Legal Era Rising Star Awards 2022: Winners Announced

7th Edition of Legal Era - Legal Media Group's Annual 40 Under 40 Rising Star Awards 2022

26th November Saturday afternoon saw a significant occasion come alive in the India Legal Industry – The Legal Era - Legal Media Group's 7th Annual 40 Under 40 Rising Star Awards 2022.

Conducted at The Imperial, New Delhi, the event recognized Young Achievers to celebrate the stunning demonstration of their entrepreneurial spirit and excellence, carve unconventional growth paths, and offer innovative legal solutions in keeping with the global landscape.

Legal Era-Legal Media Group, India's leading global think tank is in the business of empowering the legal community and the industry since 2007. The nominations for 40 under 40 came from legal counsels from global firms, MNCs, the best young lawyers working in Law Firms, in-house teams, young companies, startups, and some extremely promising GCs under 40 handling challenging global and pan-India roles. As always, the nominations were plentiful keeping the Jury members exceptionally busy.

The event kickstarted with a thought-provoking keynote address by Dr. Lalit Bhasin, President of the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF). He referred to the 40 under 40 as the backbone of the legal profession. That paved the way for the awards ceremony with the awards presenters on stage being distinguished members of the legal fraternity.

The first segment of awards was presented by Gourab Banerji, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Vineet Vij, Group General Counsel, Tech Mahindra; and Rajeev Chopra, Managing Director – Legal, Accenture.

The second segment of awards was felicitated by Rajbeer S. Sachdeva, President, Group Legal, JK Organisation; Dr. Lalit Bhasin, President of the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF), and Vishal Sharma, Managing Partner, Bluewater Advisors

And the third and last segment of awards was presented by Pooja Mehtani, GC, General Counsel, Asia Service Centres & Company Secretary, Sun Life; and Aakriti Raizada, Founder and Managing Editor, Legal Era-Legal Media Group.

The awardees expressed utmost gratitude to Legal Era, the jury, their teams, mentors, and families thanking them for being the reason behind their successes and winning moments such as this one. Many applauded their cheerleaders including their young children, spouses, and friends in the audience. It was indeed a moment to treasure as each awardee had worked hard to build their standing in the very dynamic and challenging filed of law.

Gourab Banerji, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India's closing address resonated with many. "Certainly, there is a life outside the law too – so do something to broaden your horizon. And tomorrow morning, just read Part IVA of the Constitution. It is very interesting and will make you think."

The enthralling moments of awards acceptance, their desire to win more and more accolades in the coming years, and the increasing number of nominations every year are a testament to Legal Era's efforts to recognize, reward, and offer a platform that provides the much-needed push! The legal fraternity looks forward to the 8th Edition sooner than soonest.

Here are the winners of the Legal Era - Legal Media Group's 7th Annual 40 Under 40 Rising Star Awards 2022!

Anindita Roychowdhury has 15 years of experience and is a member of the Firm's Litigation & Dispute Resolution team. She specialises in Insolvency and Bankruptcy law and frequently advises and represents Resolution Professionals, Corporates, Banks and Financial Institutions and Resolution Applicants.

She spent around 12 years in Litigation, Arbitration and Commercial Litigation Advisory. Her expertise includes Insolvency and Bankruptcy, pleading before Courts and Tribunals, formulating strategy and commercial litigation advisory.

Anubhav is a part of the corporate transactions of the Firm. Anubhav advises clients on a wide range of laws, such as energy and power sector related laws, real estate laws, companies' law, foreign exchange laws, securities regulations, and education laws. Anubhav is involved in several M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions. Anubhav also specializes in EPC contracts and project finance.

Some of Anubhav's notable clients include Africa Energy S.A. (a Senegal based power producer), Sterlite Group, Hindustan Power Group, Moser Baer Group, Coastal Projects Limited, Jal Power Corporation Limited, Manav Rachna Group of Institutions and Indus World Schools. Anubhav is involved in advising clients in several cross border transactions, including in setting up of power projects, in Nepal, Senegal, Bhutan, and Maldives.

Anubhav is a graduate of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University at Lucknow.

Anubhuti is an Associate Partner in the Competition Practice at P&A Law Offices. Her practice includes advising clients on matters relating to merger control, anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance and competition enforcement procedures.

Anubhuti has represented clients from diverse industry sectors before the Competition Commission of India, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, the High Court of Delhi and the Supreme Court of India, on matters involving abuse of dominance on various competition law issues, as well as assisted in conducting competition law compliance training.

Anubhuti has also prepared notification analyses of proposed mergers, acquisitions, and joint venture transactions, as well as assisted in notifying M&A transactions before the CCI.

Some of Anubhuti's notable work includes, but is not limited to, the following

Advising and representing Amazon Seller Services Private Limited in a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court, challenging an order passed by the CCI directing an investigation against Amazon in relation to the exclusive launch of smartphones; representing MakeMyTrip India Private Limited in an ongoing investigation directed by the CCI in relation to information filed by the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India, Fab Hotels and Treebo Hotels; advising and representing the Competition Commission of India (CCI) before the Supreme Court of India (SC) in an appeal against the decision of the erstwhile Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) setting aside the order passed by the CCI penalizing Schott Glass for abuse of dominance.

She has also advised and represented General Motors India Private Limited in two separate proceedings before the Supreme Court of India (SC) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in connection with a matter involving an allegation of abuse of dominance of restrictive agreements/arrangements in relation to automobile spare parts.

