The Legal 500

Seth Dua & Associates provides comprehensive, ‘efficient and accurate’ advice to major telecoms companies. The team displays ‘tremendous 
insight and knowledge on telecom regulatory matters’, and acts on many transactions for a raft of foreign telecoms providers including 
Vodafone, Nortel and Verizon. The team is 
advising Seacom on business structuring
and the regulatory needs associated with the construction of a 15,000km submarine 
cable system that would connect South and East Africa to Europe and South Asia. Team head Atul Dua is praised 
for his ‘willingness to go beyond the terms 
and go that extra mile when asked for’.

AZB & Partners has been involved in some of the largest TMT M&A in the market, 
advising Bharti Airtel on its $10.7bn acquisition of Zain’s African operations from MTC Telecommunication, and representing 
American Tower Corporation on the $450m acquisition of Essar Telecom Infrastructure.

A leviathan of the Indian legal market, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co is regularly involved in significant transactions for major TMT clients, such as 
Gunjan Shah’s leading advice to Aircel Group on the $1.4bn sale of its telecom tower 
business to GTL. The team has also recently 
been advising developers of 3G technology 
options. Amit Kumar advises numerous 
media clients on deals and recently represented Astro on its $21m acquisition of New Delhi print media business Getit Infoservices.

FoxMandal Little handles a range of advisory, transactional and litigation work for domestic 
and international clients. Recent highlights include advising Verizon on a range of matters 
including data protection. Practice head 
Salman Waris is noted for his expertise concerning cyber crime and online gaming.

HSA Advocates focuses on the media and entertainment sector, and recently advised Valuable Group on the legal and regulatory framework governing broadcasting and cable television services in India. Payal Chawla heads the team.

J Sagar Associates handles transactional, regulatory and disputes work for media, telecoms and IT clients, including Verizon, Blue Coat Systems, Aircel and Accenture. Amit Kapur advised Actuate Corporation USA on telecoms regulations including security regulations governing supplies to telecom operators.

LexCounsel provides ‘personal service and in-depth analysis’, advising on potential acquisition and day-to-day needs. Seema Jhingan has ‘excellent knowledge of the telecoms and satellite arenas’ and recently advised Devas Multimedia on the contractual issues arising from the termination of its contract with Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Orange is also a key client.

Link Legal advises media and IT clients on issues including regulatory approvals and IT licences. It also has a thriving sports law practice, advising the IPL cricket league on various matters and representing GMR Sports on licensing, sponsorship and branding agreements. Anand Srivastava heads the team.

Luthra & Luthra regularly handles M&A for blue-chip corporate clients within the telecoms and media industry. This includes recently handling some significant litigation, such as its representation of Etisalat DB Telecom as one of the parties in the high-profile “spectrum scam”. Other clients include Sony, ZEE TV, AT&T, Unitech Wireless and Nokia.

Niche technology firm Pavan Duggal Associates Advocates handles contentious and advisory work but ‘excels at IT litigation’ and, in the form of managing partner Pavan Duggal, has a practitioner ‘of considerable repute’ for cyber law and e-commerce. Recent highlights include securing a landmark judgment regarding the privacy of information stored on a laptop.

S&R Associates is a ‘great team to work with’, and is comfortable handling big-ticket transactions. Rajat Sethi has ‘an ability to drive a deal forward’, and recently advised Sutherland Global Services on its acquisition of business process outsourcing services provider Adventity Global Services.

Rodney Ryder left Kochhar & Co in March 2010 to form new firm Scriboard, which specialises in technology and cyber laws, as well as IP matters. The firm has picked up some excellent instructions and is quickly gaining market recognition. Ryder is regularly involved as an arbitrator in domain name disputes.

Trilegal has an excellent reputation for telecoms regulatory work, although the Bangalore office handles the bulk of work.

Nishith Desai Associates is ‘a top firm for 
TMT matters’. Clients include Mid-DAY, MphasiS, GoAhead Software, Infospace and Sony Music. Gowree Gokhale is recommended.

ALMT Legal represents media groups such as Lokmat and Sakal Papers, as well as a number of film actors and actresses such as Divya Dutta and Suniel Shetty. Hitesh Jain and SR Arun head the team.

A.R.A. LAW has experience advising clients such as Turner Broadcasting System and You Telecom.

AZB & Partners has acted for clients such as Qualcomm, HAV3 Holdings and HSBC Private Equity on TMT transactions. Zia Mody is highly regarded.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co advises its domestic and international clients on corporate and regulatory matters, as well as disputes. It has advised clients such as Reliance MediaWorks.

D H Law Associates’ managing partner Nusrat Hassan is recommended for TMT work. Key clients include Sahara TV.

DSK Legal has experience in advising 
a number of Indian banks on their IT projects. It also represents numerous technology companies.

Economic Laws Practice advises high-profile clients in the film and television industry.

Luthra & Luthra’s ‘first-rate’ team advised Etisalat DB Telecom on the notable 2G spectrum allocation case regarding investigations 
pending before the Central Bureau of Investigations, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax authority. The team also advised PVR Limited on a transaction involving the 
installation and maintenance of a number of high-tech cinema screens across India. Mohit Saraf, 
Rajiv K Luthra and Ameet Datta are recommended.

Majmudar & Co advised IT services company Atos Origin on its purchase of the entire shareholding of Venture Infotek Global from Venture Infotek Mauritius. Akil Hirani and Neerav Merchant are recommended. Anoop Narayanan left the firm.

Naik Naik and Company has an ‘excellent reputation for media matters’, and vast experience in film financing. It also provides regulatory 
advice to clients on outbound and inbound investment in the TMT sector. Ameet Naik is recommended.

Bharucha & Partners’ clients include 
Aditya Birla Group, Nortel Networks and Tower Vision India. Alka Bharucha is recommended.

Desai & Diwanji’s recent highlights 
include advising Quippo Telecom Infrastructure on the sale of its telecom towers business to Tata Teleservices.

Gagrats advised US-based RSM McGladrey on its licensing agreements in India, and 
acted for Jet Airways (India) on its services agreement with IBM.

Gandhi & Associates represented OSI Restaurant Partners on an outsourcing 
agreement with TCS India, and has been 
advising Versace on its franchise and trade 
mark license agreement with Kumar Builders of India.

HSA Advocates is recommended for its expertise in advising media sector clients on matters including IP disputes and regulations.

J Sagar Associates notably advised US television network CBS on its joint 
venture with Reliance Television for the purpose of launching and marketing a portfolio of 
television channels. It also advised SPE - part of 
Sony Pictures Releasing International - in a contractual dispute with Percept Limited.

Khaitan & Co.’s niche lies in advising 
clients such as Barclays Bank (H&B) Mauritius 
and Outsource Partners International on outsourcing. Haigreve Khaitan and Kalpana Unadkat are recommended. Anand Mehta recently joined the team from the defunct firm of Thakker & Thakker.

Vaish Associates advises corporate clients on IT.