Jayesh Karandikar has joined Kochhar as a senior associate and he will focus on general corporate law.

He had been at Amarchand for around one-and-a-half years, starting in the corporate group under M&A and private equity partner Ashwath Rau. Most recently, he worked in the firm’s real estate group under Amarchand partner and head of real estate Sandeep Dave.

Karandikar said: “Looking at the real estate market I was keen to shift to general corporate, which is evergreen.”

Kochhar’s Mumbai partner Vaibhav Shukla (pictured) said: “We are extremely aggressive in Mumbai. Since it’s the commercial capital of country we are now expanding in Mumbai not just in terms of headcount but also in the number of deals.”

Shukla heads the office’s corporate practice group of five associates, including Karandikar, whereas the Delhi corporate team is around six times that size.

The majority of Kochhar’s clients are foreign companies, which it advises on entering India and doing business here. The firm intends to also focus more strongly on domestic corporates.

Before joining Amarchand, Karandikar was an associate at DSK Legal for four years.

Amarchand confirmed Karandikar’s departure but declined to comment.