Apporva mainly focuses on General Corporate & Commercial advisory, Private Equity, Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Due Diligences, Commercial Contracts and Real Estate. Apoorva regularly advises his clients on a plethora of complex legal issues, ranging from company laws and other allied laws, real estate laws and foreign exchange laws, amongst others. He also regularly advises his clients on their day-to-day corporate business operations and compliances, related matters. Apoorva also has an extensive experience in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts. He has also assisted and advised his clients throughout the entire life-cycle of a transaction ranging from giving general structuring advice, entry strategy, conducting due-diligences, drafting, finalizing and negotiating the transactional documents and further advising on exit strategies.

Apoorva has advised and represented his clients in sectors as diverse as QSR, e-commerce pharmacy, fertilizers & petrochemicals, real estate, pharmacy distribution, textiles, IT / ITeS, pharmaceutical companies, re-insurance brokerage, fashion line including advising and / or representing HNI's.

Apoorva is a graduate of the National Law University, Jodhpur in 2008 with Honours in Trade Law and is admitted to the Bar Council of Delhi. He is also a member of Delhi High Court Bar Association.

Arman Sharma is a Head of compliance and investigation & White Collar Crime of Anand Sharma & Associates. With over 14 years of experience, Arman has extensive experience in providing legal services for numerous domestic and international listed companies before various investigating agencies. He has spearheaded various proceedings pertaining to Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, Foreign Exchange Management, 1999, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and other regulatory enactments. He has extensive experience in international commercial and domestic arbitration; corporate and commercial litigation; regulatory practices and securities law. He focuses on litigation, arbitration and investigations.

He has done his LL.B from Institute of Law and Management Studies Gurugram, and LLM in Comparative and International Dispute Resolution from School of International Arbitration, Queen Mary University of London in 2016.

Arman is enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi.

Arman is a member of International Bar Association (IBA); Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA); New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA) and Delhi Bar Association (DBA).

Arman along with his team have worked on the Judicial reforms required in the criminal law with an aim in exploring measures enabling a reduction in the pendency of the criminal cases at all staged in all courts in the country.

Arush Khanna (MCIArb, MMIArb) is an Advocate & Legal Consultant enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi. He started his practice in 2012 after graduating from the Symbiosis Law School, Pune and has also done his Masters (Business Laws) from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

After having worked in M/s Karanjawala & Co. and in the chambers Mr. Sanjeev Anand, Senior Advocate at the Delhi High Court, Arush started his independent counsel and advisory practice in New Delhi before co-founding Numen Law Offices in 2019. An emerging firm which has already been recognized and awarded by prestigious associations such as the India Business Law Journal, Asian Legal Business, Business World and Legal Era.

Arush specializes in Commercial Disputes in the field of Arbitration, Insolvency, Real Estate, Projects & Infrastructure. He has advised and represented several fortune 100, multinational as well top Indian companies before several courts and tribunals across India.

Arush is deeply rooted in legal academia and writing. He has over 25 publications for international and national law journals. He is regularly invited to write columns by the Indian Express. Arush is also a regular lecturer and is invited to speak by several law schools on topics relating to commercial law.

Arvind has over 8 years of experience in international commercial arbitration, commercial mediation, commercial and criminal litigation, insolvency and bankruptcy laws, and white-collar crime.

He has represented Indian and foreign clients from diverse industry sectors including, infrastructure, labor, real estate, shipping and pharmaceutical industries, before various district courts, consumer fora, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT), the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Arvind also has extensive experience in handling matters relating to offences of money laundering, infrastructure contracts, debt recovery, arbitration, mediation and consumer disputes.

Some of Arvind's notable work includes, but is not limited to the following:

Represented Angul Energy Limited (previously known as Bhushan Energy Ltd) in the matter of M/s. ISGEC Heavy Engineering Pvt. Ltd. vs Bhushan Energy Limited (two claims), before an Arbitral Tribunal presided by the former Chief Justice of India in challenging the claims worth above INR 900 Million. The proceedings arise out of alleged non-payment under contracts and work orders for sale, purchase, and erection of industrial boilers; represented Tata Steel in the acquisition of the Bhushan Steel Limited under the IBC proceedings; represented Bhushan Energy Limited in a criminal case filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office; and separately in a case against the State Bank of India valued at INR 500 Million; represented Tata Steel BSL Limited in relation to challenges to the implementation of the resolution plan approved by the NCLAT before the Allahabad High Court, Odisha High Court, Delhi High Court, Uttarakhand High Court, Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India among others.

Ashish Chandra primarily practices in the arena of Customs/International Trade (WTO). He has extensive experience in WTO Dispute Settlement proceedings whereinhe represented the Government of India as the lead counsel before a WTO Panel in its first Compliance proceedings under Article 21.5 of the DSU as well as India's first and only Arbitration proceedings under Article 22.6 of the DSU. He was also India's lead counsel in the appeal before the WTO Appellate Body in WT/DS430.

Additionally, Ashish has also extensively advised various government departments in India as well as foreign governments and private organizations on issues concerning WTO covered agreements, Foreign trade Policy, Rules of origin, Free Trade Agreements, custom related issues, issues concerning FSSAI and BIS etc. Ashish also regularly represents clients in trade remedial investigations such as antidumping duty; countervailing duty and safeguard duty investigations before the DGTR (formerly DGAD) as well as before the appellate forums such as the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India; High Courts and the Hon'ble CESTAT. He has also represented Indian exporters in trade remedial investigations initiated by other jurisdictions including the US ITC and the European Commission and has also advised the Government of India on countervailing duty investigations initiated by other countries against India.

