Congratulations to Celia... I know for a fact shes the best at what she does and thus deserves the promotion.
The best of luck to her in the future

My heartiest congratulations Celia. All he best !!!

I have worked with Celia and she truly deserves this. one of the finest lawyers in the insurance sector..congrats

Is this a law firm ?

#4 yes this is a law firm which specializes in the insurance sector.

awesome news!! Partnership within six years after graduating speaks a lot about her capabilities..congratulations..go NALSAR!!

even i can become partner in my own firm a day after passing out. smaller unknown firms neccessarily have to promote people to partner quickly - thats a trade-off for lack of brand name, reputation, and other intangibles that one gets in a top firm. Linklaters and A&O don't promote harvard and oxford guys to their partnership before 8-10 years.

for a firm that is barely known in the industry LI is making quite a melodrama. Kian, is this a paid article ?

Perhaps you should do so research before posting comments in public forums and throwing about allegations about paid articles! Tuli and Co is highly reputed in the insurance industry and has consistently ranked No 1 in insurance in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 since 2003. If, however, a cynic like you believes that everything in life is rigged, please do check with the actual receipients of these services. I have worked with life insurance companies for the last 10 years and I have personally interacted with Tuli & Co on a regular basis and can vouch for their knowledge, experience and practical insights. Instead of demeaning your fraternity, you should be proud that a young lawyer like Celia has achieved so much so fast.

Relax, no need to blow off all that steam at me. I have just made a few statements of fact based on the following which I hope you will not begrudge me - (1) In my 8 years at two leading firms including one outside the country (and in my LLM class also), I have never heard of this Tuli. My practice area is finance so I find this surprising. (2) I did call up some of my leading clients - again in the finance sector - that includes all the big fin. entities and none of them had heard of Tuli either. (3) Even clients not engaged in finance have also not heard of this Tuli

Perhaps I (and my clients) are particularly poorly informed or grossly ignorant - your word against mine. More likely - Tuli is an unknown firm catering to likely a super-niche market with an invisible presence outside. I don't see any reason to be embarassed about that. Lots of people join small unknown firms or companies that are not known even amongst their peers. No shame in that. What I dislike is the fuss made about their getting partnerships or directorships. It is an industry-practice - and maybe you should consult a few HR professionals - that the lesser the firm, the more ostentious the titles and the faster the promotions. It's a well-known tradeoff and recruiters and bosses have known this for years. Simply doling out grandee titles is not in itself any indicator of ability. Putting it another way - what would be the incentive for [someone] to stay at tuli if [they] knew it would take [them] as much time to make partner there as it would working for uncle cyril.

The way LI has written this article gives the layman (and lay lawyer) the impression that this Tuli is comparable to Amarchand or AZB or Linklaters or something similar. It is not, by a large margin. And unless average salaries are double the market standard the exposure comparable it is certainly not to be recommended to anyone interested in seriously pursuing a career in law. Can you honestly say that you'd encourage your brother or son to join such a firm ?

PS - I would not read too much into what Asia Pacific 500 has to say.

How to join tuli & Co.??

I was reading this trail of comments and just wanted to add - it is completely understandable that when a person has spent so much time outside India, their understanding of the Indian legal market and the developments happening therein becomes slightly skewed. I am pretty sure that none of the 'clients' you took the effort to speak to were any of the 40 odd Indian insurance companies that have mushroomed up in India after the sector opened up to foreign investment in 1999? If you had, they would have told you that most of them use tuli and co for all their contentious and non-contentious matters, even though they use AMSS, AZB, Luthra, Trilegal, etc for their corporate-commercial work.

But you are of course entitled to consider this a niche market which understabndably no one outside India would be aware of. As an Indian lawyer (and i think that is the market Legally India is catering to) I am definitely interested in developments in the legal market here which would not stop at the top 5 corporate law firms. In fact, you may be interestedin knowing that the big Indian law firms also consider the insurance market in India as a growing market and are all trying to build insurance teams.

In this age of specialization where even in a big law firm you get slotted into small areas, I would definitely encoursge my close family members to join a firm like Tuli.

I dont know about salaries, maybe you should check with someone in Tuli how much they earn. All I know is that they all drive very expensive cars!

expensive cars, nichest locality to have an office in and completely unknown to desi turned foreign LLMs and lawyers...has to be a fabulous place!!!

well, the higher pay is only to be expected given the lesser status, low visibility and non-existent brand-recognition. I would not for one instant advice any law student to get into such a niche service provider at risk of specialising too early in their careers. Brand equity is important, not only as a feel-good factor for yourself but also if you want to make a move to either an MNC, a foreign law firm or a foreign LLM. If you do not aspire to any of these, I suppose any well-paying job would be enough. I can say in hindsight that the name of my first employer greatly assisted me in my LLM. and thereafter.

PS - To talk about LI's market being India is irrelevant. LI's market is immaterial and what matters is which is the market the law students / lawyers reading LI want to stay focussed on. A large majority of readers would have had or would be nursing ambitions of a job or an LLM outside the country and to all of them, the firm they join does make a difference.

Ingavale...

