‘Great marker’: IndusLaw promotes all-women quartet to partner + 13 associates (also mostly women!)

Friday, 12 April 2019 By Legally India Law firms

Sinha, Varghese, Banerjee, Sital (l to r) make Indus partnership

IndusLaw has promoted four of its lawyers to partnership, as well as four to principal associates and nine to senior associate, according to its press release.

Senior partner Suneeth Katarki commented in the release: “One of the joys of building an institution is seeing people grow and evolve personally and professionally. This year it’s particularly satisfying to see so many women climbing the ladder of professional growth and excellence.”

Senior partner Avimukt Dar added: “We are delighted to note that all the Partners, 75% of the Principal Associates and nearly 90% of the Senior Associates promoted this year across India are women. This is a great marker for the firm and the legal services industry overall.”

This all-women partnership round will do wonders for what had until now been a bit of a skewed gender ratio in Indus’ partnership of 31 partners, of whom only 4 were women. This latest promotion now grows IndusLaw to 36 partners (with 8 women - or 22%) and 156 fee-earners, including partners, across four offices.

New partners

Jinni Sinha (Delhi-Corporate - 2006 CLC University of Delhi). Specialises in mergers & acquisitions.
Divya Varghese (Delhi-Corporate - 2008 HNLU Raipur). Specialises in venture capital & private equity.
Tanu Banerjee (Bengaluru-Corporate - 2008 SLS Pune). Specialises in corporate & commercial and media & entertainment law.
Anubha Sital (Delhi-Corporate - 2009 Delhi University law faculty). Specialises in mergers & acquisitions and corporate & commercial.

New principal associates

Sowmya Kumar (Bengaluru-Employment)
Shreya Suri (Delhi-Competition and Corporate & Commercial)
Ishwer Upneja (Delhi-Litigation & Dispute Resolution)
Pankhuri Bhardwaj (Delhi-Litigation & Dispute Resolution)

New senior associates

Niyati Bhatt (Delhi-Projects)
Shruti Barua (Delhi-Corporate)
Sabrina Afroze (Delhi-Projects)
Vaishnavi Rao (Delhi-Litigation & Dispute Resolution)
Nikita Hemmige (Bengaluru-Corporate)
Anantha Krishnan (Bengaluru-Corporate)
Ayshwarya Chandar (Bengaluru- Litigation & Dispute Resolution)
Anindita Ganguly (Mumbai-Corporate)
Pooja Dadoo (Mumbai-Corporate)

Comments

@Ishwer 12 Apr 2019, 12:59

+1 -1

"Ishwer" is spelled wrongly as "Ishwar" on B&B.

kianganz 12 Apr 2019, 13:04

+13 -0

Thanks for the, umm... feedback? :)

@Ishwer 12 Apr 2019, 14:10

+1 -0

Haha. It was an inside joke (on B&B). Though the question is how you got it right. Must have been the same press release from Indus. Or B&B made a mistake in copy-pasting!

Guest 12 Apr 2019, 13:17

+3 -2

Can we have a law school rankings by partner promotion? I think this is more important than placement salary rankings, because what matters in life is how you make use of opportunities rather than the opportunities itself. I think CLC and SLS perform better than many NLUs here, which may explain why SLS was ranked highly in NIRF.

Guest 12 Apr 2019, 14:17

+9 -1

One may argue that the institution's primary job is to ensure that you get these opportunities. At some point of time, you have to have it in you to succeed in life. And I keep saying this in multiple threads, why this obsession with rankings? I assure you, most of the partners have mostly forgotten where they graduated from a decade ago, at least to the point of it not making much of a difference in real life.

Guest9871 12 Apr 2019, 13:38

+2 -13

Lol..please don't compare symbi to top NLUs. They have mcqs for exams and (officially) monetary fines to escape attendance requirements.

SLS 12 Apr 2019, 16:37

+17 -1

So assuming that writing long answers to subjective questions is somehow a better examination pattern... It appears that having read up for mcqs hasnt stopped SLS graduates making it to the top.

Guest9871 14 May 2019, 21:21

Troll

Well.. As much as I appreciate and laud the fact that symbi grads are making it to partnership etc, one must see that this is in induslaw. A place where people from NLS or nalsar wouldn't even want to intern

MS Del 26 Jan 2021, 09:29

+0 -0

You guys are bookworms and lack intelligence and practicality. Symbians are far smarter.

Nice 12 Apr 2019, 13:58

+8 -1

Well done Indus! Good to see a growing firm diversifying in this manner. More power to all the promotees!

Nice2 12 Apr 2019, 19:31

+8 -0

Indus really seems to be at the top of its game right now! Tops the list of firms to watch out for.

Congrats to all the women power! Kudos.

Why 12 Apr 2019, 16:48

+2 -1

Kian - any reason why graduation years of the PA and SA promotees are left out?

@ 12 Apr 2019, 19:20

+15 -0

Congrats Tanu!!! So well deserved!!!

Ex junior 13 Apr 2019, 19:27

+4 -0

Worked with her in a previous firm! She is amazing to work with and learn from - if you can put in the hours though.
So happy for her!

Fan! 14 Apr 2019, 16:50

+2 -0

One of the best mentors one can get. Super nice human being :)

Question 13 Apr 2019, 03:33

+3 -0

Indus ka salary-equity partners split kya hai?

Bengaluru 14 Apr 2019, 08:56

+1 -5

No one is equity other than the founders. It's a pure eat what you kill.