Most recently, Ashish represented three Indian manufacturers of PU Leather as applicants before the DGTR for imposition of anti-dumping duty on import of PU Leather from China PR and was successful in getting a positive recommendation from DGTR which was subsequently also accepted by the Department of Revenue, Government of India. Notably, the issuance of custom notification by Department of Revenue to impose anti-dumping duty on import of PU Leather is one of few instances in 2022 wherein it has accepted the recommendation of the DGTR, as recommendations of DGTR in most of the other cases have been rejected. Ashish has taught courses on Indian trade laws at the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Noida.

He is also a frequent writer and has co-authored a chapter "India- Agricultural Products: Defending India's First SPS Dispute" in the book "WTO Dispute Settlement at Twenty" published by Springer. He has also co-authored articles on 'Ecommerce for India in a Developing World: An Int'l Trade Law Perspective' which was published in Journal of World Trade and 'The Public Interest Gamble in an Anti- Dumping Inquiry-testing Indian waters" which was published by the GNLU Law Review. Most recently, he has co-authored a chapter "Understanding the SPS Regulatory Framework in the Indian context" in the book "Handbook on Product Standards and International Trade" which has been published by Wolters Kluwer.

He is regularly invited to speak on trade law issues and has also taken sessions on SPS Agreement for delegates from developing and least developing countries in a Specialized training programme on Standards, Regulations and WTO SPS and TBT Measures under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. He also sits on panels of moot court competitions on International trade.

Ashish holds legal expertise in Insolvency & Restructuring and Banking & Finance including investment in stressed assets, mergers and acquisitions of stressed and insolvency assets.

He has been advising a variety of clients on insolvency and restructuring matters including corporates, the investors, the banks, financial institutions, asset reconstruction companies, non-banking financial companies, resolution professionals, liquidators, etc. Ashish has successfully advised many acquirers on acquisitions of the assets which are financially stressed and of assets in insolvency resolution and liquidation.

He has also advised many stressed asset funds and special situation funds for investment in financially stressed companies through structured investments, non-convertible and convertible debentures both listed and unlisted.

Ashish regularly advises non-banking financial companies, financial institutions, debt funds, etc. for structured financing of corporates, project financing, etc.

He has also handled many matters of mergers & acquisitions, private equity, strategic investments, joint ventures and investment restructuring in the infrastructure sector.

Ashish regularly writes on the legal issues relating to Restructuring and Insolvency and Banking & Finance.

Awards and Recognition

Ashish has been recognized as a 'Next Generation Partner' by 'Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022'.

Ashish led the transaction team, which was awarded "Innovation in Managing Complexity and Scale – Asia Pacific headquartered firms" by 'Financial Times Asia Pacific Innovative Lawyer Awards 2018'.

Ashish graduated in 2010 from Gujarat National Law University which is one of most premier law universities in India and since then he has been with DSK Legal.

Deep Roy is the founding partner at Equilex. Deep has extensive experience in the banking and finance space and has received recognition from several international legal rating agencies, as mentioned below. Deep's experience includes trade finance, structured finance, acquisition finance, asset finance, project finance, restructuring (whether on stressed assets or otherwise), asset reconstruction and other syndicated lending transactions. Such debt transactions include cross border structures including matters dealing with external commercial borrowing regulations, overseas direct investment regulations and their respective security and contractual comforts.

He has also been assisting clients with legal advice on their product structuring (including retail products) and providing standard documents in relation to the same. He has gained experience on advising clients in the fintech sector and collaborating with banks and financial institutions in this space. In addition to the banking practice, he has also been providing regulatory advice to clients on exchange control regulations in India and on other regulations issued by the Reserve Bank of India ("RBI").

Some of the recognition received by Deep from global rating agencies are as follows:

RSG rankings recognised Deep as a leading practitioner in the past two editions. IFLR Asia Pacific 2019 recognised Deep to be "Highly Regarded" in Banking and Finance.

Gaurav Nair, founder of Saga Legal, is a well-established litigator, renowned for his expertise in commercial litigation and dispute resolution. He advises and represents global conglomerates, major Indian businesses, Public Sector Undertakings, HNIs, and state governments, in a varied spectrum of litigation and arbitration.

With substantial experience in assisting a wide selection of clients across several industry sectors, Gaurav is highly regarded for his strategic and legal acumen in addressing disputes arising from corporate and commercial transactions. The repertoire of Gaurav's work includes several landmark matters concerning constitutional issues, insolvency and bankruptcy-related disputes, white collar crimes and corporate fraud, besides commercial arbitrations.

An expert in handling a wide array of contentious mandates, Gaurav has extensive experience in handling matters concerning Contracts & Agreements, Banking & Finance, Insolvency & Bankruptcy, Securities & Regulatory Laws, Insurance, Societies & Trusts, Labour& Employment and White-Collar Crime.

The firm has grown from strength to strength under his tutelage and is today recognised as one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country.

Devna has over 9 years of experience and is an Associate Partner in the Dispute Resolution Practice at the Firm. She has extensive experience in advising and representing clients on matters relating to IBC laws, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), international and domestic arbitrations, and the Companies Act, 2013.

Devna is an articulate and focused legal professional with hands-on experience in representing clients. She successfully develops and implements action plans for her clients and manages their critical cases proficiently.

