Phoenix Legal has shut down its Nariman Point and Lower Parel Mumbai offices and taken a bigger Churchgate office in place of both in the city.

“We have really located our office in a nice part of town and consolidated our two offices into a larger space to allow for growth,” said Sawant Singh, Phoenix co-founder and Mumbai banking and finance partner, about the 4,000 square feet space. “It is a much larger office – double the size of the previous offices.”

The firm has 25 lawyers in Mumbai including Singh and two partners but excluding other staff, and Singh explained that the idea behind the move was to grow the firm’s headcount.

“We are thinking about our more sophisticated and larger client base - institutional clients who have a particular expectation from your infrastructure. As opposed to having a couple of mid-sized offices in different parts of town, it is better to have all our services under one roof. It is logistically easier to meet partners who are handling different practice areas and there are sometimes multiple parties who like to congregate together for a closing for a significant transaction,” he commented.

In addition to the larger meeting zone and sophisticated location (Lower Parel was “fast becoming a media and entertainment hub”, he said), the office also enjoys the advantage of “good connectivity” to most parts of the city according to Singh.

The firm had opened its Nariman Point office – the second in the city – in August 2011 after hiring former Hariani & Co partner Siddharth Hariani as a corporate partner in Mumbai. Phoenix Mumbai litigation partner Jyoti Singh was heading up the Nariman point office which had a total seating space of up to 15 staff.

Photo by Kashmiris