Young PXV partnership splits over ‘vision’, with Rohit Das restarting RDA Legal

Exclusive
Friday, 3 February 2012 By Legally India Law firms

Das reverts to RDA with Pal
Das reverts to RDA with Pal
Exclusive: PXV Law Partners’ founders have agreed to separate, with managing partner Rohit Das and co-founding partner Arindam Pal reverting into the RDA Legal brand name in Mumbai and Kolkata, while the six remaining partners would continue in Delhi and Bangalore under the PXV banner.

Both firms intend to restart offices to become national firms again.

Das and PXV partner Deepto Roy confirmed to Legally India that an agreement to separate would take effect from 16 Februrary, although they declined to comment further until all details were finalised.

According to sources the split was amicable but was caused by differing “visions” about the firm.

It is understood that during a transition period of up to three months, both sides would implement their comprehensive settlement of firm assets to avoid any disruption to clients and give associates the free choice of which firm to continue with.

PXV operated an equity lockstep partnership of seven, including Pal who had left in October of last year to go independent and will now rejoin Das in RDA.

Four PXV equity partners – Roy, advocate-on-record Mohit Abraham, Thomas Phillippe in Delhi and Pingal Khan in Bangalore – as well as two salaried partners - Souvik Bhadra in Kolkata and Anuj Sahay in Delhi - would continue as PXV and are understood to re-start a Kolkata office.

They are understood to move into a new Kolkata office and restart a Mumbai office that could be headed up by Khan.

Mumbai-based Das and Kolkata-based Pal, are also believed to intend to continue being a national firm and will re-open offices in Delhi and Bangalore.

The brand name PXV was created one year ago out of RDA Legal, after electing Das for a two-year term as managing partner and inducting three new equity partners into the firm partnership. All partners are NUJS Kolkata graduates, with Abraham, Das and Roy having graduated between 2005 and 2006.

The pre-separation firm numbered 25 lawyers and specialised in M&A and corporate law, disputes, real estate, infrastructure and finance, according to a firm profile published by Legally India in July 2011.

PXV Law PartnersRDA LegalRohit Daslaw firm managementNUJS Kolkata

Comments

Panu Da 3 Feb 2012, 10:25
+8 -1
The differing vision i guess was to go either the Boston Legal way or the Suits way ... the twain shall never meet...
abc 3 Feb 2012, 11:01
+1 -1
[quote name="Panu Da"]The differing vision i guess was to go either the Boston Legal way or the Suits way ... the twain shall never meet...[/quote]

I prefer the franklin and bash way
Delhi Lawyer 3 Feb 2012, 10:35
+8 -0
this is not the right reason ...what were they visualizing before merging ?
Attorney 3 Feb 2012, 11:06
+5 -0
This is very unfortunate, good luck to both entities.
ABC 3 Feb 2012, 11:47
+15 -1
Just to put it from the perspective of the firms - It'll be Rohit Das v. Pingal Khan in Mumbai, I'm sure lots of NUJS alumni will have things to say about this.
anon 3 Feb 2012, 12:04
+2 -0
Just to add-up associate numbers, partners join hands faster and then separate even faster...then give fancy reasons to outsiders like difference in vision...at the first place there was no vision at all !!
another unforntunate event 3 Feb 2012, 13:14
+0 -1
@No 5: and there will always be those big talkers sitting on the WC and probably commenting on vision.....if one were to envy these brilliant set of individuals this is what and how a statement would have been made. This is what our legal profession is filled with...vermins!!!! surely an unfortunate event.Hope both the entities do well in the future.
anon 3 Feb 2012, 13:36
+1 -0
The point is take as much time u want before joining hands thinking about all pros and cons rather than separating later at fraction of second!
gaya tel lene 3 Feb 2012, 16:26
+2 -0
[quote name="anon"]The point is take as much time u want before joining hands thinking about all pros and cons rather than separating later at fraction of second![/quote]