What are you even talking abt ? I'm sure even you have no idea. Tuli & Co is THE BRAND when it comes to Insurance practice. Its in association with Kennedys Law - an international law firm specialising in insurance. Offices in London, across Europe, Middle East, SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand..

Neeraj Tuli was a Partner at Kennedys, London for 5 yrs before he mved to Delhi to set up Tuli & Co post liberalization. Whats wrong in specialising early ?

I really wonder how you have survived in this profession for 8 yrs !! Shocking !!! you shd be proud of celia. It seems you are simply frustrated because your achievements ( IF ANY ) have never been highlighted...

I do have regrets but not the sort you seem to think. I admire folks who do well in a competitive environment and to me Tuli is not - hence I believe LI has blown this partnership 'promotion' out of league. You are free to have your own aspirations and your opinions and of course you are free to say that my view is rot but it is both foolish and childish to cast imputations on me simply because of a disagreement.

Thought I'd chime in since this thread seems to have been going on for far longer than reasonable.

We are independent and we cover the news we think is interesting.

I personally happen to think that smaller niche firms are very interesting, especially if they are growing and making partnership promotions.

Otherwise we would just be writing about the Big 3 or 4 or 5 brandnames, but the market is far bigger and more interesting than just that.

Specialist firms have an important role to play and in many foreign countries specialists can be amongst the most successful in certain industries or areas of practice.

Finally, it is only a news story, I don't anything has been blown out of any proportion here. If you disagree, please let me know.

Best regards
Kian

@ Ingavale -No. 15..

If you feel its been blown out of proportion, then why did you even bother reading it and more so, commenting on it ?? I see you nicely ignored the aspect where I mentioned Tuli is in association with Kennedys. Obviously you are stumped there, or have you not heard of Kennedys either ?? I agree with Kian - specialist firms have a very important role to play. Law firms are not just abt Amarchand,AZB, Khaitan or Trilegal...

And as far as your frustration goes, I do not think.. I firmly believe it.. trust me. Only a frustrated lawyer will make such irresponsible remarks...

Btw, even I have worked with international law firms and I have an LLM too... just that I know of the smaller specialist firms.. n more so, I am not professionally frustrated as you seem to be..

This has been an interesting thread. Invagale I think what is interesting to understand here is that while a Tuli & Co. may not be an Amarchand or AZB, the site is called "Legally India" and not Legally top 3 or top 10. While you may not have heard of this firm or may have genuine doubts about its credibility , those who have been practicing in Delhi even for a while have certainly heard about the firm and about its core strengths in practice. If you have not then you have the site to thank for.

Further about LI reporting on promotions in firms like Tuli & Co. I think its about time that the legal fraternity stop being so snobbish and focus only on the big players in the market. It is a fact that there are many new firms opening everyday and while all may not survive there are many who have worked very hard and made a name for themselves in the market. I am not sure whether you are in the corporate or the litigation field, but coming from litigation myself, I can say that you might be surprised at what kind of firms are servicing high profile clients. From an elitist perspective these firms are non entities and their personnel well you can choose the word.

Branding and imagery are important no doubt, but even these per se do not guarantee quality work always. You might want to take a walk in the Delhi High court chambers to asses for yourself how many times a brief messed up by tier 1 or tier 2 firm is passed on to an advocate with 10-12 years practice through a referral system. Even so called non existent firms have handled briefs for high profile clients.

Also while being promoted to the rank of partnership in a big law firm is most certainly commendable can you honestly say that all deserving candidates in those firms will reach there. So if smaller firms allow people faster growth what is the problem. It is inevitable that in a smaller place you can move faster. Also bigger law firms also have their own problems as well. So its not as if joining one is the end to all problems.

Law is huge and is ever expanding. We need to get out of this stereotype that is dragging down a lot of people that only a handful of firms have good work. Yes pay scales remain an issue industry wide. But if more players emerge who in time will become brands and big players then this issue will also start to resolve itself. Do remember that an AZB or an Amarchand or any other big firm did not become a brand name day one. These firms too have had to make their mark by consistently performing. So just as they have in the past many will in the future. As lawyers that is what we all should remember.

Just one more note. you seem to suggest that reporting on firms like Tuli & Co. is straying away from the kind of focus that its readers need. I am a follower of LI and I welcome such reporting, while to you on the other hand it may seem completely irrelevant and futile. To each his own. LI needs to do justice to all I guess.

kian, if that is indeed your policy i don't see you following it. There are scores of small firms in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata - nearly all family driven bu tso what? how often does LI report about partnerships in such firms? Is is simply that a partnership was awarded in tuli to a national university graduate that it made news ? Look at the deals you report on LI - why dont you show us how many of those went to the top 10 corporate firms - 80% ? 90 % ? Do you mean to say there are no other deals to report ? Or is it that there are no other deals sophisticated enough staffed by People Like Us to interest your audience? No harm in having a biased reportage but please admit so.

And as for that other joker, who's venting his spleen at me (and who needs to reduce the average number of adjectives per sentence), keep in mind that Kennedys is a very ordinary firm in london, doesnt feature in either the magic circle or the silver circle, and does business worth less than 20% of what even a B-grade firm such as Lovells does in a year. I wont even bother dignifying the rest of that turd with a response.

