Four new salaried partners were made up in April who had been with the firm almost since it was first set-up. The promotions include Delhi corporate lawyer Charandeep Kaur, who is Trilegal’s first female partner.

Kaur took three months of maternity leave two years ago and worked on limited flexi-time for a short while after.

She said: “If it wasn’t for the support the firm offers, it wouldn’t have been possible to have a little baby and become a partner.”

Other new partners include corporate and employment lawyer Ajay Raghavan in Bangalore, and Mumbai lawyers Ameya Khandge in banking and Delano Furtado in corporate.

The firm has also increased its associate starting salaries from between Rs 8 and 8.5 lakhs ($16,800 to $17,900), to a minimum of Rs 10 to 11 lakhs per year ($21,000 to $23,100).

Trilegal co-founding partner Anand Prasad said he hoped that the increased salaries would particularly help the firm improve its graduate recruitment, where it was not top of the market yet.

Due to record earnings this year in M&A, restructuring and private equity, Prasad added that Trilegal had paid out record amounts to associates under its bonus scheme.

The bonus is calculated by combining the general financial performance of the firm, individuals’ billings and a discretionary element, although all associates are guaranteed between 10 to 25 per cent of their base salary as a year-end bonus.

Prasad said: “[This year] everybody’s got more – a significantly higher bonus than they were assured.” He added that the average bonus paid out to associates equated to around three months’ salary this year.

Trilegal operates a lockstep for its six current equity partners out of a total partnership of around 15. The firm currently employs around 80 to 85 associates.