Consolidation continues in Indian legal fraternity as the sector is bracing to be opened up for foreign law firms. J. Sagar Associates (JSA), a leading Indian law firm, today announced that the entire practice of M&C Partners, a leadng law firm of Bangalore, will merge with itself. This will create one of the largest law firms in south India with 39 lawyers and five Partners. JSA has a total of over 160 lawyers including 37 partners based in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Murali Ananthasivan and Vivek K. Chandy, the founder partners of M&C, will join as equity partners of JSA. JSA is strong in the practice areas of corporate restructuring, real estate and dispute resolution. It has also added Indirect Tax practice to their already existing bouquet of six practice areas, with Ashok Dhingra joining as an Equity Partner. Sandeep Mehta and Venkatesh Prasad have also been elevated as Equity Partners.
This is not first time Indian law firms have joined hands. In 2004, Delhi-based Ajay Bahl & Co merged with Mumbai-based CZB Partners (Chudasma, Zia & Behram ) to form AZB Partners.
In May 2006, Kolkata-headquartered Fox Mandal merged with Little & Co. which led to the inception of FoxMandal Little.
