Ajay Joseph, who resigned from Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (L&S) as partner in March this year, has started boutique law firm Veyrah Law, along with independent legal services professional Sandhya Sondhi.
While Sondhi will take care of real estate and litigation practices Joseph will advise clients on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and transactions.
“Veyrah Law has been established to nurture meaningful relations with domestic and international mid-market clients,†Joseph said in a statement. “Our strength lies in the ability to provide personalised solutions,†he said.
An alumnus of Durham University (the UK), Joseph started his career with law firm Fox Mandal Little as an associate in 2006. Later he worked with Khaitan & Co and Amarchand Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co before moving to Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan in September 2014.
Currently, Veyrah Law has a team of six lawyers.
In September, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan hired Shafaq Uraizee Sapre, who was corporate and transaction partner at Mumbai-based law firm Bharucha & Partners, to head its corporate practice in the west and south regions.
“As regulations are becoming more stringent and complex, companies are relying more on boutique law firms who can provide hands-on support to clients,†said Arti Mashru, founder of consulting firm LexBlurb.
An increasing number of senior partners are choosing to start own law firms to cash in on the opportunities in the legal space at a time when legal and professional expenses of corporate houses have been rising. Total legal and professional costs for Indian publicly listed companies rose over 7% to Rs 25,593 crore in FY-2015-16 from a year ago, according to a VCCircle study.
Last month, Rishabh Mastaram, who was previously a partner at law firm Naik Naik & Co, started law firm RGM Legal which focuses on M&As, startups and legal audit.
This week, Sakya Chaudhuri, who was a partner at Hemant Sahai-founded HSA Advocates, left the firm along with partners Avijit Lala and Anand Shrivastava to start a boutique infrastructure advisory firm.
In November, another partner at HSA Advocate, Ranjit Prakash left the firm to start law firm Archeus Law with a focus on real estate and dispute resolution.
Around the same time, Harry Chawla, who was a partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, left the entity to start Atlas Law to advise clients in the realty, corporate as well as banking and finance segments.
“More senior lawyers are likely to set up boutique firms with a limited number of practice areas,†Mashru said.