The Delhi high court bench of justices RS Endlaw and Sanjeev Narula hearing the long-running dispute between Rajiv Luthra and Mohit Saraf, the two co-founders of L&L Partners, has ordered the Luthra to pay Saraf in compensation while Saraf could exit and set up his own firm, Bar & Bench has just reported.
We have reached out to both parties for comment.
Saraf said: “This is an interim relief. Final relief will be decided by the arbitration tribunal.”
According to B&B, the court held:
- Luthra would pay Rs 52 cr to Saraf as well as an irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee of Rs 25 cr for Saraf, as effective surety for an eventual and possible relief in the ongoing arbitration between them. Profit shares and other such details should also be decided in arbitration.
- Saraf should surrender any right to be reinstated to any of the L&L partnership firms, though talks with respect to how their shares in the litigation firm would be divided should and will continue.
- However, Saraf could start a new law firm (without the fetter of any non-competes for clients, fee-earners or staff); Saraf would be entitled to call himself as a former L&L partner but not include L&L or Luthra in the name of the new firm.
- The move of any data relating to any clients moving with Saraf should also be moved with him by L&L (though Saraf’s L&L email address should be blocked after Saraf had received the pay-off).
According to B&B:
The data of clients going to Saraf would be shared, he added. Further, he submitted that while Saraf can take credit for the work he has done, he cannot take credit for what the firm has done.
However, the Court responded, “It is difficult to draw lines like that. When you are Partners, everything you do is attributable to the firm.”
Comments
Leja tu kar satattar ishaare
Dil mera… muft ka!
https://youtu.be/KLQmV7Tpd_Y
[On a side note, I can imagine RL already trying to one up Saraf by paying bouncers to stand by ring side]
Chal ab ja ke affidavit bana...
Run along now chotu, there's a document for you to reformat.
Run along chintu, the senior advocates wants the list of dates and no stupid PRs on behalf of bhai.
Or are we just jealous that litigation lawyers get vacations while corporate slaves have to fill in their time sheets?
If you knew anything about litigation practice, you'd know that a list of dates, if done properly, is the golden document for any matter. Preparing it properly with reference to page numbers, annexures and all, knowing what's where at your tips, is no easy task. Suggest you try it, just don't panic.
As for Senior Counsel's, you're clearly ignorant to the fact that its the Clients who ask for seniors. And ftr, its not always that a senior is engaged. There are brilliant Counsels in law Firms (including L&L - yes!) who are more than capable of arguing themselves no matter the stakes. I've seen this first hand. Maybe you shouldn't use the same brush for everyone?
Screwing up on law on a daily basis? Have you ever read any of the judgments by our High Courts?
Taking adjournments? What's your source - Sunny Deol movies?
But I get your point. The entire legal profession is surviving because of your brilliant whetting skills alone.
Take a breath buddy, have a coffee (decaf).
100% of your documents contain at least 1 clause which can never be enforced in India.
100% of your transaction documents are pointless papers which never see the light of the day and come to use only during the process of transferring ownership (VC PE guys have board seat issues as well! wow! #Win - Maybe the Projects and CapMarks team with their 100s of pages of copy paste garbage do better?).
[i][b]#Burn[/b][/i]
Your competition should not be with the lawyers in Tiz Hazari who come to your rescue when you drink and drive or violate some other law, but your competition is with the Tehsil lawyers who don't argue in Courts. They only deal with the registry to expedite the registration of transfer documents. Is your job description closer to that of being their assistants? Giving them drafted documents so that they exploit their expertise and get the registrations done? On no! Maybe you don' know the difference between stamping and registration? Maybe that is the only law that you know? Who knows right!! #WeRespectEqualityofLaborThereisNoShameinbeinganAssistant #WeUnderstandbecauseWegetpaidPeanutsLikethem
[b]Relevance of your "drafting" - #DoAsDirected [/b]
At least 75% of all relevant terms in your contracts are negotiated by your clients who don't give a hoot about the remaining 25% which is not just irrelevant for them, but is also inconsequential. Those terms are there for you to assuage your ego. My friend kept harping about how creative she was in her SSHA, and I was like yeah? Did you replace Recital A with Recital B? Now she is not friends with me anymore. :-(
[b]Relevance of your "drafting" - #Joke[/b]
Don't feel bad about this - but how many of you used to include pandemic in a Force Majeure Clause before 2020? How many of you now include it (post pandemic)? Irrespective, consider this - Pandemic is a force majeure event which will be a valid and just exclusion almost always. Your writing it in a piece of paper does not matter.
