Luthra corporate-white-collar partner Alina Arora resigns for ‘career break’

Saturday, 30 November 2019 By Legally India Law firms

Luthra loses Alina Arora, possibly to career break
Luthra loses Alina Arora, possibly to career break

L&L Partners Delhi-based partner Alina Arora resigned from the firm yesterday.

She had been at Luthra & Luthra, as the firm was then known, since 2008 and was part of the firm’s corporate commercial and its anti-corruption and compliance teams. Correction: She had joined Luthra in 2001.

She is a 1998 Delhi University (DU) LLB, with a 1995 DU History BA, and an 2003 LLM in international economic laws from Warwick.

L&L managing partner Rajiv Luthra commented to Bar & Bench yesterday: “[Comment withdrawn by firm]”.

Arora did not respond to several requests for comment since last week, however, senior partner Mohit Saraf released the following joint statement yesterday following our request for further comment:

Alina Arora: “After 18 very exciting and rewarding years with L&L Partners I have decided to take a career break. It has been a great journey and I am taking with me very fond memories of my mentors, friends, colleagues and my team members… all of whom have played a very significant role in my professional life.”

Mohit Saraf: “Alina has had a long innings with the Firm and I wish to thank her for her valuable and dedicated contributions. She has decided to take a career break. We will miss her and wish her well for all her future endeavours.”

We have not been able to independently confirm whether she has resigned for personal reasons or a career break (which seems to be the ‘safe’ default reason for resigning at most firms these days), or whether she has any plans to be joining another firm.

Update 13:59: We have spoken to Arora, who confirmed that she was definitely taking a career break after 18 years of working.

L&L’s corporate team has had a steady trickle of resignations over the last few years, with partner Vishwanath Pratap Singh having left in April (eventually going to Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas after a break); Singh was the seventh partner to leave Luthra’s corporate practice since 2016.

partner movespremium contentL&L PartnersAlina Arorapartner hires

Comments

Aryabhatta 30 Nov 2019, 06:00
+7 -1
Stop blindly copying from barandbench. Alina's statement mentions she worked for 18 years at Luthra. 2008+18 would be 2026. It's clear she joined around 2001 and not 2008. She probably made partner in 2008.
kianganz 30 Nov 2019, 06:18
+2 -0
Thanks, that sounds right - have added a correction.
FR 30 Nov 2019, 09:33
+1 -0
Who's next?
teapot short and stout 30 Nov 2019, 13:19
+9 -7
only 7 partner exits in 3-4 years? wow
so is this a storm in teacup about luthra
[PT] 30 Nov 2019, 13:24
+1 -0
I am next!
Guest 30 Nov 2019, 14:38
+1 -1
Bharucha calling
ex bharucha 2 Dec 2019, 04:52
+0 -0
why would she commit hara kiri
Best 30 Nov 2019, 14:41
+12 -10
Why does L&L even exist now ?
BMW Waala 30 Nov 2019, 15:39
+32 -0
The farmhouse needs to be paid for.
Salman khan 30 Nov 2019, 18:39
+20 -19
L&L is still the Dabang of law firm practice. Institutions doesn't get affected by people coming and going. Power to you L&L.
Guest 1 Dec 2019, 03:19
+0 -0
L se lat lag gayi!
Needlessly Anonymous 1 Dec 2019, 12:41
+3 -1
The fact that this comment is posted while for posts of roughly 3 hundred words await moderation for over 24 hours reveals that Kian has at last sold out to one more bidder. We were suspecting it for some time, now he confirms it by his actions.
kianganz 1 Dec 2019, 13:18
+5 -2
Pertinent questions are:

1. Which bidder?
2. How much?
3. Who's we?
4. The moderated comments are all around 300 CHARACTERS long, not words.
5. Eagerly awaiting more feedback :)
6.1 1 Dec 2019, 13:28
+1 -1
Kian, do I get any loyalty prize for being a frequent winning bidder? Even if my bids have all been inadvertent ones? And would you prefer to have your commission in cash, gold or Bhim UPI?
Naik Znag 2 Dec 2019, 11:27
+1 -0
The sell out is evident from the fact that till earlier this year, in every Luthra exit story Kian used to plug stories of partner exit all the way back to a decade ago. Of course, when people said then that such an act reeked of bias 'against Luthra', you defended yourself. Clearly there is a course correction now, and in this story Kg has plugged in just one(!). And that too a relatively minor exit and not the big ones. I doubt this course correction is because of the dear readers' comments or awakening of conscience. #TheNorthRemembers
kianganz 2 Dec 2019, 11:48
+1 -1
Hi Naik Znag (great name btw!). The only course correction, if any, as I had often explained in this comments section, has been that before we generally had zero comment from the firm on all their exits, so there was no other story to tell, really.

