India > TMT > Law firm and leading lawyer rankings

Led by Atul Dua, the practice at Advaita Legal counts Bharti Airtel, Aveva, Dailymotion and Microsoft among its clients. The team advises Gemalto on the use of contactless passports in India and on licensing from the Department of Telecommunications for its contactless banking cards and advised Wipro on data privacy, confidentiality, and data protection issues.

The ‘outstanding’ team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas counts Microsoft, Warburg Pincus, Google, and Samsung India Electronics among its clients. Asim Abbas, who was a new arrival from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, advised Reliance on the launch and implementation of Volte technology with the world’s largest end-to-end IP network-based operations, and Arun Prabhu advised Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank on the procurement and implementation of a customised non-core banking solution from IBM. Rahul Goel has ‘superb domain knowledge’ and director Anu Monga is also noted.

The ‘excellent’ practice at Kochhar & Co. provides ‘practical’, ‘commercial’ and ‘high-quality advice’, and has particular strengths in the technology field, including licensing, outsourcing, e-commerce, and telecoms. ‘Star’ TMT specialist Stephen Mathias, who is ‘prompt’ and ‘very experienced’, advised ExxonMobil on the compliance, regulatory, and privacy aspects of the use of voice over internet protocol in India, and Suhas Srinivasiah assisted Coursera with its choice of legal entity and e-commerce regulations in India.

Naik Naik & Company is recommended for its media expertise, and counts Warner Bros., Amazon, BBC Worldwide and Viacom 18 Media among its clients. Areas of expertise include talent and production agreements and commercial contracts, licensing commissioning, and regulation issues. Ameet Naik and Madhu Gadodia are the key contacts, and Ravi Suryawanshi, who made partner in 2016, and associate partner Abha Shah are also recommended.

Nishith Desai Associates has acted for such clients as Netflix, Mphasis, Flipkart and Zensar Technologies. Vaibhav Parikh and Vivek Kathpalia head the practice from Bangalore and Singapore, respectively, and Gowree Gokhale is also recommended.

Shardul Shroff heads the practice at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, which advises on contentious, regulatory, and transactional aspects of IT and telecoms matters. The team advises Facebook and WhatsApp on various legal issues arising out of hosting and maintaining its services, particularly liability and compliance issues. GV Anand Bhushan was a new arrival from Cognizant. Asim Abbas left the team to join Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

Trilegal has a particular focus on telecom regulatory matters and TMT M&A, and advises on outsourcing contracts, new technologies, e-commerce, data privacy, and fintech matters. Practice head Rahul Matthan advised Amazon on the regulatory framework for procuring dark fibre and setting up a private network in India to enhance its cloud computing services and assisted Xiaomi with the launch of its live video streaming application in India and prepaid payment instruments. Senior associate Nirupama Jayasimha is also noted.

Led by Hitesh Jain, the practice at ALMT Legal stand out for its expertise in the music, motion picture, digital media, distribution and publishing sectors. The team advised ALT Digital Media on the drafting of various artist and producer agreements, as well as terms of use and privacy policy for its website and mobile applications. Statira Ranina and Souvik Paul Mazumdar are other key figures.

Rajesh Begur heads the team at ARA Law, which provides telecoms and data protection regulatory advice and handles TMT M&A transactions. The team assisted Savvis with obtaining other service providers (OSP) registration.

HSA Advocates is recommended for its expertise in the IT and telecoms sectors, including M&A and regulatory matters, and is active in the media sector. Anjan Dasgupta advises Lava International on a range of commercial agreements including technology and software agreements and user agency agreements across various jurisdictions, and Aparajit Bhattacharya assisted iLivevr with the structuring of its Singapore holding company.

J Sagar Associates has notable strengths in TMT M&A and private equity matters. The team advised Nielsen India on a joint venture agreement between Broadcast Audience Research Council and Tam Media Research, and handled Amazon’s acquisition of shares from Qwikcilver Solutions. Sajai Singh is noted.

The team at Khaitan & Co. assisted Aircel and its shareholder Maxis Communications Berhad with the merger of the entire wireless telecoms business of Reliance Communications and Reliance Telecom into Aircel and Dishnet Wireless, and provided regulatory advice to Accenture Solutions on the use of satellite phones in India. Corporate lawyer Sharad Abhyankar and private equity investments-focused Ganesh Prasad are recommended, as is associate partner Harsh Walia.