[b][i]#SadStory[/i][/b]
100% of (at least) SAM and CAM lawyers sign retainership contracts where they don't negotiate at all. Shardul and Cyril will be the sole arbitrator / shall appoint the sole arbitrator? Seriously? That clause can never be enforced. BUT, how many times have you seen SAM or CAM being dragged to a civil court by their employee? Going to courts is not dependent on how good a contract is, it is always about the nature and wherewithal of parties. You get paid, be happy about it if you can find time for it.
Last I checked, you worked overtime without extra pay, had no holidays to yourself and were cribbing about being in a law firm to your friends and teammates.
[i][b]#Conclusion[/b][/i]
I am a PE VC lawyer. Fed up with the artificial deadlines. Office gossip used to keep me going. WFH has brought an end to that. No more chai sutta breaks because now I can have chai sutta while being on that boring call.
Have spent years in one of the most prominent law firms with one of the most prominent partners. Have not missed out on any increment or promotions yet. Have always received bonus at least at par with my peers.
Your arguments are hollow and without any substance whatsoever. Honestly, the last argument of yours further my point that the contracts and their drafters are useless.
Oh the irony
[img]https://media2.giphy.com/media/pKEufUXBqsLi8/200.gif[/img]
My bad. I wish my interns could proofread my LI comments too
You would not get it unless you see how the world really works.
Also, without getting into the merits of it - a tis hazaari lawyer definitely knows what an interim order is as opposed to a final order! Stop this unnecessary debate. Your "nego" won't hold well against "arguments".
That said, arrogance by either litigation lawyers or corporate lawyers only goes on to show limitation of sight - cause saath main raho aur paisa banao.
Tumto bade heavy driver nikle!
The headline could have also read "Court refuses Saraf relief to be reinstated in L&L". This would also have been misleading.
I am sorry to see what has come to pass.
For more than a decade it was a place of work;
But also a place of friendships, mentors, learning, living our professional lives.
The toxicity started in 2012;
Eat- what - you - kill models destroyed the happy camaraderie between folks.
The sycophancy started in 2012;
Aggression, one up man ship, and arrogance destroyed the culture of respect and meritocracy.
Most folks who prioritised ethics and relationships over blind rat races;
Slowly and quietly started trickling away from the firm.
Open drinking sessions at office till 3 am;
Rude, obnoxious, aggressive, toxic behavior all around.
I told you both Sirs - RKL & MS - before I left;
Don’t empower the unscrupulous folks so much.
They will destroy the place for good and leave you both high and dry;
They only want money and more power and will urge you both to war with each other.
My erstwhile home is gone now.
You can split, rebrand, rename, continue in part, re staff, re hire, pretend...do what you like.
But that place is no more for so many of us;
A gaping void for us.
For those who instigated the two owners; Go fill you coffers some more;
Stroke your ego some more;
Have some boot licking some more;
The firm just became hollow some more.
Heartbroken,
Luthra Alumnus.
Note : don’t go in to loops trying to figure who I side with between the two gentlemen. I side with none.
Tum kya lekar aaye the tum kya lekar jaoge
Train aakar chali jayegi
Tum platform par reh jaoge.
Sahi hai Bhidu.
For MS- almost entire Mumbai and the NLUJ partner from Delhi can be expected to go with him.
RKL - Not many from Delhi may leave him. However, he may really need to give equity to partners and good hike to his associates!
Mumbai: only Jlow-Bob's teams and Delhi: [...] partner and team along with some other irrelevant partner peeps.
Home is where the 8.30 am yoga sessions are organized. No way MS would be so considerate about our physical well-being.
On the other hand, there is another big man who not only has the potential to get the firms again at heights, but will also bring a humane touch.
MS: Bikash, Nipun, Avinash, Abir, Girish, Jay, Vaibhav K, Snigdhaneel, Sahil, Manmeet, Lokesh, Suyash, Gayatri, priyamvada, purvi, vikrant, Rohit, Satadru, Vivek, Akshay, pallavi, anshuman, kanchan, Rohan, Sumitra, Priyanka
Purvi sticks with Karan and therefore RKL
Arjun might side with MS
I can give plenty reasons for no one sticking with him. One is [...]