Why @5.1 basic point is that you or me will not be aware of the real reasons that took place. A firm is a conglomerate of different individuals who are not always like-minded. if one were to take the logic of taking time then probably all firms would have been an individual run entity. Having said that neither you or me will be in a position to assume whether the merger happened in the blink of an eye.do we? having said that if a decision was taken to come together, it is always better to reconcile to differences and talk it out.I am not sure that this kind of news would do any good to the start ups leave aside the illustrious careers that these individuals aimed at achieving. What a waste!!!
outsider 3 Feb 2012, 12:26
+5 -0
Sir-ji, dhanda chalana itna asan nahi he. All these degrees may give you some extra confidence / smartness but in long run , it's about money honey
Tau 3 Feb 2012, 13:36
+2 -0
[quote name="outsider"]Sir-ji, dhanda chalana itna asan nahi he. All these degrees may give you some extra confidence / smartness but in long run , it's about money honey[/quote]

Chacha ... 4 bangaliyon ka dhanda chalana asan nahi!
lawstudent 3 Feb 2012, 12:46
+18 -0
wonderful, now there will be one more firm to intern at.

#jobmarketjoys
bill 10 Feb 2012, 13:32
+2 -0
[quote name="lawstudent"]wonderful, now there will be one more firm to intern at.

#jobmarketjoys[/quote]

i think yours was by far the most constructive comment!!! :D
NUJS observer 3 Feb 2012, 12:51
+9 -0
well i will be in the lookout to see how long PXV as it is survives.... based purely on my first hand knowledge of the personal inter operability of the "partners" involved.... wishing both the firms all the very best!!!!
Big brother of NUJS observer 7 Feb 2012, 03:46
+1 -1
"first hand knowledge of personal inter operability".. big words, little brother... did you hold each of their hands when they were enjoying themselves... ??

you sound like one of those people who like to latch onto weird stories at night and fantasize about them till you run out of steam and have to scavenge for more..
xxx 3 Feb 2012, 14:06
+8 -1
Moral of the story is that young lawyers should not get cocky and open their own firms without spending 9-10 years in an established firm. They are too immature. There must have been a fight and they were too immature to settle it.
Curiosity killed the cat 4 Feb 2012, 09:29
+1 -0
[quote name="xxx"]Moral of the story is that young lawyers should not get cocky and open their own firms without spending 9-10 years in an established firm. They are too immature. There must have been a fight and they were too immature to settle it.[/quote]


Alas you will never get to know.Or will you?
Anon 3 Feb 2012, 14:10
+14 -0
You are now reading this comment. You are still reading this. Now you smile. :)
12 3 Feb 2012, 15:15
+2 -0
As a former batchmate it is quite painful to see these guys separate. Clearly it has much more to do with egos rather than anything else. What is more surprising is that Pingal is leaving Rohit- right from college he was quite a 'devotee' of Rohit. Mohit and Deepto are wonderful people and very good lawyers and hopefully will be able to stick around although Mohit always had an 'interdependent mind' and needs to be won over by logic-he will not follow Deepto blindly
nujs observer 3 Feb 2012, 16:36
+10 -0
indeed quite a shame.. will not comment on deepto or mohit but the fact that people nurtured by rohit have now aligned against him must have felt like a stab in the back.. sauvik, anuj sahay included.. this is one of the worst things that can happen to you.. however, i think if rohit has done it once he can do it again.. and build a better firm.. he needs the right people behind him.. not opportunists..
yet another nujs observer 3 Feb 2012, 17:29
+7 -0
the flipside - regardless of how the people got together, one man cannot be allowed to chart the course of an entire firm. it has to be democratic and it looks like the majority has prevailed, as it normally should.

best of luck to both.
nujs observer 3 Feb 2012, 19:34
+5 -0
if a firm is run democratically, it will end up as yet another banana republic.... let the country be democratic.... not when it comes to ones firm!!!!
The Street Lawyer 3 Feb 2012, 21:28
+7 -0
[quote name="yet another nujs observer"]the flipside - regardless of how the people got together, one man cannot be allowed to chart the course of an entire firm. it has to be democratic and it looks like the majority has prevailed, as it normally should.

best of luck to both.[/quote]

