Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has hired Sameer Chugh as Delhi-based corporate and technology, media & telecommunication (TMT) and regulatory partner.
He is currently group general counsel at Bharti Enterprises until 30 June and will join Cyril Amarchand on 1 July. He had taken over as group GC at the telecoms giant in 2019, after having worked there since 2014 as a director legal.
Chugh said: “I am excited to return to private practice and enter into the new phase in my career.”
He had been in-house since 2001, following a three-year stint at Kochhar & Co following his graduating with an LLB from SLS Pune in 1997 (see full CV below)
According to the firm:
Mr. Chugh has been involved in many cross-border M&A and had managed mid to large-sized law departments as part of his inhouse roles. He has more than 30 billion dollars of transactions to his experience throughout his career. He has also worked as a General Counsel of NCR Corporation and helped the company in setting up their manufacturing plant in Pondicherry. He was the General Counsel of BT Group in India before moving to London as Head of Legal and Commercial doing significant transactions across the globe. He returned to India as the General Counsel of the Telecom Business and the Global head of legal for M&A of Essar Group. Mr. Chugh has also worked as the General Counsel of the Cummins Group in India before taking up the Director – Legal & Regulatory position in Bharti Airtel.
Managing partner Cyril Shroff commented: “Sameer is a well-respected lawyer, his background and breadth of experience align very well with firm’s vision and overall growth strategy in corporate practice and also in the TMT and regulatory space.”
Mr. Chugh has completed his Law, majoring in Company Law and Criminal Law, from Symbiosis Society’s Law College, Pune. He also holds a Masters in Marketing Management from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune and MSc in Telecom Business from University College of London, London, UK.
Comments
- getting investigated and raided by ED over Nirav Modi "advisory" (there's a lot of nasty stuff that was done to Krill Shroff to get him to stop masquerading as Nirav's attorney that I won't name but its public knowledge)
- doing a 180 degree reversal on the Chanda Kochar opinion the moment the indian government and board decided to jettison her. In other words ditching a client to keep the ICICI pipeline flowing
- the ILFS mess, conflicts of interest, government directors filing complaints against CAM in NCLT, giving opinions to the former CEO to siphon off properties and enrich himself
- CAM getting hauled up for conflict of interest in Thiruvananthapuram airport privatization and finally issuing a feeble clarification.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/law-firm-denies-conflict-of-interest/article32422325.ece
I don't recall hearing such news about AZB, SAM, Trilegal or JSA. Even a derided firm like Luthra has more ethics and integrity than CAM.
https://law.asia/caught-firing-line/
A battle between bidders for a bankrupt edible oil maker, Ruchi Soya, has brought to the fore a situation where a law firm had allegedly acted for two parties with dissimilar interests. The law firm in question, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), is the legal counsel to the resolution professional overseeing the Ruchi Soya process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
Lawyers at the firm had allegedly also advised one of the two bidders, Adani Wilmar. CAM had later reportedly given up the Adani brief after the opposing bidder cried foul.
Of CAM, although CAM had clearly denied it.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/tech/ites/law-firm-hired-to-assist-infosys-on-corp-governance-may-have-conflict-of-interest/amp_articleshow/57116212.cms
Not saying that CAM is the best andby all means, you must ignore the deals and achievements because they would do little to serve your bias.
As for ethics and integrity... at least CAM isn't making its people pay from their own pocket because the equity lalas want their pockets full and have implemented a draconian compensation policy during pandemic times- which is the case in one of the references you cited.
Easy to see the bad and ignore the good. Especially when you are jilted (allegedly).
https://www.latestlaws.com/latest-news/cbi-continues-its-investigation-against-cyril-amarchand-mangaldas-law-firm-in-pnb-scam/
And of course any M&A transaction AZB Delhi and other firms handle.
Will be interesting to see how he makes the transition from giving work to getting work and delivering work to the expectations of other GCs.
The hiring of the so called bureaucrats and GCs is developing sector specialisation. Look up how their partners are posed and trams developed- there is a growing sector element to it.
Thats the next phase, mode and avenue of growth. CAM has identified it and seems to be working on it. A SAM or a KCO will eventually follow the footseps. Trilegal, AZB dont have this issue now given their relative size. But they will follow in 5 years.
Wait and watch. Ahead of the curve or not will only be proven in retrospect.
Separately- whether successful or not, CAM does have the balls to take up many 'firsts'. Most eventually follow.
Side note- they should start paying better else they will end up issuing LPC certificates to associates joining other firms.
I know it is very difficult to look beyond spite and hate but do try to search far and look yonder... you may just be surprised. Question is.... are you willing to look beyond your own reservations??
Wish you all the best. You could have chosen a better medium though (personal choice).