core sector communique

The biggest grows even bigger

~Amarchand Mangaldas launches new office at Ahmedabad~

New Delhi, Tuesday, April 24, 2012: Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff Co. (AMSS), moving a step further in its bid to be the biggest and the best law firm of the country, has today, launched its new office in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Gujarat. Being the home-turf of the founding family of the firm, the city of Ahmedabad has a special connotation and regard. Mrs. Bharti Shroff, Senior Partner, who co-founded AMSS with her husband, the late Mr. Suresh Shroff, inaugurated the new office located in Prahladpur, one of the key localities in Ahmedabad. Other high-ups present on the occasion were the two Managing Partners, Mr. Shardul S. Shroff and Mr. Cyril S. Shroff accompanied by Mrs. Pallavi Shroff, Partner, and Mrs. Vandana Shroff, Partner.

This key development is part of the bigger strategy to double in size to 1,000 lawyers and 100 partners by its 100th birthday in 2017. Currently, the firm has 555 lawyers including 59 partners, offering comprehensive legal advisory services through its offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. As the firm is growing and extending its orbit, there is an increased emphasis on reaching out to the locations showing signs of speedy growth.

The regional expansion initiative is spearheaded by Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, Partner, who has distinguished experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, Joint Ventures, Financing, and Corporate Advisory group with special focus on advising clients on Real Estate and Private Equity transactions. The litigation practice would be lead by Mr. Tejas Karia, Partner, who specializes in International and Domestic Commercial Arbitrations, Corporate Litigations, Information Technology Law, Real Estate Disputes, Securities Laws and General Corporate Advisory. Born and brought up in Gujarat, the excitement is more than palpable for Tejas as the regional office holds peculiar significance for him. He plans to facilitate the firm in establishing its presence in his home-ground.

At the launch, Mr. Agarwal stated, “In the absence of a structured full-service corporate legal advisory firm in Gujarat, Amarchand is set to provide the hitherto unavailable niche services from its diverse portfolio”.

With the present scale of 6-7 qualified lawyers, the firm has plans to expand its operational strength by taking this number up to 9 within the first year of operation.

AMSS already has various clients from Gujarat, across sectors such as petroleum and petrochemicals, power, engineering & auto, mines & minerals pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, ports & ship building etc. The physical proximity and locational advantage of an office in Gujarat would provide an additional edge to the organisation in fulfilling its aims and aspirations in servicing the existing clients as well as acquiring new business. With the longest coastline in the country, Gujarat offers tremendous geographical advantage providing a direct access to European and African countries. It can easily cater to North, East and Southern regions of the country. Moreover, Gujarat has experienced rapid economic growth in the recent years due to the development of automobile, infrastructure, petrochemicals and IT industries.

The firm has consistently received accolades for its excellence by winning prestigious awards and rankings. International Financial Law Review (IFLR), for the 3^rd consecutive year, has honored Amarchand Mangaldas, as “The National Law firm of the Year, 2011-2012”. In the recent Mergermarket League Table of Legal Advisers to Global M&A for Q1 2012 Amarchand ranked 1 with deal value of USD 11,646 Million. Furthermore, in the Bloomberg 2012 Q1 Asia Pacific M&A Legal Advisory League Table, Amarchand ranked 1 with 12 deals. Also, the firm won the International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Awards 2012 for the 2nd year in a row. It was also adjudged the ‘exclusive winner’ of the ILO overall award for India. Recently, the Managing Partner, Mr. Shardul Shroff, was honored for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to the field of Law’, by Chambers and Partners, at The Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards 2012. Mrs. Pallavi Shroff, Head of dual practices (Competition & Dispute Resolution) of the firm, has been adjudged the Best Lawyer in Dispute Resolution in Asia at the Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Asia Women in Business Law Awards. She was also awarded as the 'Best Woman Lawyer' of the Year 2012 at the Legal Era Law Awards 2011-12.