JSA onboards SMA’s Iqbal Khan and Ambarish along with 18 lawyers | Mint

JSA Advocates and Solicitors has snapped up two partners, Iqbal Khan and Ambarish, from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. (SMA) as the war for talent continues as India’s top law firms.

The two have brought 18 lawyers along with them to JSA, strengthening mergers, acquisitions and private equity teams in JSA’s corporate practice, according to a statement by JSA Advocates.

Iqbal Khan, in his role as national corporate lead at JSA, will collaborate closely with the joint managing partners, practice area chairs, and executive committee to fortify the company’s corporate practice and augment its range of services. Together, Iqbal and Ambarish have led deals for clients including Advent, Bain, Brookefield, TPG, Biocon, L&T, LIC, PharmEasy, Reliance, Serum, and Tata.

“We welcome Iqbal, Ambarish and their team to JSA. Their remarkable expertise and leadership in the corporate, M&A and private equity domains will significantly strengthen our firm and enhance the value we provide to our clients,” said Amit Kapur & Vivek K. Chandy, joint managing partners, JSA Advocates.

Mass movement trend

Group leaders leaving to work for rival firms, taking whole teams with them, has become common at law firms. Since clients are shifting their loyalties to partners rather than the firms, there is a significant need for partners with experience in private equity, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and competition law.

This is the second mass movement at JSA Advocates after the law firm onboarded Nisha Kaur Uberoi, who headed the practice at Trilegal, to lead their competition practice, bringing 25 attorneys and two partners with her.

In July, Mint had reported about significant churn at law firms. Vahura, a legal search and consultancy firm, had at the time estimated the attrition among associate and senior associate at 25%. Such moves take 6-10 months, with partners taking 35% to 60% of the practice revenues.

Additionally, Manmeet Singh, a senior partner (disputes) at Saraf and Partners, is set to join Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas along with his team of Alok Shankar, Anugrah Robin Frey and Sairam Subramanian. Singh has close to two decades of experience and is considered a market leader in high-value commercial litigations, arbitrations and insolvency proceedings.

On Monday, another law firm Argus Partners, specializing in corporate mergers and acquisitions, announced that Ashwin Krishnan (partner), IndusLaw, along with Anantha Krishnan Iyer (partner), will be joining the firm’s Bengaluru office, strengthening their corporate and M&A, private equity & venture capital, technology and media/entertainment practices. Anindya Ghosh, partner; Krishnan, and Iyer will be accompanied by a team of seven, including a principal associate and two other senior associates.