Led by Neerav Merchant, the practice at Majmudar & Partners is advising Capricorn on Indian e-commerce regulations concerning its exit from Yepme.com, and Akil Hirani is assisting KPMG Global Services with the establishment of a nexus with its group companies pertaining to sharing of infrastructure and OSP telecoms laws.

Gautam Saha and Srinath Dasari head the practice at AZB & Partners, which is recommended for TMT M&A and private equity investment transactions. Key clients include Twitter, SoftBank Group, Norwest Venture Partners and Google. Chetan Nagendra and Nanditha Gopal are recommended.

Advaya Legal counts FreeCharge, Maersk, Heckyl Technologies, DigiVation Digital Solutions and Viacom among its clients. The practice handles a wide range of digital, e-commerce, and emerging technology-related assignments, including advice on regulatory issues, transaction structuring, distribution and licensing aspects, and privacy. Ramesh Vaidyanathan is the key contact.

Led by Anand Desai, the practice at DSK Legal has notable experience in the media and entertainment sectors, with particular strengths acting for artists and in contentious matters.

Dhir & Dhir Associates’ clients have included Microsoft, Tower Vision, and PVR, and the practice has considerable litigation expertise in the TMT space. Managing partner Maneesha Dhir is the name to note.

Dua Associates recently represented Singapore Telecommunications and subsidiaries before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal concerning forex gains in AGR computation and advised NEC India on various issues surrounding cyber security and facial recognition. Abhinav Rastogi and B K Syngal, who is a senior principal at Dua Consulting, are recommended.

The team at Economic Laws Practice has advised clients including Accel Frontline, Google and Reliance Infratel, and its expertise spans all aspects of the TMT sector, including commercial, transactional, regulatory, tax, and litigation advice. Rohan Shah is now an independent counsel.

Gagrats advised Hinduja Group on the termination of its agreement with eServices@Symphony and on remedies available for recovery of costs, and assisted Kirloskar Brothers with its manufacturing and technology license agreement with Spp Pumps. Haseena Tapia Shahpurwalla is the key contact.

The team at IndusLaw assisted Exotel Techcom with the telecoms and IT regulatory approvals required to conduct its business in India and advised Yahoo India on the applicability of the recent clarification on section 31D of the Copyright Act. Practice head Suneeth Katarki, Avik Biswas and Srinivas Katta are key contacts.

At LexCounsel, Seema Jhingan advised Aniara Communications India on the applicable foreign direct investment laws in the satellite infrastructure sector in India, and the team assisted Noble Squirrels with the agreements for the development and licensing of a mobile-based software for android systems. Dimpy Mohanty and Alishan Naqvee are also noted.

DH Law Associates merged with Link Legal – India Law Services, and the ‘business-focused’ practice, which is led by Ravi Varma, has strengths in the media, technology and telecoms sectors, with considerable expertise in contentious matters. Prasad Dhande and Nusrat Hassan stand out for their ‘knowledge’ and ‘robust strategy’; Dhande represented Indus Towers before the Bombay High Court in a dispute pertaining to a tender for establishing communication towers on highways. Siddhartha Srivastava is also noted.

Mani Chengappa & Mathur has a key focus on technology-related matters, with experience in commercial and outsourcing contracts and licensing. Utham Chengappa, who has ‘extremely good industry experience’ and is ‘an effective communicator and negotiator’, and Neil Mathur jointly head the team.

Manilal Kher Ambalal & Co Advocates, Solicitors and Notary advises prominent artists and entertainers on domestic and cross-border contractual agreements. The team advised an artist on her involvement in an upcoming web series, and drafted the contract for a live performance in the US. Vikram Trivedi and Rashid Boatwalla are the key figures.

Phoenix Legal advises on regulatory and transactional aspects in the telecoms sector, and has particular strengths in the media and entertainment industry. The team assisted Reliance Broadcast Network and its associate companies with the sale of a 49% stake in its radio broadcasting business and 100% divestment of its general entertainment television broadcasting business to Essel Group. Corporate lawyer Saket Shukla has a particular focus on TMT, and Manjula Chawla and Siddharth Hariani are other key names.

Scriboard represented Facebook in various disputes concerning the Information Technology Act, and advised Perkins Coie on data privacy, IT law compliance and encryption. Other clients include General Motors, ITC Infotech India and Amazon. Rodney Ryder is the key figure.