AZB alumni start-up doubles JSA's size in Bangalore (UPDATE 1)

Thursday, 25 June 2009 By Kian Ganz Job moves

J Sagar Associates (JSA) has doubled its size in Bangalore by merging with M&C Partners, which was started up by two partners and their team from AZB & Partners one year ago.

Murali Ananthasivan and Vivek Chandy will join JSA with a team of 16 lawyers, taking the total size of JSA’s Bangalore to 33 lawyers and three equity and two salaried partners.

JSA Bangalore resident partner Sajai Singh said: “In terms of the growth and our presence its going to be phenomenal and it’s going to propel us into a different league all together.”

Singh started up JSA’s Bangalore office 13 years ago and added: “Now the toddler is getting into its teens and it is the time it has more parents and more opportunities of growth. It will be a great teenage time for the Bangalore office and hopefully be a great adulthood.”

Ananthavasivan and Chandy’s start-up practice M&C specialised in corporate and private equity and the pair were among AZB’s most well-known partners in Bangalore before they left around July of last year. Both will join JSA as equity partners.

AZB Mumbai partner Bahram Vakil said: “I think it’s a good move for them and we wish them the very best.”

AZB continues to maintain a presence of around 30 lawyers in Bangalore.

Ananthasivan and Chandy will join JSA’s partnership from 1 July and JSA hopes to move into a larger office space in M&C’s building within two months.

The merger discussions between JSA and M&C are understood to have begun at the beginning of June.

One rival Bangalore partner commented: “I have the feeling they left [AZB] and probably negotiated with lots of firms, looking around for suitors. And this helps them quite a bit - it is a good move.”

J Sagar Associates (JSA)Bangalore Murali Ananthasivan Vivek Chandy AZB & Partners

Comments

SHABIJ 25 Jun 2009, 15:06

+1 -1

This makes the Bangalore office quite invincible in comparison to others.

Anon 25 Jun 2009, 16:13

+1 -0

Vivek has a stellar reputation and along with Sajai they will make for an enviable team of well known corporate lawyers in Bangalore. With this merger, I think JSA has taken lead over Amarchand's Bangalore office.

As an aside, it is interesting to see that Bangalore is hotting up as the next big location for law firms. Other posts on this website indicate that Luthra is relocating M. Mukherjee to Bangalore in what is a clear sign of the importance of having operations in the city for any national law firm.

SHABIJ 25 Jun 2009, 16:18

+4 -1

Yes I Agree with anon, Nishith Desai is another "National" name to watch out in Bangalore and the not so "national" poovaiyya is a hot competitor.

Anon 25 Jun 2009, 21:06

This is an amalgamation of very good lawyers, but comes with a mixture of very strong personalities. So interesting to say the least, and I would not hazard a guess as to the success of this marriage.

Lawyer 26 Jun 2009, 09:04

Hard to understand how Nishith Desai is a 'national' firm having no presence in the national capital and Poovaya is 'not so national' although it does have a presence in the national capital.

SHABIJ - care to set out the broad parameters applied to come so such an absurd conclusion?

Any 26 Jun 2009, 09:19

+0 -0

This development is indeed a great move for JSA Bangalore office, which has lost a couple of great associates in recent past.

SKP 29 Jun 2009, 10:01

size is not the only thing that matters, quality of work is also important. reviewers only talk to clients for whom the law firm has done good work, not with the dissatisfied clients. As for the "national" argument, Nishith is definately more national than Poovaiya who largely service the low end work of clients. Once again, type of work, quality of work and profile of clients also counts.

Saroj 4 Jul 2009, 11:45

You are forgetting Dua Associates which has a forty lawyer and seven partner team in Bangalore. This is still bigger than M&C JSA combine.

bebo 5 Jul 2009, 21:28

Guys - get real - why are you folks wasting your time analyzing the bangalore legal market.It is well known that for all the top law firms - the bangalore office is just another poor country cousin that you just need to be nice to. The top clients in bangalore do not dial bangalore numbers when they need top quality legal advice - they dial the 022 and 011 numbers - thats where the key advisors are based out of . Distance doesnt matter any more - so its mindless to think bangalore clients like bangalore lawyers.

JSA and MNC - all the best to their heady combination - its clear Vivek and Murali could not sustain on their own and needed the wider reach of JSA to survive. It also makes it clear that in the longrun - there is very little room for the smaller law firms -

Anon 8 Jul 2009, 11:47

+3 -0

You never know-With Vivek and Murali, they might just decide to jump places again! Talk about lawyers in politics defecting to other parties-The Duo would make excellent politicians I must say, with excellent defection skills and an ego and thick skins to match the same!!!

anonymous 22 Aug 2009, 17:00

Does Bangalore have enough work to sustain a large firm as the one that results from the merger between M&C and JSA. In my knowledge, lot of law firms that went ahead with mergers and increased numbers are feeling the heat now. Further, the real effect of the merger would also largely depend upon the terms for the same. Further, human resources integration is a tremendous challenge for law firm mergers. It will take some time to actually see the impact of this merger.

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