Some of Devna's notable work includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Represented Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited in an ICC arbitration matter against the erstwhile promoters of Ranbaxy, where the arbitral tribunal awarded damages of approximately INR 35 Billion to its client on successfully proving allegations of fraud; represented Tata Steel in the acquisition of the Bhushan Steel Limited under the IBC proceedings; represented Bhushan Energy Limited in a criminal case filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office; and separately in a case against the State Bank of India valued at INR 500 Million; represented Angul Energy Limited (previously known as Bhushan Energy Ltd) in matter of M/s. ISGEC Heavy Engineering Pvt. Ltd. vs Bhushan Energy Limited (two claims), before an Arbitral Tribunal presided by the former Chief Justice of India in challenging the claims worth above INR 900 Million among others.

With a B.Tech degree in Biotechnology, Gitika specializes in the fields of biostatistics, microbiology, plant and animal tissue culture, immunology, and immune-diagnostics. She is involved in all phases of patenting from drafting patent applications, their filing and prosecution and enforcement of patents in the fields of Biotechnology and Chemistry. She also advises clients on patentability, patent validity, enforceability, infringement, and freedom to operate.

She has extensive experience in contentious proceedings, be it pre-grant or post-grant opposition proceedings before the Indian Patent office or Revocation and appeal proceedings. Some commercially important applications/patents have been defended by her before the Indian Patent Office and IPAB. She has also been part of the team that successfully represented Monsanto and defended its patent for BT technology before the Supreme Court of India. She also takes keen interest in legal research.

Some of the articles co-authored by her include, "Agri-patents: The battle of the seeds", "A patent attack on three fronts" published in LSIPR (Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review); "Indian pharmaceutical patent law: the revocation of two pathbreaking patents" published by Thomson Reuters; "Case law clarifies patent questions" published in ManagingIP.

Gitika is also a contributor to the India chapter of the leading publication "Getting the Deal Through".

Jyotirmay is currently working as the Head – Litigation, Compliance and Advisory – India and ASEAN at HCL Technologies Ltd. He has more than 17 years of PQE in litigation, advisories and compliance with Large Corporates. Banks, MNCs and Law firm.

He has advised the C-Suite (CEO, CFO and CHRO) and L1 leadership on all the recent developments and changes on the laws of the land and on high stake matters. He has experience of handling statutory audits including labour and regulatory compliance for India; vetting of various contracts, agreements, inter-company and government contracts MoUs and HR related documents; ensuring India and global compliance of various entities of the company across the globe; handling litigation for the company and group companies across India, Asia pacific. He also has litigation experience and has practiced in various High Court, Arbitral Tribunals, recovery matters (pertaining to Vendor, Customers & Ex-employees), cases under POSH Act.

Jyotirmay has earlier worked has DCB Bank Ltd. between March 2013 and May 2018 as Head Legal – Retail Assets (Group Associate Vice President) where he handled legal, recoveries related matters and advisories for all divisions including branch banking, retail, SME/mSME, lending and corporate banking.

He began his career with GE Money erstwhile GE Countrywide. as Legal Trainee and has also worked with Kalra Law Associates, Magma Fincorp Ltd. as State Head – Legal, HDFC Bank Ltd. as Area Legal Manager, IndusInd Bank Ltd.

Jyotirmay has done his B. A. LL.B (Hons.) from Campus Law College, University of Bundelkhand, Jhansi.

Mishika is currently working as Counsel at the Chambers of Mr. Parag P. Tripathi, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, Former Additional Solicitor General of India from July 2016.

She has represented various Public Sector Utilities and Private Entities in numerous matters involving commercial, contractual, arbitration, and constitutional issues. She routinely provides clients with strategic and legal assistance, including pre-litigation strategies. Mishika regularly appears before the Constitutional Courts as well as Arbitral Tribunals. She has drafted and filed extensive written submissions on varied propositions of law before various forums.

Some of Mishika's notable work includes, but is not limited to, the following: Representing the Committee of Administrators in the cricket reforms matter, for implementation of the Lodha Committee Reforms and the new constitution of BCCI, before handing over the charge to the elected representatives; represented Mr. Arnab Goswami on the issue of Freedom of Speech vis-à-vis Copyright in relation to rewriting and sharing news articles in the case of Bennett Coleman & Company Limited Vs. Arg Outlier Media Asianet News Private Ltd & Ors.; represented the secured creditors (Suraksha ARC) of Unitech and ensured their recovery of dues as also facilitation of construction of homes for stranded homebuyers in the case of Bhupinder Singh vs. Unitech Ltd.; represented Ruchi Soya against unlawful recoveries made by the Government authorities towards statutory dues, after due approval of a resolution plan in M/s Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd. v Union of India & Ors. amongst others

She has also undertaken pro-bono work such as assisted indigent litigants at the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee constituted by the Supreme Court, under the supervision of Senior Counsel Parag P. Tripathi. Drafted and filed approx. 54 opinions, expressing my views on the nature of redressal sought before the Supreme Court.

Mishika has done internships with various lawyers and law firms such as Mr. K.K. Venugopal, Attorney General of India, President of Honor (Union Internationale des Avocats); Mr. Harish Salve, Senior Advocate, Former Solicitor General of India; Singh & Singh, Advocates & Legal Consultants, under the supervision of Justice Pratibha Singh; Jyoti Sagar Associates (JSA); Mr. Manjul Bajpai, Advocate, Supreme Court, President, Telecom Lawyers Association; Dr. Shashwat Bajpai, Advocate, Supreme Court; Late Justice S.B. Sinha, Former Judge, Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and Late Mr. O. S. Bajpai, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, (ex-Indian Revenue Service, Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi (Retd.).

Mishika regularly writes Articles for various publications.

She has done her B.A. LL.B., from Symbiosis Law School, Noida (Symbiosis International University, Pune); LL.M. (Professional) Programme from National Law University, Delhi.