People recognised the trend over the years.
Why I say this is because, people who were on that infamous firm-wide Zoom call might know of MS having a very antagonistic relationship with some other Senior Partners not forming part of the corp partnership. MS' huge ego (without ascribing any value - negative or otherwise) seems too big to simply let that grouse go regardless of the sums of money he receives. Rumours amongst some teams of partners under the 'litigation' partnership trying to use this situation to grow and further their own career and bank balance (and understandably so) doing the rounds (or are they? :))
From: Mohit Saraf
Sent: Sunday, June 6, 2021 8:31 PM
To: [CLIENTS]
Cc: [...]@[...]
Subject: Delhi High Court Order - L&L Partners
Gentlemen/ Ma’am,
Trust you, your family and loved ones are doing well in these rather difficult and uncertain times.
As you may be aware, Rajiv Luthra & I had formed L&L Partners (formerly known as Luthra & Luthra) as a Partnership Firm way back in 1999.
While the world has been grappling with the pandemic, at L&L differences emerged between Rajiv and me particularly in relation to professionalizing the Firm in a time bound manner. I was in favour of distributing equity to our deserving young partners, something that I had been intending to do for the past 5 years. Our ideological differences began to grow wider as voices of dissent became louder and the impasse then took an unfortunate turn.
Rajiv tried to expel me from the Firm, removing my name from the L&L Partners website, disabling my email access and restricting my entry to the office by placing armed guards and bouncers at the office premises.
I moved to the Delhi High Court and the Court by its Order held Rajiv’s actions as illegal and reinstated me back as a Founding Partner in the Firm. A copy of the order is attached.
Thereafter, Rajiv went up in Appeal against the Order. Today, the Division Bench of the Hon’ble High Court directed Rajiv to pay me a sum of Rs. 52 Cr as an interim payment and by providing me with a Bank Guarantee for Rs. 25 Cr to cover his liabilities. Additionally, the Court was pleased to accord its consent to my starting a New Firm with Counsels and Clients of L & L Partners who are aligned with my vision. The High Court also allowed me to reach out to all my Clients to apprise them of this new Development.
I wanted to take the opportunity to share my vision for the proposed new Firm. The said new Firm would have multiple equity partners and decision making would be through a democratic process. I intend to cap my equity at 33% (which is my current ownership in L&L) and the rest 67% will be distributed to young, dynamic partners who are specialist in their area of practice. The unique point of this Firm would be that 100% equity would be owned by people who are hungry and working round the clock and that there will be no idle equity. To start, we will have offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
My present email id would cease to be operational going forward. For the interim, I am sharing my personal id i.e. [...]@[...] (also marked on the email). I will reach out to you very soon on the details of our new Firm together with the Co-ordinates and email addresses.
I am personally indebted to you for standing behind me in my hour of crisis.
As always, I would like to assure you of our best services, and look forward to your continued support, and staying connected.
Please feel free to reach out to me via email, WhatsApp or on my hand phone +91 [...] or [...].
Stay safe, stay well.
Best regards,
Mohit Saraf, Founder & Senior Partner, L&L Partners
Mohit Saraf | Senior Partner
M [...] T +[...
] D +91 11 [...]
Formerly Luthra & Luthra Law Offices
Due to the global COVID-19 situation and to contain the spread of the virus, we have temporarily closed our offices and have implemented remote working arrangements for our attorneys. Our attorneys will remain responsive to your needs and may be reached by email or mobile phone, as usual. Please bear with us in case of any inadvertent delays, as we transition to these alternate arrangements. Should you require any assistance, please reach out to the concerned lead counsel or relationship partner for your matter. If you are unable to reach the concerned attorneys you may email us at for any assistance.
20th Floor, Tower2, Unit A2, Indiabulls Finance Centre, Elphinstone Road, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel
Mumbai 400 013 India
1st & 9th Floors, Ashoka Estate, Barakhamba Road
New Delhi 110 001 India
www.luthra.com
No, thank you. Isn't this a bit insensitive, given the perfect gents lost by L&L: [quote]The unique point of this Firm would be that 100% equity would be owned by people who are hungry and working round the clock and that there will be no idle equity.[/quote]
Please see this and learn: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210518-how-overwork-is-literally-killing-us
@Kian - I'm assuming we are all permitted to use this platform to reach out to people. Sharing my latest client alert here in a few mins. Thanks
Shocking that he wants clients and lawyers to go with him if he is going to mislead them like this!
