Luthra & Luthra has outbid Singaporean firms in a charity auction at a legal event in Singapore to secure the mock internship of English queen’s counsel (QC) and Essex Court Chambers tenant Toby Landau, according to Bar & Bench.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) has significantly underbid competitors Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) and Luthra & Luthra to win the final rounds of blind bidding for the mammoth strategic Air India disinvestment, quoting Rs 29.9 lakh ($46,100) in fees for what is expected to be a complex series of corporate M&A deals, said sources with knowledge of the bid.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM), Crawford Bayley, Luthra & Luthra, ALMT Legal, Trilegal, Hammurabi & Solomon and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) have applied to act as legal advisors on Air India’s share sale, reported the PTI.

Bangalore law firm MD&T Partners merged with litigation firm Equitas Legal on 1 October, to form a six-partner, 17 lawyer firm in the city.

Kochhar & Co Chennai-based partner Hufriz Wadia has joined AZB & Partners as counsel in Mumbai on 16 October.

In an online straw poll of foreign law firm India group partners we conducted, 15 out of 16 (94%) responded that opening an office in a special economic zone (SEZ) in India “would not be interesting for us under any circumstances”, casting doubt over the government’s current seemingly preferred approach to liberalise the Indian legal market by starting with SEZs.

Former Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) consultant and 2011 GLC Mumbai graduate Prateek Bagaria has started up law firm Singularity Legal.

Former Khaitan & Co Bangalore partner Abhilekh Verma, whom we had reported as leaving in July, is joining Kochhar & Co as a senior partner according to a press release from the firm.

Link Legal India Law Services (LLILS) promoted re-hired associate partner Milind Jha to partner in its corporate and projects practice.

Bharucha & Partners is merging with Arthe Law, the Delhi-headquartered firm created by the joining of hands in April between Abhishek Malhotra-founded TMT Law Practice and DPSA Legal, the disputes practice of former additional advocate general DP Singh.

Former Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas banking partner Niloufer Lam, who had left the firm amicably in April 2017, has joined the law firm ZBA as a partner.

Nihar Mody, the co-founding partner of Platinum Partners and head of the Mumbai office, has retired at age 51 last week.

K Law partner Abhishek Shinde has joined AZB & Partners as a corporate partner in Delhi, reported Bar & Bench.

Former Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas partner Nikhil Naredi, who resigned around April 2017, will join Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas soon, according to several authoritative sources, although nothing has been signed yet pending expiry of Naredi’s near-six months of gardening leave from his former firm to date.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) appeal against the AK Balaji judgment of the Madras high court against 31 foreign law firms has been tentatively scheduled to finally happen on 20 November 2017, with the Supreme Court registry giving the green light in a 3 October order (see below), noting that all defects in service had now been cured.

Juris Corp has hired J Sagar Associates (JSA) principal associate Pratish Kumar as a partner in its finance practice in Mumbai.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (LKS) equity partner of 17 years S Seetharaman left the firm today to pursue other interests while continuing to practise independently.

Trilegal has voted to admit into its all-equity partnership counsel Ramakant Rai in its corporate practice and Nayantara Nag in the projects practice, effective 1 October.

Advaita Legal, the best friend law firm of Big Four consultancy KPMG, has hired Atul Dua, the erstwhile co-founding partner of Seth Dua & Associates.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has promoted 11 of its fee-earners to salaried partner level, with the majority of promotions taking place in the corporate practice.