After taking on more space in Delhi, Khaitan & Co has hired Bangalore independent Anindita Phukan as a partner and vowed to grow both offices with Mumbai as a model, accepting that they needed to improve local market recognition.

Exclusive: ALMT Legal, following its split from Clyde & Co and a number of partners in April, has re-started offices in London and Delhi with two lateral hires joining as partners while Mumbai partners Sameer Tapia and Hitesh Jain will relocate part-time.

Exclusive: Vidhii Partners will open up an office in Delhi with three former Paras Kuhad Associates lawyers and has taken two senior industry experts onto its internal advisory board to bolster its new media practice and growth strategy.

Exclusive: Mumbai-headquartered Advani & Co has merged with Delhi start-up Accendo Law Partners bringing in three new partners to fully operationalise the firm’s Delhi office that had started in February this year.

Exclusive: Desai & Diwanji has relocated its corporate transactions group to a new 8,500 square foot office in Gurgaon’s DLF Phase III while keeping its earlier central Delhi premises for the litigation team while finalising another Delhi location.

Exclusive: Bharucha & Partners has opened its first office outside Mumbai, entering New Delhi with partner Kumkum Sen from Raijnder Narain & Co, nearly a year after the firm opened in a second Mumbai location.

Exclusive: Phoenix Legal has moved to a new Delhi office with space for 40 as the firm is set to implement a new career development framework for its fee-earners.

Titus & Co and Trilegal from Pool A and Luthra & Luthra and Dua Associates from Pool D have won against their respective opponents in the second round of the intra-pool matches played this weekend between Delhi law firms for the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) Cup in the TURF Twenty20 tournament.

Former Luthra & Luthra and FoxMandal Little partner Vineet Aneja has now joined ALMT Legal to start up the firm’s office in Delhi.

Krishnamurthy and Co, which is branded as K Law, has opened up a new Delhi office and moved into a larger Mumbai office, as well as setting up an expansion path in Chennai and commencing construction on a larger Bangalore office.

Luthra & Luthra has leased a new floor in its existing Delhi building, moving its corporate team of 60 heads into the 7,000 square-foot-area last week.

Delhi firm APJ-SLG Law Offices has hired a non-lawyer as a “principal advisor” in its trade law practice.

AZB & Partners Delhi has hired an indirect tax partner and his team from accountants KPMG, hoping to grow the tax advisory business at the law firm which will compete in the traditional domain of accountancy firms.

Amarchand Mangaldas has hired a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer lawyer as a principal associate designate in its Delhi office.

Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi’s joint chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer (COO) Bithika Anand has resigned after almost 11 years with the firm, as Amarchand Delhi’s auditors have temporarily stepped in until a replacement can be found.

Late salary payments are nothing new for some lawyers.

“It’s a regular feature at some firms and the reason is that the managing partner might not feel like signing cheques on some days,” muses one Delhi partner.

Platinum Partners has grown its lawyer ranks by a quarter in the last three months, taking on three law school graduates and a lateral associate from White & Case in London.

Amarchand, Ashurst and Luthra & Luthra have restarted their work on the exhumed Oil India initial public offering (IPO), which the government hopes will fill its coffers by up to Rs 2,400 crore ($500m).

Trilegal spin-off Phoenix Legal has added two associates in Delhi, vowing to significantly expand its practice there and in Mumbai with lateral hires.

The firm is hoping to hire a lateral partner for its Mumbai office and to double it in size to 10 lawyers by the end of the year.

Phoenix founding partner Abhishek Saxena said: “We are looking around for a couple of candidates. Although we’d be keen to get a partner, if it does not materialise we may want to get a very senior associate.”

Delhi-headquartered law firm King Stubb & Kasiva is set to open a new office in Mumbai within months and has added a new equity partner to its head office ranks.

The firm is currently finalising the negotiations with up to two partners from Mumbai firms to spearhead its new office.

Managing partner Jidesh Kumar (pictured) said: “The Mumbai office would be banking, finance and infrastructure focused. We are looking at having an infrastructure partner from one of the top five law firms there.”