Now the firm is actually giving their point of view about exits and submitting corporate deals, the volumes of which this year and last are not nearly as dire as all the exits would make one believe (including the firm's lack of visibility on third party league tables): https://www.legallyindia.com/db/firm/L%26L_Partners

That's not to say that those exits aren't going to hurt the firm's corporate practice, which is why we have mentioned 7 exits over 3 years in this article (and linked to the most recent article, which has the full list of exits).
[...] 1 Dec 2019, 14:24
+6 -13
It was an absolute pleasure to have worked with you Ma'am. An amazing mentor and a great leader. We will miss you.
Cray-zee 1 Dec 2019, 22:41
+9 -1
Are you crazy or are you crazy!!
LackOfOxygen 1 Dec 2019, 23:28
+6 -0
Any news on NDA who is leaving or staying after bonus payment?
zorawar shing 2 Dec 2019, 23:14
+2 -0
NDA will bounce back. Support staff have not forgotten Estonia and Singapore trips.
Gulabi 3 Dec 2019, 05:20
+0 -1
Tell tell tell!
Lawyer with dreams 2 Dec 2019, 02:06
+10 -0
Obviously lawyers who have talent will choose their career path and not be bound by strings of money. Self respect is important too for few. Taking a break is basically to avoid uncalled harassment and torture during notice period and also to buy peace for some months after resigning. Not all so-called top tier firms (except top three/four) can digest that there are better and brighter options/life/oxygen outside and that’s why people resign and move ahead. Choose a career, not paycheque.
Correct 2 Dec 2019, 10:48
+4 -0
Agreed. The worse in that lot is CAM and L&L. They just can't get over their inflated egos.
H 2 Dec 2019, 05:53
+2 -6
Probably Mr. Vyas' unfortunate demise triggered this decision of taking a career break.
Nation Wants to Know 2 Dec 2019, 07:50
+2 -0
Why RKL's comment has been withdrawn by the firm?
Ghanchakkar 2 Dec 2019, 10:39
+1 -1
Must have been given while [...]. Her team got awards for being the best performing one. [...]
Guest 2 Dec 2019, 20:30
+0 -0
B&B still has it? Did Luthra ask LI to remove the comment?
kianganz 3 Dec 2019, 06:58
+1 -0
Original comment removed from both articles on request (but B&B updated quietly).
Guest 3 Dec 2019, 07:53
+1 -0
Something other than "our best wishes"? Because that's still there.
Paisa 2 Dec 2019, 14:20
+5 -2
Yeh sab chodo, last month ka salary dedo please. It's 2nd already.
Lallu ki Aunty 3 Dec 2019, 08:56
+3 -0
Paisa Paisa karti bhai aur paise par marti hai? Yeh sabrina maya hai. Here you work for a higher purpose in life, ie, ensure that the farmhouses, the Bentley and the BMWs are paid for.
Secret Whisper 3 Dec 2019, 10:21
+6 -1
I hear some other biggie is also planning an exit. You guessed it right.
No 3 Dec 2019, 16:15
+1 -0
No, I couldn't guess. Who?
Secret Whisper 16 Dec 2019, 13:40
+0 -0
Periwal ... There's more it seems.
Hater Hater 4 Dec 2019, 06:47
+4 -3
Haters will hate always.
Guest 4 Dec 2019, 06:52
+5 -6
And L&L will continue its journey to the grave.
Jackal 10 Dec 2019, 10:52
+2 -0
Could be that she wanted to avoid a mandatory gardening leave by not committing to a competitor at this stage. But personally, I do hope that she's doing it to further her life and to pursue things (family, friends, hobbies, etc.) which make life worth living.

There would be more instances of people taking "breaks" from Indian law firms. As India matures as an economy and the bubble of first generation reforms burst, it is imperative that one sees the value in prioritizing health and family over the glass door equivalent of the Victorian Satanic mills (i.e. Indian law firms). She has dedicated 18 years of her life to this, hopefully has made enough to not have to work again and has earned the right to dwell on things that really matter.
Commenting is closed for this article.