We can't write about every firm and some small firms in Kolkata, Delhi or Mumbai probably don't want to be written about either.

Besides, if they are small and family driven firms, few of them actually do partnership promotions almost by definition.

In a market as closed and transparent as Indian legal, we write about those we know and those who engage with us, or those who have at least a minimum of media savvy.

Similarly, I am sure there are plenty of small local companies that the Eco Times doesn't write about either but likewise some small companies that have interesting stories to tell that will get told (or paid to be told, in the case of some papers arguably).

Every publication has limited resources and there are only so many hours in the day and we do the best we can. If you think there is an interesting we should be covering, please let us know in the comments or by email.

Best regards
Kian

As a bit of a chicken-and-egg afterthought: If we had started writing about a firm like Tuli & Co, for example, 2 years ago when we first started, covering their deals, partnership promotions, or other news, would it then be legitimate to keep writing about them because you would have heard of the firm's name?

Ingavale, here's a lil story for ya.

About 15 years ago, I interviewed with a very small firm that was very fast gaining a reputation for its good work. I didn't land the job but came came quite close (was one of the two shortlisted candidates for the interview). At the interview, the sole proprietor of the firm said to me "I can only pick one of you and that's because I don't wasn't this firm ever growing beyond ten lawyers." I came away very impressed by the firm, its work and its proprietor. I distinctly referrers thinking this firm oas gonna grow into something BIG. The firm's name (then) was.......Chambers of Zia Mody.

moral of the story - never dismiss today's small just because of the small bit.

Continuing, 17 years back, I became 8th lawyer with Ajay Bahl & Co. (as it was then), now constituing A of AZB ...

Pls pardon the couple of rather bizarre typos in my previous post @ #22. I typed that using the swype feature on a tab.....and clearly, didn't spot those couple of wrong words before posting (it was supposed to read "I distinctly remember thinking then that this firm was gonna grow into something BIG"). Thanks :-)

Sorry Kian, but your feeble reply to justify your funny policy has forced me to write this,

- saying that small firms dont want to be written about is nonsense. Since when have reporters gone about asking their subjects if they want to be written about?

- there are many NLSIU people who have their own small firms in Bangalore and Delhi and even Kolkata. How many cm of coverage do you give to these ? Surely you cant say that these firms are family firms, can you?

- Even if firms are family firms - so what ? IS that a reason to deny them news coverage on LI ? Is LI pursuing a policy of non-family firms ? Then why do you write so much about AMSS ?

it seems to be that your publishing policy is quite dodgy and full of flip-flops. Deal feeds and news about partnerships seems to be restricted to firms that patronize you. Even a firm like khaitan which is now ramping up scale has only recently become a favourite of LI. A for their original Kolkata office - which was the No. 1 or No. 2 in Kolkata for many years, nothing is ever published. That is why all that euphoria over a firm like tuli irritates me.

Ivangale this is the person with post No. 18 again. I somewhere agree with your last post.

Interestingly while you accuse LI of writing too much about AMSS, the fact is that somewhere in your initial posts I felt that you too were suggesting that it is firms like AMSS that deserve reporting and the Tuli's of the world were being unnecessarily promoted. I agree that there has to be a consistent reporting policy and it was in this vein that I had said that the legal fraternity is fast becoming too elitist by looking at law through the myopic lens of national law schools and the top ten firms.

If your irritation stems from the fact that LI seems to be doing selective reporting then I am sure that Kian will heed to it.However if the argument is that such firms do not need any reporting then I go back to my arguments in my previous post.

Just one more thing. Not wanting to open another Pandora's box of a debate but the fact is the a lot of change good and bad in the past few years has resulted from the National Law School culture. On the positive note law seems to have been infused with a new found respect which it had been continuously loosing,pay scales have radically improved esply in the poverty hit litigation sector, entrepreneurship at a larger scale, and younger people are looking at law as a positive career choice etc. On the flip side students coming from law schools tend to look only at a few firms like the lord almighty,and conversely look down upon names that are not "brands". That perspective needs a change and it was in this regard that I said that while a big firm may be big today , it is hard work from scratch and beating the tag of being a nobody that made them who they are today.More importantly young lawyers have to keep a healthy attitude about such firms.

Hopefully more such firms will emerge in the future only if we lawyers keep an open mind about them and legal sites give out information about them.

phew! finally the frustrated mr ingavale goes to sleep. he surely has made the "less renowned" Tuli & Co. (thanks to his perpetual dumb mode, severe case of ignorance and possibly struggling to make a foreign living in india - who knows??) quite famous & memorable on LI. good that he will always remember Tuli & Co and the niche expertise they have in the market.

Kian please keep up the cool attitude towards such morons who will always remain jobless and not take things positively in life!
cheers!

Seriously!! What utter nonsense!! Someone was promoted at a firm with a niche practice. Can't comment whether the person in question is a good lawyer or not (that depends on how we define it, of course) as haven't worked with her ever, but if Tuli thinks that she deserves it, she must've really done something to deserve it.