Link Legal India Law Services corporate partner Harish Kumar - who had joined in July 2016 - has left the firm and is in the process of setting up new law firm HSK Legal, according to his Linked-in profile.

Alpha Partners, the boutique started in 2012 in Noida by former SRGR lawyer Akshat Pande, demerged from Seth Dua Associates (SDA) on 1 April after a full year of operating as SDA’s Noida office.

Former HSA Advocates partners Sakya Chaudhuri, Avijeet Lala and Anand Shrivastava’s regulatory, disputes and real estate practice Neeti Niyaman, which they started up in April after leaving HSA last month with two partners and eight lawyers, has now grown to a total headcount of 13, after picking up another two associates from firms other than HSA.

Symbiosis Pune 2009 alumnus Rahul Kothari started up Squarely Legal with his wife Shraddha Bhosale who a 2011 alumnus of Shankarrao Chavan Law College.

HSA Advocates regulatory practice partner Sakya Chaudhuri has left the firm with his team including partner Avijeet Lala and recently promoted associate partner Anand Shrivastava, to start up their own venture.

Kochhar & Co Delhi partner Ricky Chopra has gone independent again, setting up Ricky Chopra - International Counsels in Gurgaon with immediate plans to expand with tie-ups in New York and Chandigarh, possibly followed by Mumbai.

Kochhar & Co has hired Sarika Raichur as a partner in Delhi focusing on corporate and private equity, merging part of the firm she had started.

LexOrbis partner Pooja Dodd has gone independent again, restarting Delhi intellectual property-led boutique firm Dodd & Co, which would focus on clients in the “creative industry”.

Former Amarchand Mangaldas private client practice (PCP) director Mugdha Sahal, who had started her own practice Metasis Legal two years ago, has joined Sanctum Wealth Management as head of wealth planning in Mumbai, according to a press release.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas IP partner Nitin Masilamani has left the firm and started up his own IP firm with Delhi managing partner Pallavi Shroff commenting “we wish him all the best”.

K Law has hired as Delhi partners Abhishek Shinde and Atish Kumar Vatts, the two co-founding partners of Citius Law Partners, who did not join HSA Advocates in Bangalore with fellow co-founder Sharath Chandrasekhar in June.

“Pradyuman Dubey, who had left Luthra & Luthra in 2011, has rejoined the firm as a Partner in the firm’s Litigation practice group confirmed Senior Partner Mohit Saraf,” reported Bar & Bench.

HSA Advocates has continued on its self-set expansion course, hiring Sharath Chandrasekhar in its new Bangalore office.

Indian Law Partners (ILP) co-founding partner Piyoosh Gupta has started his own law firm PSG Legal, aiming to expand rapidly.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) partner Vinayak Burman, associate partner Amit Vyas and senior associate Archana Khosla have come together to pursue their entrepreneurial dream by starting their own law firm.

Former Luthra & Luthra associate and Spice Global in-houser Mitali Yadav has started up disputes and intellectual property (IPR) firm Alba Law Offices in Delhi with Amity Delhi 2011 classmate Zeeshan Hashmi. Yadav started up Alba in May 2015, after one year of working in house with Spice. Hashm...

NLSIU Bangalore 2001 alumnus Azmul Haque left Olswang Singapore in September to start up Collyer Law, in Singapore. NLSIU batch mate Palash Gupta joins Collyer as India Desk head, and former Duane Morris & Selvam partner James Wong joins as Director. Collyer will advise start-ups and small businesses.

Delhi based lawyer Abhay Vohra, who went independent from big law firms a year ago, advised CL Educate on acquiring 51 percent stake in education consulting company Accendre Knowledge Management, which was advised by its in-house legal team.

Khaitan & Co Kolkata associate partner Sucharita Basu and principal associates Sanjay Basu and Anshumala Bansal left the firm on 19 September, to start up Aquilaw.

Four Bangalore-based associates from Dua Associates and K Law have started up the law firm Spectrum Legal in Bangalore.