Vaish Associates has recruited two indirect tax law practitioners from Lakshmi Kumaran & Sridharan in a bid to expand its indirect tax law practice.
Lakshmi Kumaran senior consultant Vishwanath Shukla and senior associate Shashank Shekhar have joined Vaish as senior associates.
Shukla is now heading Vaish’s excise and custom tax department and Shekhar is a part of the firm’s service tax department. Both have between six and eight years of experience in the areas of excise, customs and service tax.
Shukla joined that firm in 2002 and Shekhar in 2006 and they both left to join Vaish Associates in September.
Vaish Associates is one of the largest firms in direct tax matters with over 40 lawyers and around 15 lawyers active in the indirect tax field.
Lakshmi Kumaran & Sridharan is one of the largest indirect tax specialist law firm practices in India, with around 75 indirect tax staff in its Delhi head office according to a source.
Sources have confirmed that the two firms were close to merging in April 2008 but that the merger fell through.
The firms declined to comment on the reasons of the break-down in talks, which at the time were greeted with interest by the tax advising community.
Vaish’ direct tax practice team in Delhi is headed by three partners: O P Vaish, Vinay Vaish and Ajay Vohra.
Its indirect tax team was started in 1994 with Shammi Kapoor as its head.
The team is understood to currently be engaged in a study group formed to evaluate Goods and Service Tax (GST) proposed to be implemented in 2010 by the Government.
GST is likely to come out with rates that are revenue neutral, creating a tax applicable on both a national and state level, which will lead to synchronisation of service tax and VAT, as well as the abolition of taxes like octroi, local area development tax and other taxes of a similar nature.
The two firms and hires declined to comment when contacted.
AZB & Partners has also recently hired an indirect tax partner in Delhi from consultancy KPMG, expecting to target the GST-related workstream.
In August Vaish has also expanded into the competition space with the hire of former Competition Commission of India (CCI) registrar M M Sharma.
Comments
nevertheless, vaish has made a good move and it is also counted as one of the best tax firms in india !!
@2 no comments on your comment.....
1) The claims made by Tax Man @1 remain undisputed...at least so far in the discussion.
2) @3-"there are many great lawyers who come not from 1 of the so-called "top 3".
True. But the fact that a firm which claims itself to be 1 of the best firms does not have even 1 from these aforementioned schools dfntly requires strong justification
@4-"i think merits and level or knowledge of the students should be an important factor."
True again. But are you trying to say that students from the said schools lack "merit" and "level of knowledge"
LKS pays a mnthly salary of 40 grands to new associates as compared to 1 lakh by top notch firms.
Dont tell me that you would not have taken the latter (if offered) because you believe that they "pay way beyond any level a reasonable man would reasonably pay"
Clearly yours is a case of sour grapes!
It doesnt matter where you study, anyone can be a good lawyer; in fact most brilliant lawyers of the previous generation never set foot in your so-called "top 3".
when you say "there are many great lawyers who come not from one of the so-called "top 3"" and you also said "in fact most brilliant lawyers of the previous generation never set foot in your so-called "top 3"".
Uhh!!! I would like to draw to your attention that these great lawyers didn't study from the "so-called top-3" because the "so called top-3" weren't established at that time. I think in the times to come most of the "great lawyers" would be from the "so called top-3". Now please don't make a list of "great lawyers" now and waste your time, cause "great lawyers" is a relative term.
Please don't admonish the fact that majority of the students from the "so called top-3" are really good.
on the contrary, there is no dispute to the fact that top law school students are groomed well, bt it would unfair to give them priority over other law students....
in a nutshell, knwledge prevails over mere brand name !!
"Talent can come from anywhere"
That is exactly the point. If you really believe in that then that should be reflected in the diversity of your workforce.
How does joining any firm makes any difference? For most of it, joining a bi frim is simply an opportunity one should be grateful about.
People are still stuck at salaries and its comparisons. Law and its practice in the long run does not amount to a certain pay at the start but what you have made of your life at the end of it with all your experience. Some may start with less money and some with more. Nonetheless does not give anybody any right to start discriminating law schools at salary level. Thats just absurd.
Also, one has completely lost track of whats going on in litigation and what new lawyers or established lawyers are achieving everyday.
Kian-if possible, turn focus towards litigation as well. It deserves equal attention, if not more.
And to everybody on salary discrimination and law school rat race debate, its time to grow up!
Hi All,
I have followed this site and all the comments to each of the articles/ posts, since its inception and have been a silent spectator taking in all the various view points. One issue that has got caught in the cross hairs of many posts is the NLUs vs non NLU colleges. To me this is a tad disturbing. Let’s get one thing straight, there is no checklist that one can tick off to say that “x” person is a great lawyer. It takes different skill sets to make a good lawyer and a synthesis of skill sets to grow a team.
For all the NLU graduates thinking that they are the cat’s whiskers and that by simply getting into an NLU by passing a test they have the sole right to brag that they are better than the rest – answer me this, did any of the senior partners of the big firms (im not taking names) graduate from an NLU??? These are the people that assess your skills and pay your salaries!
And for those from the non-NLU colleges, get a life and stop complaining. End of the day everyone has to work their ass off and deliver results.
