Advaita Legal lawyers Subodh Sadana and Ray Sharat Prasad - who were formerly partner and associate partner respectively at Seth Dua & Associates - have joined Khaitan & Khaitan as partners.
Sadana is a 2002 Delhi University graduate, who had begun his career at Titus & Co, followed by Fox Mandal Little and Kochhar & Co.
In 2007, he moved to Seth Dua & Associates, were he was made partner in 2009, joining Advaita in 2017 when co-founding partner Atul Dua moved and dissolved the firm.
Sadana specialises in corporate transactional, M&A and general corporate advice.
Prasad, a Delhi University graduate from 2004, had worked at SK Agarwal & Co from 2004, before joining Seth Dua in 2006. He became associate partner in 2010. He specialises in corporate M&A, real estate, hospitality, commercial contracts and environmental laws.
They are understood to have joined the firm on 1 May.
Senior partner Ashutosh Khaitan commented that their experience of having “worked for a wide range of clients both on the domestic and international front” would help in the firm’s “vision and policy of broad-basing and adding further depth to our team”.
Last year, the firm had promoted Prantik Hazarika to its partnership.
Earlier this week we had reported that Advaita partner Atul Dua, who had co-founded Seth Dua, was also in the process of leaving Advaita.
Comments
Advaita was always a sinking ship and the sole person responsible for this dire state of the firm is the former leader who moved out recently to pursue his personliased career goals. Under a mandate to make the firm a 100 lawyer firm in five years, he aggressively hired like hot pursuit. However, in this process he ended up not hiring stalwarts but white elephants who created an inverted pyramid in the firm (more seniors than juniors) and also ensured that the firm would not stay solvent (more salary costs less billing) for long.
Corporate is now closed, the turn of tax is next. A young partner there believes that he would be an exception. But only if he knew that ... All the best mate.
Major issue is that the firms are completely marred with compliance and confirming mentality and are not willing to challenge things however wrong they might be. This in the long run shall impact the questioning abilities as complying is always easier.
They only make strategies to get clients. Once the clients are converted they forget about the work to be done. Then in last moment will dump everything on the junior most and inexperienced individuals making the clients suffer. Most things are delivered without any checking whatsoever. But stamps of Partner/ Sr. Manager do exist as the same is a compliance to be followed.
Clients also accept whatever is served as either they have mandate from their international holdings to follow the diktats of these firms or they are themselves spellbound by the shiny PPTs and offices.
I must appreciate the good things - amazing PPT skills, learn some accounting principles and managing excel sheets where lawyers lack. Though, this will also depend on the team in which one is placed.
By my experience, I would suggest lawyers to join any BIG 4 only for a short stint to pick up the good things. Once learning is done, its time to say goodbye.