Mere number of people on either side does not make something right or wrong. A commercial law firm is a business, not a democracy. It’s not always fair to impose democracy in a law firm. Our commercial laws are structured to protect the rights of the majority investor and to give more weightage to decisions of shareholders who have taken a majority of the financial risk. Rohit has obviously made the lion’s share of the investment in the Firm and taken a lion’s share of the risk. He has demonstrated determination, vision and leadership by building a national firm with four offices from scratch. It seems immature on the part of the new partners to split with Rohit and Arindam, two of the founders within a year or so of joining the Firm.
RDX 4 Feb 2012, 09:41
+0 -0
[quote name="yet another nujs observer"]the flipside - regardless of how the people got together, one man cannot be allowed to chart the course of an entire firm. it has to be democratic and it looks like the majority has prevailed, as it normally should.

best of luck to both.[/quote]
too many cooks spoil the broth.. in a firm especially when its is at its nascent stage, a strong leadership is required. multiple views and vision will only provide you a confused destination. With all due respect to your trust on democratic set-up and "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high" ideology, this is business and its ruthless, so either you make it or just fizzle out like some promising spark because there was no one to crank it up when it was needed the most.
I wish both the firms all the best and hope to see them grow out of each others shadow.
Delhi Lawyer 3 Feb 2012, 18:30
+2 -0
Souvik was not nurtured by Rohit. He spent a good amount of time in AMSS before joining PXV. For that matter he even rejected Krishnava's offer to join Argus.
yet yet another nujs observer 3 Feb 2012, 19:36
+16 -0
a year or so in amss does not qualify for good amount of time!!!!
Delhi Lawyer 4 Feb 2012, 05:19
+16 -0
Well I don't know anything about Rohit or Arindam, but regarding Souvik, I think he is a good lawyer and has spent around 3 yrs plus in AMSS before joining PXV. In other words, I don't think he was required to be nurtured by Rohit as said by somebody.
Delhi Lawyer SHai 4 Feb 2012, 09:26
+6 -0
[quote name="yet yet another nujs observer"]a year or so in amss does not qualify for good amount of time!!!![/quote]


that too amss kolkata of all places! :-)
NUJS observer 4 Feb 2012, 09:48
+10 -0
not to trivialise kolkata as it is NUJS, Kolkata too... but yes i do agree... that too in amss kolkata!!!!
best friend? 3 Feb 2012, 16:21
+0 -0
What about their best friend relationship with the European firm? who gets that prize?
eh? 3 Feb 2012, 18:09
+0 -0
what best friend relationship?
Anon 3 Feb 2012, 17:33
+16 -0
The greatest aschievment of Rohit was that he could attract high achievers like Deepto and Mohit to join him. With this split, which is believed to be far from amicable, Rohit's credibility to attract new ppl to join him will be in question. All in all, its a blow for both the entities and the momentum which they had achieved till now will take a backseat as rebuilding won't be easy.
The Street Lawyer 3 Feb 2012, 21:33
+8 -0
Rohit started this Firm from scratch with one office in Kolkata. He picked Pingal and Kartik right out of college, nurtured their talent and helped them establish the Bangalore practice. If I am not mistaken, Anuj is also one of the people Rohit picked up early and nurtured. Rohit himself relocated to Delhi and set up the Delhi practice while Arindam took over the responsibility of running the Kolkata practice. From what I know, Mohit joined only a couple of years back, while Deepto and Thomas joined only a year back. They all joined when the Firm already had three offices. Rohit himself relocated to Mumbai to establish the Mumbai practice. He is a classic example of leading from the front and fighting in the trenches, given that he has personally set up three of the four offices and brought in high achieving professionals into the Firm.