While I have seen that a fresh NLU graduate is easier to deploy (if I may use the term:-)) on the field, seldom do all of them make good team leaders. The difficulty is in making a person unlearn a certain line of thought and re-learn a different method. On the other hand, I have found that non-NLU students to be more receptive to ideas. One needs to learn to adapt .Also to grow as a team, you have to learn to combine various skill sets, which may necessarily require that ppl from various universities to put their heads together and get the desired result.
My views on the above are based on my experience of managing a mid-sized all practice law firm. For those interested, I may have graduated from NLSIU or from any other college.
Best regards
Assuming Senior Partner to mean an Equity Partner, I have listed below, a FEW such names:
> Mr. L. Viswanathan - NLSIU
> Mr. Aswath Rau - NLSIU
> Ms. Leena Chacko- NLSIU
I’d request Kian to help me on this.
Also, there are a lot of partners of 'big firms' (few, if not most - will, I'm confident, become Senior Partners in due course) who graduated from NLSIU e.g. 14 out of 40 odd partners of a leading law firm graduated from NLSIU.
While I agree that solely by virtue of graduating from one among NLUs, one does not become a good lawyer and one should definitely not brag about being better than others, fact remains that many NLU graduates have done really well in law firms- Indian as well as foreign. Also, in terms of providing exposure to (a lot of) ‘skill sets’, NLUs are way ahead of other law colleges/ law schools.
Interestingly the 3 ppl u have named have all graduated from NLSIU. I would also add V. Umakanth to the list. but the point is that based on NLSIU graduates' credentials how do NUJS/ NALSAR/ NLIU jump on the bandwagon without a track record.
Also notwithstanding the outstanding ppl named, I was talking about CS, SS of AMSS, RL of L&L, CR of DA, JS and BD of JSA, etc.
Then lets talk about senior counsels and senior AoRs who have been moulding the law of this Country for ages.
The point that i was making is that , just by a tag of NLU, one does not automatically become a great or better lawyer than others. Firms recruit by the dozens for certain specific reasons and such recruitment has a managment rationale. The mistake that most students/ graduates make is "aah ive gotten in an NLU at age 18 after completing my 12th, it is ordained that im a great lawyer and better than those in other colleges" .. this is what is a "tad disturbing".
We seem to be on the opposite sides of the same boat:-)
Nandan Nelivigi (White & Case)
Murali Neelakantan (A&P, Ashurts, Khaitan)
Jatin Aneja (AMSS)
Karan Singh (Trilegal)
Rahul Mathan (Trilegal)
Sawant Singh (Phoenix Legal)
Sajan Povayya (Povayya and Povayya)
I would also add V Umakanth to that list. Isnt it interesting that the ppl that we have named are all NLSIU graduates?. I can also reel out names of their contemporaries from other colleges, that are doing equally well.
So the question that begs an answer is how do the other colleges jump on the bandwagon based on the credentials of a few NLSIU graduates. PLs note that this is not to say that the other colleges can not and will not produce great lawyers, neither does not mean that the other colleges also can not and will not!!
Notwithstanding the outstanding ppl named, when i wrote senior partners, i was referring to SS and CS AMSS, JS and BD of JSA, BV of AZB, AB of AZB etc etc and not to forget the Senior counsels and senior lawyers who have been moulding the laws of the coutry for ages.
The point that i was making is that a student/ graduate of a NLU at age 18 is thinking that as I have gottein into an NLU iam ordained to be a great lawyer. There is yet a long way to go and a lot to learn and achieve. Law firms recruiting from NLUs by the dozens has a well thought out management rationale.
There is enuff space for all ppl to turn into great lawyers, but greatness comes with time and wisdom. Bottom line : dont fool urself that just because u have gotten into a law college NLU or non NLU u are great or a dufus. a 2-3 hr entrance test does not decide that. Work ur ass off!! thats it
As far as law universities other than NLSIU are concerned, I guess we should wait for another four or five years before comparing them with NLSIU which has been in existence for much longer time.
Your usage of 'senior partner' seems vague to me - you have chosen only founder partners and promoter partners (i.e. descendants of founder partner(s)) if I may call them so, in your list of senior partners. If setting up law firms is a relevant parameter, there are several NLSIU graduates who've founded and are running reputed law firms.
partners coz students from the earliest batches would be in their late twenties or early thirties only!
And while graduating from an NLU is not a guarantor of success it gives you
all that comes with a top notch educational institution: great crowd, good faculty, infra, resources, rigorous course structure, internships etc.
I personally feel that passing out from NLS has some comparative advantages in terms of the curriculum, courses and the manner of teaching and above all, the involvement of faculty and the committment of the students and teachers.
The discussion on whether all pass outs from the top schools would turn out to be great lawyers is very subjective and not necessarily true always, but at the same time, the results are for everyone to see. It, in fact, depends on the students, their aptitude and committment and as Star Cricketer Kapil Dev had once said : The success depends on 3 Ds which are : Discipline, Dedication and Determination.
Now coming to the NLS people in tax field. It actually depends on the aptitude. The passing out from NLS only brings you to one level and thereafter, it is upto the students and their sincerity. L&S definitely is the best law firm in Indirect Tax laws and provides a very good exposure both for the litigation as also for non lit. This experience really helps and there are many examples of this...ex L&S who are really doing well and the credit is to the foundation laid there in L&S.
Shekhar Vyas.
Advocate
09810568146.