Exclusive: AZB & Partners corporate and private equity partner Vaishali Sharma has joined Khaitan & Co’s Mumbai office, as AZB has stemmed a string of associate departures over recent months.

Exclusive: ALMT Legal has hired Paras Kuhad Associates partner Gautam Bhatikar to beef up its shipping practice, which is one of the specialist areas of ALMT’s UK best-friend firm Clyde & Co.

Nishith Desai Associates managing partner Nishith Desai was turned away by US immigration last week in Canada and had his business visa cancelled, because he would require an employment visa when meeting clients in the US.

Thakker & Thakker will cease operations by the end of this year, following founding partner Bijesh Thakker’s surprise decision to retire form law and work on philanthropic projects. The firm’s lawyers are understood to be in the process of seeking opportunities elsewhere.

The Chennai writ petition against 31 foreign law firms has yet again been adjourned for two months following the Government’s and Bar Council of India’s (BCI) pleas for enabling them time to formulate regulatory guidelines in the BCI’s bid to invite consultation from all stakeholders.

Argus Partners, which broke away from Amarchand Mangaldas Kolkata last year, has set up a Mumbai office relocating partner Ramya Hariharan to the city full-time while partner Krishnava Dutt will also spend half his time in the financial hub.

Former Luthra & Luthra and FoxMandal Little partner Vineet Aneja has now joined ALMT Legal to start up the firm’s office in Delhi.

Luthra & Luthra has kickstarted its intellectual property (IP) enforcement practice with the hire of senior lawyers J Kumar Bhardwaj, Munish Mehra, Amit Upadhyay and their team from Anand & Anand.

Khaitan & Co has hired its second full-time banking partner, with former Clifford Chance London and Singapore senior associate Devidas Banerji joining in Mumbai.

It is fair to say that a sizable number of Indian senior associates and junior partners are preoccupied with equity, or rather a lack of it.

Majmudar & Co has hired former ING in-houser, Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) law officer and Ministry of Corporate Affairs-officer Abdul Rasheed as an associate partner in Bangalore, as well as taking on a principal in the Mumbai tax group.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan has hired two partners from intellectual property (IP) firm Remfry & Sagar, including its head of patents, to head up its IP practice in Delhi.

EXCLUSIVE: Khaitan & Co has hired Symbiosis graduate Rajat Mukherjee as an “associate partner”, which is the first time a non-equity salaried partner has joined the firm under the revamped partnership structure.

Luthra & Luthra partner Vineet Aneja, who had re-joined his former firm from FoxMandal in Delhi one year ago, has resigned to look for more “entrepreneurial” opportunities.

Amarchand Mangaldas equity corporate partner Himanshu Narayan has resigned the firm to join Dua Associates in Delhi.

Amarchand Mangaldas has hired dual-qualified chartered accountant and lawyer DD Nageswar Rao as a partner in Delhi. Rao’s was formerly the India country head of tax at Siemens, with his over 20-year career also including similar roles at the Coca Cola India and Colgate.

The law ministry is considering setting up a law firm regulator with a code of conduct to govern law firms in order to end the “free environment without any regulations”, reported the Hindustan Times.

Luthra & Luthra has hired DSK Legal associate partner Deepak THM as a private equity and M&A partner in its growing Mumbai office, taking the total headcount to five partners.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Mumbai office has formalised its policies of long-term interships for students and articled clerks by making these subject to regular reviews in an attempt to put shorter internship programmes on an equal footing and attract a greater variety of law students.

Krishnamurthy and Co, which is branded as K Law, has opened up a new Delhi office and moved into a larger Mumbai office, as well as setting up an expansion path in Chennai and commencing construction on a larger Bangalore office.