Mishika is a member Grade, CIArb (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators), UK. She was conferred the 'Visionaries Award', 2022 by Law 2.0 Conference Dubai, 2022 for the industry experience, projects undertaken and work achievements within private and institutional sectors.

Monica has over 6 years of experience in the industry; she started her career with civil and commercial litigation, arbitration, and real estate and then built her expertise around venture capital, private equity, and M&A transactions.

Monica has a strong background in the venture capital and private equity landscape, she has worked closely with some of the biggest funds in India, SE Asia and UK and has a deep understanding of strategic investments, transaction and laws in India and Singapore. Her experience of working closely with deep tech and IoT focused investors has helped her build a niche in these areas of practise. She has also worked extensively with a diverse set high-growth start-ups and has focused on developing long-term relationships with the investee companies to service them well beyond the completion of a transaction; this has consequentially led to her proficiency in advising companies in general corporate advisory matters. She has also assisted in advising overseas clients on structuring acquisition transactions and incorporation of companies in India.

Her dispute resolution practise involved representations for clients, which included government organizations, companies, and public trusts - in civil, commercial, and constitutional matters primarily in High Court of Karnataka and before lower courts and tribunals. She has also represented clients in commercial arbitrations.

Monica has the exposure of working with a wide spectrum of industries ranging from manufacturing, retail, fin-tech, and e-commerce to education, pharma, and healthcare. Her experience in dispute resolution and corporate commercial transactions gives her the perspective of looking at transactional vulnerability that could expose clients to prospective disputes and helps provide her clients with a more holistic legal advice.

Monica is part of Internal Complaints Committees constituted under POSH and advises start-ups on compliance under POSH.

Natasha Sethna has a decade of experience in advising clients on a variety of M&A & Private Equity transactions, across various industries in India, including pharma and healthcare, diagnostics, manufacturing, IT, e-commerce, food and beverages. Natasha has extensive experience in M&A in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sector, with a particular expertise in complex cross-border and multi-jurisdictional deals.

She has worked on several notable mandates for large international and domestic private equity funds, strategic acquirers, founders, and target companies, in various transactions over the course of the years, across different industries and sectors in India.

Her practice areas include Mergers & Acquisitions; Private Equity And she works primarily in the Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare; Information Technology, Data & AI and E-Commerce.

Nikhil Sharma is a Delhi based practicing advocate and has experience of more than 12 years. He has wide experience in appellate level litigation in criminal & civil matters. He has represented clients in criminal appeals, bails, quashing of FIRs, e-frauds, cyber laws etc. before various courts.

Nikhil has also been advising clients in relation to, land acquisition matters and land laws and mining related disputes and has also appeared in cases related to a mining lease, prospecting licenses etc. before various High Courts as well as the Supreme Court of India. He has also advised and represented educational institutions in issues related to UGC & AICTE. Apart from that has also appeared and assisted senior advocates in telecom matters before the T-DSAT, High Courts, and Supreme Court.

A legal professional with over 7 years of experience in commercial laws and transaction with diverse experience and high quality problem solving, communication, interpersonal and strong negotiating skills along with an ability to multi-task and conduct assessment of regulatory and business issues. Currently performing the role of Chief Compliance and Legal Officer (CCO) at Wint Wealth with a focus on regulatory aspects in the fintech sector, specifically in the retail investment and wealth management space.

Nishant also worked for 3 (three) years at Khaitan & Co. directly after graduating from NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad in 2015 at their Mumbai Office as an Associate with the corporate practice group, focussed on private equity, mergers & acquisitions, foreign investment and alternative investment fund (AIF) related transactions.

Nishant has also done a secondment stint as the Legal Head at India Resurgence Fund, which is an AIF and a joint venture of Piramal Enterprises Limited and Bain Capital.

Nishant has also recently been recognised and awarded the Lex Falcon Award in the Lex Talk World Global Conference held at Dubai in February 2022 in the category of Legal (Under 10 years) for impact fully contributing to the legal industry with great knowledge, reach and innovation with a futuristic spirit and approach.

Pankaj Agrawal is enrolled with Bar Council of Delhi and is in independent practice since 2014. He has over 8 years of experience in Corporate Laws, Advisory and Litigation practice, Corporate Governance and Financial Services. He has dealt with all kind of matters in Corporate Laws, Due Diligence, Merger/ Amalgamation/ Takeover etc.

Pankaj has also successfully handled IPOs, FPOs, PE deals, Private Placements, Debt/ Loan Syndication, etc. He also holds extensive experience in dealing with Capital Market Intermediaries, Stock Exchanges, SEBI, ROC, RD, CLB, NCLT, Department of Company Affairs, Official Liquidator etc.

He has been widely dealing with Insolvency Matters, restructuring processes, Corporate Advisory, Opinions, streamlining the Complexities in Transactions and conducting legal Compliances and due diligences, covering wide range of laws including commercial and corporate Laws etc. He has also done extensive research on various issues related to Corporate Insolvency Resolution Processes and corporate restructuring and have Represented and appeared for all sides and stake holder involved in CIRP.

Pankaj has advised, represented and appeared for Various Financial Instructions, Corporate Entities, HNI's, IRP/RPs (Insolvency Professional) in more than 100 matters at various forums, i.e. NCLT, NCLAT and the Supreme Court of India. He has actively contested one of the most crucial and important case before the Supreme Court of India titled as NOIDA vs. Anand Sonbhadra (CA No. 2222 of 2021), wherein NOIDA has been declared as an operational creditor has wide exposure with dealing on turning around the real state companies under the insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Prashant Sivarajan is a Partner at Lawmen and White LLP. Prashant actively engages in litigation before the Supreme Court, High Courts Pan-India as well as before other quasi-judicial authorities and tribunals including NCLAT, APTEL, TDSAT, DRAT, SAT, NCDRC, DRT, NCLT, NGT, CCI, CAT & AFT etc.