Rohit has shown his commitment towards the people in his own organisation by investing in young professionals and helping them develop their practices. I don’t think he will face any credibility issues in attracting other high achieving young professionals into RDA. Legal competence is one thing, vision, leadership and management is another. While no doubt good lawyers, Deepto and Mohit are yet to demonstrate the ability to build and run a Firm. Its PXV which would have credibility and trust issues in attracting other partners, given the track record of the newer partners of ganging up against two of the founders, Rohit and Arindam, and causing the firm to split only after a year or so of joining that firm.
lawgirl 3 Feb 2012, 21:46
+6 -0
umm.... i acceptd an offer frm them dis yr...and now you have scared me!!! :(
Not Me 4 Feb 2012, 13:29
+8 -0
Please clarify what you exactly do you mean by "nurturing" these guys? Do any of us have any idea what kind of lawyers Pingal and his peers are?
Aramis the PXV Follower 3 Feb 2012, 17:39
+6 -0
What difference of vision can 2 v. 10 have? Hmmmm.... too bad we'll never know. So many questions...So does Deepto lead PXV now? DS Advocat goes with both on referral? What is the associate split? What is Karthick upto? Who killed Roger Rabbit?
Judge Doom 4 Feb 2012, 07:14
+4 -0
[quote name="Aramis the PXV Follower"]What difference of vision can 2 v. 10 have? Hmmmm.... too bad we'll never know. So many questions...So does Deepto lead PXV now? DS Advocat goes with both on referral? What is the associate split? What is Karthick upto? Who killed Roger Rabbit?[/quote]

I killed roger Rabbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ha ha ha ha
Anonymous 3 Feb 2012, 18:07
+4 -0
It is quite a sad state of affairs I must say! But I guess it was not surprising though as the partners forgot to keep their professional and personal life different!! One cannot make any tom dick and harry a partner in one's firm only on the basis of being best friends with that guy!! A firm cannot run if you bring in your good friends with very less experience as a partner just for the sake of friendship!! Anyways Rohit , Deepto and Mohit..all three of them are brilliant lawyers and I am sure they will come out of this shit soon! And am sure an ambitious young lawyer like Rohit can bounce back again with RDA!!! All the best to both the firms!!
Law Firm Observer 3 Feb 2012, 21:42
+5 -0
Both the traditional structure of promoter-driven firms and the democratic lock-step structure have their respective pros and cons. From what I have read in prior articles in Legally India and heard from people, Rohit was himself instrumental in bringing in a pure lock-step and democratic structure into the Firm while re-branding it into a neutral name to ensure a professionally managed firm. While we don’t know what really happened here, it appears that the other Partners have used those very rights granted to them, to gang up against two of the founders of the Firm. This split is an example of the difficulties of implementing a lock-step structure in the Indian culture. While the founders may have the vision of bringing in a democratic structure, the same can backfire when the other partners gang up against them. This also somewhat explains why promoting partners in traditional firms zealously hold on to their equity and control. It’s a testament to Rohit’s character that he has granted rights to newer partners and the assets of the firm are being split amicably inspite of Rohit being the founder and taken the maximum risk in the Firm. In a more traditional firm, the promoting partners would have just thrown out any new partner who they considered a threat to their ownership and control.
Non observer 7 Feb 2012, 19:27
+3 -0
If 6 out of 7 partners leave, doesn't the firm automatically dissolve? perhaps there was more at stake than rohit's generrsity
Nope 8 Feb 2012, 06:47
+0 -0
Read the partnership act...there's a time period within which new partners may be found
Anon 3 Feb 2012, 23:07
+10 -0
'fighting from trenches'

'leading from the front'

Are you talking about Major Hoshiar Singh PVC? 'Cos that's not Rohit Das or Moht Abraham or Deepto [...].

How many of the ppl on this forum have actually any idea what work RDA/PXV actually do and what sort of revenues they earn? All the speculation is about organisational ability and legal competence. Except Deepto who has been a good documentational lawyer in the safehouse of AMSS, none of the others have any transactional maturity or experience of note. [...]

Too much was made of this firm from the start. My own view is that lots more experience was required, more clients cultivated and more capital built up. They could easily have built a firm after spending 7-10 years in top notch firms like AMSS and AZB. Instead they have squandered a chance (for the most part).

I think Deepto may on his own accomplish something, but there is no guarantee. Rohit would have made a better partner for him [...]
Anon 4 Feb 2012, 09:27
+3 -0
Kian, you edit too much. Without some of the censored portions, my comment is difficult to appreciate. Every negative line is not personal. Sometimes professional shortcomings have to be highlighted so your readers are aware of the fundamentals of the partners. I hope you reconsider and republish the censored stuff.
NUJS observer 4 Feb 2012, 09:49
+1 -0
I agree with you... Kian, may we have the complete unedited post please!!!
another anon 5 Feb 2012, 03:32
+2 -0
Kian = Kapil Sibal. Absolutely ridiculous censorship.

