Winners

Antitrust and Competition

Firm of the year
Trilegal

Lawyer of the year
Avaantika Kakkar, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Aviation (Including Aerospace and Defence)

Firm of the year
Dentons Link Legal

Lawyer of the year
Anand Shah, AZB & Partners

Banking and Finance

Firm of the year
Talwar Thakore & Associates

Lawyer of the year
Shardul Shroff, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

Capital Markets

Firm of the year
IndusLaw

Lawyer of the year
Prashant Gupta, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

Corporate and M&A

Firm of the year
Saraf and Partners

Lawyer of the year
Zia Mody, AZB & Partners

Rising Star of the year
Meher Mehta, S&R Associates

Data Protection

Firm of the year
Spice Route Legal

Lawyer of the year
Gowree Gokhale, Nishith Desai Associates

Fintech and FSR

Firm of the year
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Lawyer of the year
Mathew Chacko, Spice Route Legal

Insurance

Firm of the year
Tuli & Co

Lawyer of the year
Neeraj Tuli, Tuli & Co

Intellectual Property

Firm of the year
Remfry & Sagar

Lawyer of the year
Ashwin Julka, Remfry & Sagar

Rising Star of the year
Taarika Pillai, Obhan & Associates

IP – Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys

Firm of the year
R. K. Dewan & Co.

Lawyer of the year
Mohan Dewan, R. K. Dewan & Co.

Labour and Employment

Firm of the year
IndusLaw

Lawyer of the year
Nohid Nooyeyezdan, AZB & Partners

Rising Star of the year
Abhimanyu Pal, Khaitan & Co LLP

Life Sciences and Healthcare

Firm of the year
Nishith Desai Associates

Lawyer of the year
Milind Antani, Nishith Desai Associates

Dispute Resolution – Litigation

Firm of the year
DSK Legal

Lawyer of the year
Pallavi Shroff, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

Dispute Resolution – Arbitration

Firm of the year
PSL Advocates and Solicitors

Lawyer of the year
Shaneen Parikh, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Private Equity and Investments

Firm of the year
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

Lawyer of the year
Ravindra Bandhakavi, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Rising Star of the year
Shreya Dua, Khaitan & Co LLP

Projects and Energy

Firm of the year
Krishnamurthy & Co

Lawyer of the year
Aakanksha Joshi, Economic Laws Practice

Rising Star of the year
Astha Srivastava, Trilegal

Real Estate and Construction

Firm of the year
DSK Legal

Lawyer of the year
Hardeep Sachdeva, AZB & Partners

Restructuring and Insolvency

Firm of the year
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Lawyer of the year
Bahram Vakil, AZB & Partners

Rising Star of the year
Saloni Thakkar, AZB & Partners

Shipping and WTO

Firm of the year
BRUS CHAMBERS, Advocates & Solicitors

Lawyer of the year
Shiraz Patodia, Dua Associates

Rising Star of the year
Shreya Dahiya, Kochhar & Co.

Tax

Firm of the year
Khaitan & Co LLP

Lawyer of the year
Ajay Bahl, AZB & Partners

Rising Star of the year
Abhishek Agarwal, Vaish Associates

TMT

Firm of the year
Trilegal

Lawyer of the year
Stephen Mathias, Kochhar & Co.

Rising Star of the year
Naqeeb Ahmed Kazia, IndusLaw

Foreign Firm of the year

Allen & Overy
Allen & Overy’s India Group, has over 100 partners and associates across its international network of offices, particularly in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. In 2023, the corporate team handled the largest M&A transaction in the infrastructure and materials sector in India.

Regional Awards (City Focus)

Argus Partners
With offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata, Argus Partners’ Mumbai office stood out for its market leading banking and finance, dispute resolution, TMT practices. The firm is also highly ranked in dispute resolution in the NCR region and has a expanding presence in Bengaluru.

