Ravindra Bandhakavi graduated last month from a one-year master of business administration (MBA) from London Business School.

Prior to his studies he had spent two-and-a-half years heading up Sun Apollo’s legal team in Mumbai, before which he was a senior associate at Amarchand where he had worked for five years.

Bandhakavi said that the re-adjustment to private practice should not be too difficult as his old firm was almost as familiar as a home.

Explaining how his prior experience would be helpful in a law firm, he said: “I think working out[side] of private practice for the last two to three years has given me a round perspective. Sitting on the other side you see a lot of perspective on what clients really want.”

Bandhakavi said that at Apollo he had specialised in work such as real estate investments, special economic zones (SEZ) and hospital projects.

“The second [advantage] is that doing a business degree gives a huge amount of business perspective you wouldn’t otherwise have,” he added. “Often in a deal you push very hard on something or don’t. After doing an MBA I understand the underlying value for the client – you are able to talk in their language and understand their language.”

Bandhakavi will start in Amarchand’s Mumbai M&A and private equity team from next Wednesday (23 September).