There were some very good points mde by anon. I agree too much was made of this firm. I can understand an ex-AMSS partner or even senior associate opening a frm, but come on a bunch of kids with just one year work ex? Moreover, certain departments uner certain AMSS partners are crap and you wil get better work ex working in many lesser known firms. Seriously overhyped firm. There are thousands of very god firms that hardly got the publicity on LI that PXV did.
anon 7 Feb 2012, 05:14
+0 -0
Agree.
kianganz 7 Feb 2012, 05:26
+1 -0
Kapil Sibal? Really? :)

It's not that bad - 90% of that post was intact and made sense.

In line with our site policy, please keep your comments non-personal and do not be hurtful or make overly personal comments about named individuals.
Big brother of NUJS observer 7 Feb 2012, 03:51
+1 -0
will you pass on what you are smoking these days ? deepto as you said was nurtured in a safe house. he [...] has now been let out in the open without a glass cage for protection... there are many hawks around my friend.. many hawks !!
hmmm 4 Feb 2012, 03:23
+13 -0
No one will ever know what really led to the split. But if all the partners decided to not go with Rohit, despite his retaining 2 offices, then obviously they must have had strong reasons to support their decision. Also, Arindam seems to have left in October when Rohit was the Managing Partner. Difficult to imagine that Rohit did not play an active role in Arindam's exit! PXV will do much better without Rohit and Arindam :-)
Delhi Lawyer SHai 4 Feb 2012, 09:23
+4 -0
[quote name="hmmm"]No one will ever know what really led to the split. But if all the partners decided to not go with Rohit, despite his retaining 2 offices, then obviously they must have had strong reasons to support their decision. Also, Arindam seems to have left in October when Rohit was the Managing Partner. Difficult to imagine that Rohit did not play an active role in Arindam's exit! PXV will do much better without Rohit and Arindam :-)[/quote]

And law would do well without ppl like you in this profession.
anon 4 Feb 2012, 09:36
+0 -0
Sounds very logical!
NUJS observer 4 Feb 2012, 06:56
+7 -0
anyone who followed nujs politics back in those golden days should have a fair idea of how the gangs were formed inside pxv, how the conspiracies were hatched and how the war started (if at all there was a war)... what we know here is how the war ended!!! just hope fair terms are imposed by both sides such that the pxv and rda dont get bogged down in further acrimonious hair splitting conduct not befitting the nobility involved with our profession...
20 4 Feb 2012, 08:42
+1 -0
Seems very similar to Apple_steve job story. [...]
anon 4 Feb 2012, 09:35
+0 -0
Hahahaha
truth 4 Feb 2012, 10:30
+2 -0
For those holier-than-thou people bitching about [...]: If you a had a choice between friendship and money/profit, how many of you would honestly pick friendship? [...] is no diferent from 99% of the population.
Anon 5 Feb 2012, 03:32
+4 -0
very good job by Rohit to start the Firm and then take it to whatever heights it has achieved.. He has done it once, and I am sure he will do it again.. That said, these new partners came to into the house that Rohit built, and then asked Rohit to leave.. If they had vision differences, I would have thought that they should have left and started their own firm.. but thats just me..
Anon 2 5 Feb 2012, 17:43
+2 -0
From what I have heard, Rohit decided to leave, nobody "asked Rohit to leave."
Anon 5 Feb 2012, 06:49
+5 -0
The 3 biggies - Rohit, Mohit and Deepto are fantastic lawyers in their own right. This split will do nothing to take that away. As far as spending more time in AMSS/AZB is concerned, any transactional lawyer worth the salt will tell u that what u learn in a law firm after the first 2-3 years is diddlysquat. There is nothing to learn after the initial years- what matters is commercial acumen, client relationship management and business contacts. That is what separates the grain from the chaff - not merely your knowledge of Companies Act!
Jurist 5 Feb 2012, 12:36
+0 -0
I see this as the beginning of the end of small (independent and young) law firms. After this a lot of the young law firms will consider combining synergies and operating harmoniously under one roof to offer integrated services to clients
anon 5 Feb 2012, 13:54
+0 -0
There is nothing wrong in starting early after 5-7 years' of firm experience. The founders of the biggest firms of today were started when their founders were very young--cyril, shardul, zia, rajeev luthra, rajni dua, j. sagar, ajay bahl, nishith desai, praveen anand, etc. Likewise, we also have success stories of Law School friends coming together and starting their own firm--trilegal, induslaw, phoenix, alliance legal etc. So, maybe we should treat PXV's fall as an isolated and an unfortunate case; and not make any broad generalization that starting early or starting with law school friends are all doomed to fail.
careful 5 Feb 2012, 15:41
+0 -0
wouldn't call it a 'fall' at this moment; it's just an unexpected reshuffling.