Rising Law Firm of the year

Saraf and Partners
Saraf and Partners entered the Asia Pacific 2024 guide rankings in an impressive six categories including fintech, life sciences, and private equity. The firm’s M&A practice was promoted to tier 1 due to its steady flow of big-ticket M&A and corporate transactions adding up to more than $43 billion in the preceding year.

In-house Team of the year

Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries’ legal team earns the in-house team of the year award for their unwavering commitment to excellence. They adeptly protect company interests and support operations, notably facilitating the 8.5 billion dollar merger with Disney, further enhancing Reliance’s reputation.

In-house Diversity Champion

3M
The legal team at 3M wins the in-house diversity champion award. The legal department actively supports and promotes company-wide diversity and inclusion initiatives. Noteworthy is the consistent improvement in the gender ratio at the company over the years.

Rising Star In-house Counsel

Kartik Maheshwari, Netflix
Kartik Maheshwari, serving as business affairs and legal counsel at Netflix, earns the rising star in-house counsel of the year award. With a distinctive blend of legal and business expertise, he passionately empowers creative vision and utilises data to deliver compelling content, showcasing excellence in his role.

Most Transformative In-house Team of the year

Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra’s legal team earns the most transformative in-house team of the year award for their pioneering use of technology. They optimise costs and enhance efficiency through cutting-edge tools like AI-driven contract review and internal knowledge repositories. These innovations ensured meticulous legal tracking and facilitated seamless commercial deals.

In-house Lawyer of the year

Padmaja Chakravarty, Citigroup
Padmaja secures the in-house lawyer of the year award. Her leadership played a pivotal role in the historic sale of Citigroup’s consumer businesses in India, marking a significant milestone in foreign bank M&A transactions and advancing Citigroup’s global strategy refresh.

Innovative Law Firm of the year

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co is hugely invested in technology and digital efforts, enhancing work efficiency and productivity for lawyers, and creating innovative platforms that can help deliver seamless solutions to clients. Introduction of these initiatives have enabled the firm to create more sustainable efficiency gains while adding value to service quality for clients.

ESG Firm of the year

Krishnamurthy & Co
Krishnamurthy & Co integrates ESG considerations into its legal advice and developed specialised teams to address the legal implications of sustainability, responsible investing, and corporate social responsibility. By providing guidance on ESG matters, the team successfully helps its clients navigate the complex regulatory landscape and achieve their ESG goals.

Boutique Firm of the year

Tuli & Co
Insurance specialist law firm Tuli & Co is a ‘go-to for anything insurance-related’. The team is regularly instructed by both domestic and foreign insurance companies in relation to their India operations. Recently it acted for multiple leading Indian insurers on complex ransomware attacks and unauthorised access.

Inclusivity Initiatives Firm of the year

Obhan & Associates
Obhan & Associates has actively promoted the hiring of female lawyers and the team has always had at least 50% female employees. Further evidence of its commitment to diversity and inclusion can be seen where 6 out of the 7 partners at the firm are female.

Leading Lawyer of the year

Ajay Bahl, AZB & Partners
Tracing back to as far as 2008, Ajay Bahl has been continuously ranked as a leading individual in corporate and M&A and tax. Being dual qualified, both as a lawyer as well as a qualified chartered accountant, he brings a unique perspective which very few Indian lawyers are in a position to offer.

Managing Partner of the year

Cyril Shroff, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Cyril Shroff has been the managing partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas since 2015. With over 41 years of experience in a range of core practice areas, Shroff is leading the firm which has seen an increasing number of distressed asset M&A transactions, corporate governance and the team is at the forefront of using AI-based legal technologies.

Leading Firm of the year

Trilegal
Trilegal is ranked across all 19 practice areas currently covered in the India chapter and is ranked in tier 1 across 11 categories. According to a client, ‘the biggest advantage of working with Trilegal is getting cohesive and comprehensive advice from multiple disciplines in a consolidated manner. This makes them standout when compared to other law firms.’