Former Link Legal India Law Services employment law partner Raunak, whom we had reported in June to have resigned from Link Legal, is in the process of starting a new law firm.

The firm will go live from 1 October under the name Avitr Legal with a team of three associates, with an office in Noida.

Avitr will be focusing on three verticals namely corporate, employment and real estate, though its primary focus would be in employment.

“The initiative is primarily based upon the fact that there are very few firms in the country specialising in employment laws and I see a significant demand in the market (both domestic and international) with respect to the said area of law,” said Raunak.

“In fact, I have come across a good number of foreign law firms and companies who struggled to identify an Indian firm specialising in employment laws. This is very unlike other geographies like the USA and Europe, where there is no dearth of such specialised boutique firms.”

He added that Avitr may also be able to “add a few innovative products to the bucket” that most of the Indian firms that had an employment law offering were “not selling actively”. His long term objective would be to build a reputation and brand in the employment niche, though the firm would also service clients on corporate and real estate mandates.

Raunak, a 2008 ILS Pune graduate, had joined DH Law in 2011 in Delhi, moving to Link Legal in Gurgaon after the two firms merged in November 2017.

Link Legal commented at the time of his departure that he was taking a break for health reasons, but the firm would continue engaging him as an independent counsel.