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.

VR Neelakantan and Sirohi led the SAM team, along with Siddharth Jain.

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21/02/2025

Singapore and India have long maintained a close economic relationship. While establishing and expanding their businesses in Singapore, companies from India will inevitably collect and process personal data from consumers, business partners and employees in the city-state. In doing so, it is critical for them to understand and comply with Singapore data protection requirements.

Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) is the overarching privacy law governing the collection, use and disclosure of personal data in the Lion City.

Ferish Patel and Zhijing Yu at Cooley examine the key data protection considerations under the PDPA and provides practical guidance for Indian businesses looking to navigate this important compliance landscape.

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Singapore and India have long maintained a close economic relationship. While establishing and expanding their businesses in Singapore...

21/02/2025

Atul Menon leaves AZB to head dispute regulation at Saga https://law.asia/atul-menon-leaves-azb-joined-saga/

Atul N Menon has joined Saga Legal as a partner in its Bengaluru office, and will lead the litigation and dispute resolution practice.

Before joining Saga Legal, Menon worked at AZB & Partners as counsel.

Menon is the second partner to have joined the firm’s Bengaluru office after Neeraj Vyas moved from Samvad Partners.

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21/02/2025

Three firms counsel on Indian freight train operator loan https://law.asia/indian-freight-train-operator-loan/

Indian Law Partners, Ashurst and Suri & Company acted for parties involved in Joshi Konoike Transport & Infrastructure (JKTI) securing a loan for an undisclosed amount from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), which Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation co-financed.

Indian Law Partners advised JBIC on Indian law, with Gopika Pant and Vineet Gupta leading the team. Vinayek Mehra, Varun Pandey, Ayush Tiwari and Sakshi Raj also assisted.

David Wadham and Kensuke Inoue led the Ashurst Japan team, acting for JBIC as international counsel.

Arjit Mohan from Suri & Company acted for JKTI, which is a joint venture between Japan’s Konoike Group and India’s Joshi Group.

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20/02/2025

Our annual survey uncovers key trends in law firm billing rates, analysing data from 50 firms of between two and 210 lawyers in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Mumbai, New Delhi and Ranchi.

The findings reveal significant variations across seniority levels. Managing partners bill up to $1,338/hour, while junior associates may start as low as $10/hour—highlighting the wide range in legal fees.

Hourly billing rates for junior and senior associates decreased by 7.7% to USD142 and 5.5% to USD203, respectively. Meanwhile, the rates for managing partners saw the highest jump – a 7% increase to an average of USD458 per hour.

Overall, the average hourly rate for a lawyer climbed slightly from USD278 to USD280 per hour, a modest 0.7% increase, signaling steady growth in the legal billing landscape.

Read the full report here 👇
https://law.asia/india-billing-rates-survey-2024/

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