Clifford Chance has promoted Indian passport holder and India-practice senior associate Sumesh Sawhney to partner in London.
Sawhney (pictured) joined Clifford Chance in late 2006 from Amarchand Mangaldas in Delhi where he was a partner, and has since focused exclusively on India-related corporate work.
He said: “It is a huge step forward for me both in terms of my responsibility and in terms of the India practice. India is a very key market for us and a very important part of our strategy from the firm’s perspective - I look forward to developing our India business to much greater heights.”
Sawhney had qualified as an Indian lawyer in 1992 from Punjab University Chandigarh’s faculty of law and took on in-house roles in two conglomerates before joining Amarchand in 2000, becoming a partner in 2003.
After he joined Clifford Chance in 2006 he gained the right to practice law in England and Wales after passing the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT).
He said that he had originally decided to move to London to gain experience in international markets and practices, although he hoped that he would one day be able to return to India if regulations allowed it.
“As far as my views of liberalisation are concerned I am not that hopeful of a timing of less than two to three years time,” Sawhney explained. “I hope that it happens, but fear it won’t happen so soon.”
Clifford Chance also made up a record 21 other partners this year following the major reshaping of its partnership following the credit crunch. The firm now consists of 560 partners.
Comments
P.S But really its a grt achivement!
to all the [...] indian oligarchs and unscrupulous government ppl opposing foreign law firms: may you [...]
He left Amarchand about 3 years back to join CC in a non-partner role on the understanding (I am sure) that he would become a partner in London (in those times, there were literally no Indian law firm - foreign law firm, lateral partner to partner movements). Anyone who thinks that he moved into a 'pure' associate role is quite wrong. Some of us know differently.
The financial crisis hit and his partnership was delayed. But now Sumesh is finally where he wants to and deserves to be. London partner, no less.
Congratulations and well done Sumesh.
The brilliant lawyers and legal professionals in India are always at the mercy of a home-operated sole proprietors - so called law firms - in India.
I hope the legislators and BCI shall liberalise this area too.
If this could be true, many brilliant and young professionals could be partners in such firms.
There are positives and negatives in the whole expereince. To begin with the negatives, you are likely to loose out on money (in a short term though) while your former colleagues experience rapid promotions. Also it is expensive to live overseas. Then, you would have to negotiate a steep learning curve here, not jjust in foreign laws, but also in drafting styles, precedents etc. Sometime it can be very difficult and you would have to give up any intellectual arrogance whatsoever. this process is easier if you are ready to be humble while unlearning and relearning basics of lawyering in a different country.
In terms of positives, I must admit that the gain in knowledge and skills of transaction management and the sheer opportunity to work with the industry experts (i.e. senior partners accross practicve streams) is what makes all of the effort of relocating overseas worth it.
Hope this helps you to some extent. I promise to reply further if a separate discussion opens up on this topic
Is it worth it - Giving up a cushy Indian firm job to embrace the uncertainty of working in the US/UK (uncertainty in terms of, you have no idea where you are headed). And (assuming a couple of years down the line you realize that US Biglaw or the magic circle is not working out for you) - and you decide to come back to India, would you consider it a compromise? Finally, how do Big Indian firms view people who have worked for a few years abroad? 7 years in India versus 5 years (india) plus 2 years (us/uk). the US/UK dude is cooler? Or is the 'averse to taking risks' 7 years dude in India cooler? - Cooler from the perspective of the Big Indian law firm. Kian, if you think we should take this discussion elsewhere, please let us know.
[Note, an easier way to communicate anonymously is to sign into your Legally India account or to create a new one, which has private messaging and instant messaging functionality. Just click the Community tab above to create an account in 2 minutes. -Kian]
It would be great if you could keep this dialogue public....gives us budding lawyers an interesting perspective about working in India v. abroad & will help us take a decision!! Thanks