His major practice areas include litigation, dispute resolution, arbitration & mediation, real estate & construction, banking & finance, intellectual property & technology, media & entertainment, mines & minerals, corporate & commercial, white-collar crimes, anti-trust & competition as well as employment & labour. He represents and advises several Fortune 500 companies before the Supreme Court, High Courts, and quasi-judicial authorities and tribunals throughout the length and breadth of the country. He is recognized in Forbes Legal Power List 2021 as a Leading Lawyer.

In his career, Prashant has represented various clients successfully that include amongst others challenging Arjuna Awards before the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi for the year 2014 on behalf of 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist boxer Paramjeet Samota; securing stay from the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi for AAP MLA Surinder Singh on the decision of NDMC issued to him regarding vacation of office space and withdrawal of facilities given to him as elected member of NDMC.

He has represented and advised several leading celebrities including Sonu Sood, Govinda, Remo D'Souza, Kunal Kamra, Poonam Pandey etc. He has advise several leading political figures, including Chief Ministers of various States, Union and State Ministers as well as Members of Parliament.

Prashant was previously associated with one of India's finest legal luminaries, Mr. Vivek K. Tankha, Senior Advocate and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. Before that he was Principal Associate at Chhibber & Associates. He has also worked as a Law Researcher under Hon'ble Mr. Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, Former Chief Justice High Court of Judicature at Bombay and High Court of Rajasthan [July 2012 – February 2014].

Prashant has achieved distinction by being the 1st Law Clerk in the High Court of Delhi to be credited in assisting in authoring of a judgment.

Prashant has done his BA. LLB. From Symbiosis Law School, Pune. He did his Diploma in Cyber Law from the Asian School of Cyber Laws, Pune. Prashant has done 'General Course on Intellectual Property' from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Preseedha heads legal at Stellaris Venture Partners. Prior to this, she was part of the general corporate practice at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for over 8 years. In her previous role, she has advised on several marquee transactions involving private equity investments, exits and strategic acquisitions by some of the largest private equity and venture capital funds. She has also represented founders and corporate over the course of their fund raising cycle.

As part of her role heading legal at Stellaris, Preseedha has been negotiating and finalising portfolio investments, setting up legal compliance and transaction processes, and providing legal advise, where required, for portfolio companies. Preseedha is also working on industry initiatives such as templatization of documents and knowledge management initiatives involving training and development for other market participants including founders from a legal perspective.

Priyank has wide experience in advising and representing multi-national and Indian companies, and its officers, before various forums in matters pertaining to Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, Companies Act, 2013 and other regulatory enactments. He has also advised and represented clients in investigations for penal offences and has represented clients before various courts, including High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.

He also has extensive experience in advising and representing foreign and domestic corporations in complex commercial disputes, including, shareholder disputes, commercial contractual disputes, insolvency matters. He has also advised and represented clients in international and domestic arbitrations both, institutional and ad-hoc. He has graduated in 2012 from Symbiosis Law School, Pune and has a practicing experience of more than 10 years.

Priyank has done his B.B.A.LLB., Symbiosis Law School, Pune (2012) and enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi the same year.

His recent Accolades include Recognized as "Recommended Lawyer" for Dispute Resolution (Litigation) – Tier 1 by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022; awarded "Global Lex-Falcon Award, in under ten years" category, at the LexTalk World Conference, Dubai 2022 and awarded "Indian Achievers Award 2022" for distinguished service by Indian Achievers' Forum.

Ranjani is a qualified Lawyer from ILS Law College, Pune, with more than 10 years of post-qualification experience in Indirect Tax Laws (GST, Customs, Foreign Trade Policy and erstwhile Central Excise and Service Tax and sales tax laws).

She has experience in handling both advisory and litigation matters for multinational clients in various sectors including manufacturing (automotive, manufacturing, power, wind energy, education), real estate, FMCG and service sectors (information technology, research, etc).

Ranjani has been instrumental in implementing GST for more than 20 clients and worked on more than 200 litigation matters till date. She is also a regular speaker in various internal and external seminars/ trainings and have also authored various articles published in leading online tax portals like Taxsutra and TIOL.

Revanta has close to 10 years' experience as a trademark practitioner and specialist with Anand and Anand. He manages substantial trademark portfolios for clients in India and works closely with a network of international contacts that the firm has developed.

Revanta handles trademark matters in a variety of industries including the automotive, alcohol, tobacco, fashion and food and beverage industries. He has advised companies in relation to adoption and protection of their brands and also on the growth and sustainability of their trademarks.

Revanta's practise areas include drafting trademark applications, trademark infringement opinions, trademark prosecution, oppositions and rectification petitions. Revanta also presents application, opposition, assignment and rectification cases at hearings before the Trade Marks Offices and the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). His experience also includes recordal of trademarks with the Customs Authority and giving opinions on copyright infringement.

Revanta also has experience of handling domain name disputes and has counseled client related to such issues before the .INRegistry and World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO).

Revanta is a regular at the International Trademark Association (INTA) Annual Meetings having attended the same annually since the year 2008. Revanta has attended various National conferences including INTA Round Table Conference and Seminars organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) amongst others. He has also been a speaker at the INTA Annual Meeting at Hong Kong in 2014 and ACMA Seminar in Delhi in 2015. Revanta has taken part in workshops with clients at their plants and offices to strategize with marketing teams and also create awareness of IP amongst the relevant teams.