they're all smart kids. don't see any reason that either firm should fail.
Maria 5 Feb 2012, 14:03
+1 -0
Its a rather sad state to see ppl still link NUJS to PXV. This is a professional world and ppl inside PXV who have had professional experience of more than just a couple of years know that. Only a lack of experience, wisdom and judgment makes you believe that law firms are comparable to law schools. Friendships, enemity are part of law firms, not hangovers from college days...I dont know what happened in PXV, but I can sincerely say that either ways these are not the boys who have given up their extremely thriving career for something that the believe in on basis of their passion. Deepto continues to be a man of great wisdom and wise...and RDA Legal's biggest achievement was to snag Deepto...Rohit Das is a one year old amarchand associate and genius as he may be nobody can substitute experience and basic common sense
Anon 5 Feb 2012, 17:03
+5 -0
Hmm... Wonder why the wise Deepto didnt start his own firm then? Nothing against Deepto or anyone else, but this was a firm built from the ground up by Rohit
Anon 6 Feb 2012, 12:39
+2 -0
Sequence of events:

1. May 2008 - Rohit and Pingal (with the help of a few friends from NUJS providing support) start a new law firm RDA out of a flat-converted-into-an-office in Beleghata ... later in 2008 - Arindam joins.

2. 2010 - tie-up with DS Avocats (driven by Rohit - if reports are to be believed), Mohit joins later in 2010

3. 2011 - re-branding to PXV, Deepto joins (both these events were reported in the same article on 17 January 2011 ... I'm sure it was a co-incidence .... NOTTTT!!!)

4. 2012 - the firm splits

what has changed between 1. and 4.? I'll let you do the math ... I don't know why (actually I do!!), but I'm thinking of that old fable of the camel and the tent ....