Also, why would any client be bothered about the equity holding of the law firm? Do people move from Cyril or Zia because they run fiefdoms?
Just stupid.
The partner in question is definitely hungry. Especially during dinner time. He works around (not round) the clock.
Also why does Saraf keep harping on "working round the clock"? I think he needs Gadhas, who just have to keep working hard under the instructions of his two blue-eyed boys, and not independent-minded intelligent partners.
Can someone please help me understand??[img]https://media2.giphy.com/media/5R0Bqbqs9QeyBiyWW5/200.gif[/img]
“Dear _________
L & L’s culture of being ‘one big family’ is something we always been proud of; something we held very dear and close to ourselves.
Some of you who have moved on to other organizations have and always will, have our blessings. Seeing you soar high in your professional lives will always make us happy and proud.
In the spirit of continuing to be a family; and always staying connected with ones another, we write to you to register yourselfs as a members of the L & L Alumni.
The L & L Alumni will experience a lot of funs through the several initiatives that we plans to host across the year. Once registered as a member of the L & L Alumni, you will receive details of every programs planned. We look forward to your active participations
Kindly click on the link to register yourself.
(__________)
L & L Team HR
Another revolt is brewing! This time against the status quo. There's still time to wake up and smell the coffee!
From: Rajiv Luthra
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2021 8:49 PM
To: All-Luthra & Luthra
Subject: Calm after the Storm - Back to the Future...
Importance: High
Dear Friends,
All of us stand at an interesting cross-road in our journey at L&L Partners. Smart and interested as you are, you already know and have your perspective on all that transpired in the Firm over last one year or so. I am, therefore, not going to burden and bore you with my narration of the story. However, just to reiterate, what you already perhaps know - during the course of the proceedings before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, Mohit proposed an interim settlement – terms were discussed and finalized. Resultantly, Mohit is no longer a part of the Firm as the interim settlement amount which I had agreed to pay, has been paid along with a Bank Guarantee as agreed upon. Mohit will be setting up his own practise as he has informed all of you and I wish him the best. My motive behind agreeing to an interim settlement was in the interest of protecting our Firm. Given all the uncertainties created by the ongoing pandemic etc., I wanted to ensure that the members of the Firm don’t have to deal with more discord and insecurity. I am attaching a copy of the orders dated 1st and 2nd June 2021 passed by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court for your convenience.
The wonderful lawyers and support staff who work with the Firm and the reputed clients that we have, are our pride and assets and none of them is our property/chattel. Accordingly, I have always maintained that our lawyers and our clients have their own thought process and free will and as such are entitled to choose their path, subject to mutual agreement(s) – just that this needs to be done in an honourable and agreeable manner. Accordingly, if any of you wish to move with Mohit, you have my blessings although I will be sorry to see you leave and the Firm will miss you. The Firm shall remain your friend and I shall personally always be there for you. I wish Mohit and everyone who chooses to go with him all the very best! Those who choose to remain with the Firm, I am happy and thankful that you are making that decision. As the captain of the ship, I will ensure that we dance in the rain regardless of the storm, and strive to live up to the faith reposed in me.
I am also happy to inform you that I have been and continue to be in regular touch with the leadership of a lot of our clients and they continue to repose their faith and commitment in us and it is for us now to ensure that we continue to offer them our services with excellence and in keeping with the highest ethical standards.
It has also been a source of great satisfaction that despite a tumultuous past year or so, I have regularly been approached by many well reputed (prospective) clients who are looking at our support for their new transactions – some of which, we have already commenced work on. As you may have noticed, from various conflict – check emails circulated in the past few months, we have already received some of the mandates and the work has started.
I am in the process of exploring various options regarding restructuring of our Firm in terms of developing governance models, equity models, transparent performance parameters, scale of operations and a definite career progression path for everyone who is part of L&L. A responsive and participative governance structure is what I envision. I have already taken certain steps in this regard as you may know.
Before I close, it is imperative that I speak about our policy for the distribution of equity benefits. Over the past year or so, an impression was sought to be created that equity benefits for deserving people could not be rolled out on account of my reticence. Nothing is further from the truth – and for this you do not need to take my word – just a review of the pleadings before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court would clear the picture.