Richa Pathak is a Master of Law graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and has also completed the Executive Program from IIM Ahmedabad. Pathak specialises in insolvency law, arbitration, debt restructuring, financing transactions, recovery & exit mechanism, structuring, and real estate financing.

She is a recipient of the Chief Justice M.C.Chagla Memorial Trust – Gold medal in the year 2012 for securing top position in the University of Mumbai (Law Faculty) during her final graduation years. Prior to joining L&T Group (Larsen and Toubro) as a Corporate Legal Counsel, Richa served as a Group VP-legal with Avigna Group. Prior to Avigna Group, she served as a corporate lawyer with L&T Financial Services and was also associated with the M/s. Wadia Ghandy & Co., Khaitan & Co., Global Loan Agency Service (GLAS), London, and Institute of Economic Affairs (Westminster), London.

She was recognised as a leading lawyer of 2022 by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). She is a member of the Loan Markets Association (LMA), The Royal Institute of International Affairs-Chatham House (London), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)(London) and Brookings Institute (U.S).

Samit is a keen observer of the evolution of the law regulating real estate, private equity, securities and corporate laws in India. He has a rich experience in advising host of clients in different jurisdictions relating to real estate, corporate, infrastructure, environment, securities and private equity litigations He has been part of several high profile corporate battles including various leveraged buyout transactions & exits.

In the area of Real Estate, he provides strategic legal advise to property developers, property owners, government undertaking including New Town Development Authorities on various litigations; undertakes litigation due diligence in respect of the companies in which such investments are sought or in respect of the properties for which such investments are sought for the purposes of identifying the possible legal and other contingencies. Upon undertaking legal due diligence, he provides a comprehensive legal analysis of risk factors that may be involved in such litigations.

In the Corporate Advisory & Litigation, he regularly advises clients in litigation, more particularly those relating to joint ventures, private equity investments, shareholders dispute and other similar litigations; advises and strategizes litigations for financial institutions, NBFC's, funds, etc in respect of their debt / lending transactions in corporates; • Litigation and Arbitration

Samit regularly appears before the Supreme Court of India, Bombay High Court, various other High Courts, National Company Law Tribunals, Securities Appellate Tribunals, Commissions/Arbitral Tribunals (domestic and international), Competition Commission of India, National Green Tribunals, Debt Recovery Tribunals, etc.

Saumya is currently working as Legal Manager at Bank of Baroda since February 2021. At Bank of Baroda, Saumya handles the entire legal situation of the South Delhi Region where she leads an entire region of around 700 people for their legal issues.

Saumya joined practice in Bilaspur High Court in 2015. Later she started working with IDBI Bank as Assistant Manager (Lega) from 2017 to 2020. While working as Assistant Manager (Legal) at IDBI Bank, Saumya alongwith her team were personally involved in the Vijaya Mallya Case. Further, her involvement was made crucial in recovery cases of IDBI (at Dubai International Financial Centre) before Dubai Courts.

She was also involved in implementing the Legal Database Management System, which streamlined the data pertaining to legal cases pan India. Apart from professional work, she has been entrusted with administrative responsibilities like being in charge of recordkeeping of leaves of all employees at Legal Department, Head Office. Further, all other administrative arrangements while shifting of the Legal Department in the premises was entrusted to Saumya.

Shambhavi is a Director at Western Digital (SanDisk) which is amongst the leading storage companies in the world. She leads the Legal & Corporate Secretarial functions, and also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for all Western Digital entities in India.

As part of the India Leadership, she advises on a diverse range of legal and operational matters. An attorney and leader with 16 years' vast market experience as In-House Counsel in the Technology sector, she brings significant strategic and execution experience spanning Deal negotiations, Regulatory compliance, Employment matters, Business and Corporate Governance, Security and Data Protection domains across Geographies and Industry segments. She further serves as a member of the CSR Board and Chair of the POSH Committee. She is a Data Security Council of India (DSCI by NASSCOM) certified Privacy Lead, and is positioned as an industry expert and leader in the tech industry, as nominated by Native India.

Shambhavi has co-led initiatives ranging from policy advocacy efforts with several Governments and related stakeholders, to assisting with policy implementation measures. Shambhavi holds a Bachelors' Degree from NALSAR University, Hyderabad and a Masters' Degree from UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles. She also holds an Executive MBA from Boston University.

Client Quotes:

"Shambhavi has an excellent eye for detail, which is much appreciated. She has always endeavoured to make what could have been a very difficult process, quite bearable. She has also instilled confidence in stakeholders at all times that they were in the very best of hands and this gave me great confidence in her work."

"Shambhavi always sees that every case is different and all her clients are unique. This is one of those qualities that really sets her apart from her peers in the industry!"

"Working with Shambhavi has been an absolute pleasure. In addition to her legal prowess, she has the uncanny ability to evaluate a situation from several angles, thereby envisaging all possible consequences and outcomes, to actions taken. Her decision making skills and ability to advise clients on the possible course of action is impeccable, and very well thought through."

Shambhavi has done her B.A., L.L.B Hons from NALSAR University and Master of Laws (L.L.M) from UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA where she was a Recipient of the Dean's fellowship.

Shobhit is an Intellectual property and commercial litigation attorney with focus on brand protection, anti-counterfeiting, commercial IP, dispute resolution.

He completed B.Sc. and LL.B. (Hons.) at Gujarat National Law University and enrolled as an advocate in 2010.