Rohit is a FANTASTIC lawyer ... as are a couple of the other partners in what was PXV ... and the split is unfortunate for everyone .... that said, if Rohit has decided to leave, he must have his reasons.
ka1234 6 Feb 2012, 15:10
+2 -0
it is a indeed sad to hear of the split. i have known all the actors involved right through the nujs days and through to this day. though not being privy to any internal news, i can confidently say that this split has nothing to do with 'vision' - unless u distort the word the way u want. someone has commented that it is sad to see ppl link PXV to NUJS. But the truth of the story lies exactly there. guys from nujs esp those of 05, 06,07 batches, will tell you how loyal a laxman was pingal to rohit - you can never find a more devoted follower. mohit and deepto are too independent to concede after a point in time that the firm was the creature of rohit's overweaning ambition. wat is most suprising is pingal chose the others over rohit when matters came to a head. my sympathies here lie with rohit, but he should also accept that all these where undoubtedly of his own making. i wish him all the best...
Anon 7 Feb 2012, 06:22
+0 -0
Pingal and Souvik are really great lawyers. Really great.
lawyer 3 May 2012, 13:19
+0 -0
You must be kidding..really!!souvik and pingal - both great lawyers!!!!!!!!!
anon 7 Feb 2012, 15:46
+2 -0
Its Rohit who built this firm .... its his sweat and blood the 'others' just went piggyback ridding for a while ..... Go Rohit dont let others take ur hard work away from you
anonym 8 Feb 2012, 08:57
+0 -0
Each one of the lead players of this firm is greatly talented. Some of them are undoubtedly among the best products in the history of NUJS. To add to it, each one of them knows he is as good as the other. any firm under such circumstances can stand together only if hierarchy and clearly demarcated roles are designed from the begining and everyone agrees to take in the subordination and compliance attached to the over all structure. Else any such organisation would only be a time-bomb. Lets only wish the fragmented parts would re-unite soon with the realization that bigger entities are the ones who would survive and benefit in today's corporate market!
anonym 8 Feb 2012, 09:43
+2 -0
and what democracy did Dr. Menon have in organization building? If he had spent time and efforts to accomodate all views of all academicians with him (who were all as such good at debates and interpretations), the law schools would have got torn to pieces much before the time required to peak to glory... You cant have any organization where everyone vetos everyone else...
Facts 10 Feb 2012, 01:19
+0 -0
Being from NUJS I know for a fact that most of these guys are good but unfortunately they are still quite young and immature. This is coupled by the huge egos that some of them carry, It okay to think that your the big an around if you have at least 10 years of experience and a healthy list of clients but not if your fresh out of law school with your entire business being initially dependent on a single client- relative of one of the founding members- and an LPO work.
anonym 10 Feb 2012, 08:56
+0 -0
All these statements about being young and immature are popping up for the first time, after witnessing this break-up. Till date this firm was a pride for anyone from NUJS and none raised any doubt about its future. Even now there isnt anything to doubt about the caliber or future of any of the players here, whether they are together or otherwise. Starting a firm at a fairly young age doesnt mean that you are bound to fail. You flutter wings for some time and then, destiny permitting, should be able to fly well. But yes, there is no place for baggages, no place for egos and there should be clear demarcation of roles when highly opinianated and free-spirited guys like the ones here chose to come together.
bill 10 Feb 2012, 11:19
+2 -0
everyone told me lawyers are conservative, now i know why, what is all this about experience of 10 years before starting out on your own, why are our contemporaries talking like 60 year olds,...someone has taken a risk, someone has ventured out to do something on his own, from scratch,i think that is commendable; as d first legal entrepreneur from nujs and one of the very few of his age around i think he is doing pretty well fr himself,
nujs cop 11 Feb 2012, 08:59
+0 -0
i think we lost an important thread somewhere. Inexperience of the lawyers involved has led to this split. A more experienced firm would have dealt with ego tussles more amicably and intelligently. While very few people can claim to be an insider to the real sequence of events, aplitting the firm at such an early stage cannot be a good news for either of the firms. And to reiterate, this has nothing to do with the individuals involved passing out from NUJS. And how does this split works if RDA gets Mumbai and Kolkata and still PXV is free to open its offices in the same cities!!
Kaludas Paan Shop 12 Feb 2012, 04:28
+3 -0
Whats surprises me is that this article has 73 comments and the Fox Mandal Little split, which involved such "mature", "amicable" and "intelligent" steps such as partners filing criminal complaints against each other, has only 3. Splits are a part of business (indeed the law firm business) and so long as a commercial deal was reached between the partners, its upto them how they want to take the Firm forward. Surely, just coming out and saying that the acts are immature, the firms have fallen etc., are preliminary. This is just better gossip for the NUJS hordes.
Rohit Empathiser 27 Feb 2012, 12:36
+1 -0
Ever since Rohit inducted Mohit and Deepto, we all wondered why? Rohit, it was your bad!! Good luck for your new firm.

As for PXV, need not worry folks, you will die fighting or fight till you die (anyway you have Pingal 'sher' khan!!)

Cheers!
NUJS Alumni 1 Sept 2014, 06:16
+0 -0
Running a firm is like running a business! Businesses do merge and demerge! Noone should be over emotional about the cause or the effect! One should logically analyze what happened wrong so it had to demerge and act accordingly.

Emotions are assets for artists and sportsperson but liabilities for people in business, finance and law!

It is widely said one should not go into business with close friends & relatives as bad break up may make things worse! You should go into business with someone purely for profit reasons either with an individual with high potential or an established individual! Running a business involves risks, forseeable and unforseeable!

Similarly, many events arose which were not forseeable which led to the break of this firm! May be they had a vision or they did not have one! Hope they had an amicable break up!

I hope these lawyers are still friends as firms, money, deals come and go, but true friends are hard to come by!

PS - I find it strange when entrepreneurs or co founding law firm partners leave a successful young law firm to join a big law firm after few years!
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