I have always been ready and willing to distribute equity benefits and my only insistence has been setting up of transparent, merit based criteria for the same and a pari-pasu dilution of equity by the partners as per the deed – so as not to create another oligarchy in the firm. Even while the differences were playing out, I was working to achieve this. I do intend to share with all of you an elaborate equity benefit plan in the near future. Towards this end, I will be creating a pool of 25% of the firm’s profits (to begin with) starting 15th June 2021. All those entitled to equity benefits as per the new transparent policies of the firm, will take benefit of the same retrospectively with effect from 15th June 2021.
My best wishes and affection to all of you and your families. I am available, as always, round the clock for each one of you.
Here’s wishing you all a smooth sail forever!!
Warmest,
Rajiv
If you ever see this comment, this is so heart warming really. People can claim that this email is just merely out of pretense and to hold wind, however as a final year student who has interned in the firm earlier and has a call back in the future, I would like to iterate that L&L has been and will always be an aspiration for all us students who aspire to become a corporate lawyer. Irrespective of whether I join or not, all the very best for the firm!
PS: Before getting into a mud-slinging contest and be marked as a 'pet', I would like everyone to think how much the firm has done, how many good partners it has produced. We have to appreciate people where appreciation is due. You are free to judge. Cheers!
Respectfully,
Anonymous Law Student.
please read the judgement together with this headline. journalism !!!!! I rest my case.
From: Rajiv Luthra
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2021 5:31 PM
To: *****
Subject: Morning has Broken....
Importance: High
My dearest All,
I awoke this morning with a rush of thoughts in my mind, and I smiled at the realization that the worst is over. I smiled while remembering what our elders have always believed … that we are being looked after and nothing happens without reason. Today, I admit that I would never have been able to take certain difficult decisions on my own. This is when a higher power stepped in to ensure things unfolded the way they were meant to.
Every cloud has a silver lining, and while our days have been rather cloudy in the recent past, I see a silver lining in each of you. I am grateful for your presence, your loyalty, your belief in the Firm and for helping me emerge from these difficult times, a happier person.
THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY SOCKS…EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!
Letting bygones be bygones, I am extremely happy to inform you that operations at our Mumbai offices, which most of us have not been bullish about for the last 9 months, are normalizing. Keeping in line with our expansion plans, the Mumbai office has more than doubled in physical space this year. Where we occupied less than half of the 20th floor of our Indiabulls office, we now occupy the entire floor!
The Maharashtra government unfortunately has been vacillating on the new COVID protocol, and we are awaiting some clarity before re-opening, as safety is of utmost importance. As we ready ourselves to become “full-service”, members of the Mumbai office will be working in a new environment. This includes not only a larger space, but also new practice areas, newly hired lateral partners (some with their teams) and new personnel at the front office and in the support teams. As the hiring continues, it is time to gear up and go full throttle!
The Firm is committed to rolling out increments for FY 2019-2020 and 2020-21, along with applicable Bonuses. The promotions will be announced, and increments distributed as soon as appraisals and other relevant processes are concluded.
As challenging as working from home has been, and despite the scornfulness of COVID, the Firm has been fortunate to earn the confirmation of key clients’ continued relationships, proving that clients trust our ability to give them unparalleled legal advice. I see an upward trajectory in new work coming our way, which I am particularly excited about.
With the ghar wapsi announcement of our very own Abhishek Mathur, I will be making a few more exciting announcements, as soon as, they fructify, but for now, I would like to reiterate, that we are an exceptional team and have built a successful Firm over decades. I continue to have faith that we will weather any storm and come out brighter, stronger, fresher and more successful.
While one is inclined to say, “all this should never have happened” I am reminded of the words with which I started this message… that there is always some good in everything, even if it is not immediately apparent. With that, we cease looking back and turn our gaze to the future, ever ready to take this Firm to greater heights.
Thank you all again, for not only did you wait with me for the storm to pass, but you also taught me to dance in the rain!
Warmest always,
Rajiv
My advise to those still there: Just stay. Let Bikash go with Mohit - it never makes sense to jump from a cruising ship to a makeshift raft. You can always leave for the raft after a year if it proves its mettle in the choppy seas.