Another 14 Apr 2019, 09:24

Kian can u find out if is this true? It seems unlikely as ppl generally leave in such setups

NDA 14 Apr 2019, 09:51

That cant be true. Kartik Ganapathy joined from NDA so technically not a founder. He can definitely not be without equity.

Ex-Insider 14 Apr 2019, 11:55

The equity is with Suneeth, Katta, Kartik, Dani and Dar – guess Raghavan no longer holds equity. Rest all are non-equity.

Since most partners are laterals and have a book, the eat what you kill works. The question is how will they (and who will) feed the home-grow partners made up over the last couple of years.

The firm has some fault lines, such as opaque decision making etc., but I hope they can sort those out issues and grow.

Outsider 14 Apr 2019, 12:46

So are these new partners home grown or not? Where do they fit?

Insider 14 Apr 2019, 13:37

Guess they will have to generate work/get the senior partners to refer them work or suffer reduction in bonus

Outsider 14 Apr 2019, 14:18

Okay. So they are not homegrowns? In any case - Do they treat homegrowns differently than those who are not?

Ex-Insider 14 Apr 2019, 14:55

All firms treat homegrowns differently. So does Indus and that too very apparently. The homegrowns can kill, not-kill, do whatever they want. Its not the same for laterals - be it partners or associates. The decision making is opaque like I said. Let's just say "nepotism" isnt restricted to bollywood, its everywhere :)
But in the long run, it doesnt matter.

Inside edge 15 Apr 2019, 01:23

This is very exaggerated. My boss is a lateral & he seems to be never bothered by these things. I’ve never heard him complain or even show frustration.

Ex-Insider 15 Apr 2019, 07:40

Ofcourse he wont complain to you! He is your boss.

Alias 15 Apr 2019, 01:20

Bad spot for the partners to be in who dont have a book of their own

Another 14 Apr 2019, 13:18

Don’t know much abt Indus internally but this model is very surprising

Outsider 14 Apr 2019, 14:19

Indeed, it is. And if true - then not sure if there is much to celebrate for these new partners :)

Another 1 15 Apr 2019, 11:07

Obviously they are not lateral partner hires, since they have been 'promoted'. In their previous role therefore they must be PA/APs. Kaunse PA/AP ke pass apna book hota hai bhai? PAs/APs are busy executing work for others.

@Ishwer Upneja 13 Apr 2019, 15:31

I love you!! - Japani

TrumTrum 13 Apr 2019, 17:15

+5 -1

@Kian - Why is every one suddenly going the women - women way? Not just Indus but some other firms are also specifically pointing out how many women are getting promoted.
I am sure all women are promoted for their merit. And merit has nothing to do with the gender.

kianganz 14 Apr 2019, 09:36

In part, it's a sign of the times of increasing sensitivity around such issues. In part, perhaps, it's also our 'fault', in that we have been regularly pointing out and collecting male to female partnership ratios and promotions at firms for years now (as is also common internationally in legal publications).

Statistically and theoretically, partnership ratios could be roughly 50/50 men to women if the profession hadn't been dominated by men for so long. The fact that at a firm 100% of new partners in one year are women is therefore pretty unusual, and points towards a firm having a strong pipeline of female senior lawyers who are eligible for promotion.

That deserves to be pointed out and also celebrated, I think.

Ex-IL 14 Apr 2019, 12:12

Absolutely agree. It is something to celebrate, and like they said not just for Indus but generally for the fraternity.
I was at Indus briefly, and despite everything else, the place is truly free from gender bias. Something that a lot of firms/organisations are unable to achieve. The senior /founding partners of IL really do deserve credit for this.

Thoughtful 15 Apr 2019, 07:58

Agreed that this is an issue that needs to be highlighted and celebrated (where relevant). However, Kian you should consider doing a report on the ratio of male and female entrants into law firms and the subsequent road to partnerships. If you take 1991 as a cut-off (the year the first NLS Bangalore recruits joined firms), I would think that:

1. More women than men join law schools.
2. More women than men join law firms.
3. The partner ratios are entirely out of whack when you consider 1 and 2.

It would be a good idea to do a more detailed report on why this happens.

Intrigued 16 Apr 2019, 07:28

Yes, this would be a fantastic study and I, for one, would be very interested in the results. But because of the dismal figure it would publicly cut, I don't know if most firms would be that keen in such a study!

Curio 14 Apr 2019, 09:10

Who is the managing partner at Indus?

Insider 14 Apr 2019, 12:50

There is no designated managing partner. All equity partners have defined roles - and are in sync on that. But largely - Suneeth, Katta and Kartik oversee Bangalore and Hyd; Dani and Dar look after Delhi. And bombay is well I guess looked after by all equally.

Jklz 14 Apr 2019, 13:54

Don't think they have such a post

abcd 14 Apr 2019, 16:34

+0 -1

What is the retainer fee range at Indus? How comparable are they to Tier 1 firms?

Hmmm 14 Apr 2019, 17:00

https://www.bcgsearch.com/article/900047329/21-Reasons-Why-Being-a-Large-Law-Firm-Partner-Is-More-Difficult-Than-Being-an-Associate/

Guest 1 Dec 2019, 11:03

How difficult is it to switch from a small/mid-size law firm to a Tier 1?
How many years of working at said small/mid-size would it take someone from a private law school to enter laterally as an associate at a Tier 1? What disadvantages do associates who enter Tier 1s laterally face?

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