He has extensive experience in protection, management and enforcement of IP rights, including Trademarks, Copyright, Designs, and other issues concerning IP protection and management. Represented clients in a large number of contentious matters and prosecuting, defending and strategizing suits/trials/petitions before courts in India, IP office prosecution matters, customs/border enforcement, domain name disputes and internet takedowns, conducting enforcement raids among others. Additionally represented clients in commercial and contractual disputes, arbitrations, criminal prosecution matters etc.

Shobhit has advised and assisted clients in IP commercialization, agreements for licensing, franchising, sale & transfer, IP Holding structures etc., and general corporate-legal issues faced concerning IP and non-IP matters.

Tanmay Patnaik is a Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas' Private Client Practice team. He was admitted as an advocate in the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa in the year 2011. He specializes in, wills, succession planning, trusts, family constitutions, settlements and family law matters. He advises on the creation and management of domestic trusts. He also frequently advises on issues arising under the Indian exchange control regime and takeover regulations.

Tanmay was accepted by the Law Society of England and Wales and has worked with the Tax and Wealth Planning team at Mishcon De Reya LLP (London) in 2018-19. He has advised on succession of multiple Indian promoters of large listed companies including review of the Wills, Trust Deed, Memorandum of Settlement, Gift deed, etc.; assisted one of India's wealthiest business families (net worth > USD 9 Billion) (engaged in the drug manufacturing sector) by drafting a comprehensive family settlement agreement; assisted in conceptualizing and establishing multiple onshore trusts, including advising on the form and structure of the trusts (discretionary/ determinate/ revocable/ irrevocable), advising on office of the protector, reviewing relevant documentations, advising on the change of the residential status of the clients amongst others.

A Lawyer who has garnered experience both as a litigator in courts and as an in-house counsel with large MNCs. Extensive exposure in the area of Food Laws and overall legal framework surrounding FMCG Industry incl. Alco Bev. Practiced Civil & Criminal Law, Consumer Protection, Constitutional matters, Intellectual Property Rights, Competition Law. Hands on at corporate governance including Statutory Compliance, Auditing, Trainings, Anti- Bribery, FCPA, PCA, PMLA.

Vandana is a young and self-empowered individual with multi-disciplinary experience. She entered the corporate realm at a very young age – right after Class 12, due to family crises. Even back then, she had the go-getter and can-do attitude that helped her indulge in skill development training along with mandatory education. Over the years, this attitude kept her going; even now, as the Director – Legal, Compliance & Company Secretary of Ryan, it helps her excel in various responsibilities, including Compliance Officer and Legal Head. During her last stint working with Caspian Impact Investments Private Limited, she had worn multiple hats being Chief Information Officer, Principal Nodal Officer, Compliance Officer, Legal Head and Member of POSH Committee. She is striding to become an Independent Director, but in the long run, envisages becoming a futuristic leader.

Vandana's endeavours as a result-oriented professional with more than a decade of experience in corporate laws have earned her reverence from leaders and peers alike. She was featured under "Top 10 Chief Compliance Officer in India", by the prestigious Magazine – CEO Insights in the year 2020 and awarded as "Most Influential Professional Woman to Watch in 2021"by The CEO Story. In 2022, she was awarded as "Young Woman Professional of the year" by Transformance Forums, "Indian Achievers Award" by Indian Achievers' Forum, Global Choice Awards 2022 for "Excellence & Leadership in Legal & Secretarial" by Xel Research, Right Choice award for the "Most profound Legal & Secretarial professional of the Year" by BrandsImpact, Global Icon Awards 2022 as "Legal & Compliance Professional of the Year" by World Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (WASME), "Professional of the Year Award" by Indian Achievers' Forum, "Most Admired Global Indians 2022" by Passion Vista, International Excellence Awards 2022 for "Outstanding Young Professional of the Year"andEmpowered Women 2022 award byGlantor X. Her academic credentials include Company Secretary by ICSI, an MBA (Finance) and an LLB, which fosters her competitiveness as a compliance expert.

Also, she is a Guest Lecturer at PVKK Institute of Technology and has written several articles for ICSI Hyderabad Newsletter and blogs for Caspian. As a guest lecturer, she takes an interest in helping students prepare for the competitive corporate world and further enlightening them with trends and updates of industries and innovations. She is also Certified Corporate Director by Institute of Directors.

Varun S. Ahuja is an experienced energetic professional advocate engaged in active legal practice since 2012. A Bachelors degree of Law from IP University and did Masters from George Washington University (Washington D.C), USA with a specialization in Intellectual Property Rights.

He has extensive legal experience across Dispute Resolution, Civil Ligation, Real Estate, MSME Law and Corporate Advisory and is presently handling matters pertaining to Recovery, Contractual disputes, Arbitration, Negotiable Instrument Act, Share Holder Disputes, MSME litigation, Insecticides Act, Seeds Act and Corporate Advisory. He has handled assignments for various Corporate Houses and HNI's. He is well versed in drafting and handling legal compliances.

He is a member of Delhi High Court Bar Association and PHD Chamber of Commerce.

Vishal is a lawyer with an experience of over 12 years and is a Partner at Anoma Legal, Bengaluru and Mumbai offices in the Real Estate and Structured Debt Practice since August 2020.

Prior to joining Anoma Legal, Vishal was a partner at Krishnamurthy & Co (K-Law) and was also the Legal Head and Vice-President at Shriram Properties, a leading real estate construction and development company in South India. Vishal has also worked with the erstwhile Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff and Co and Vaish Associates.

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