EXCELLENCE OF INDIAN LEGAL PROFESSION & TALENT
Thomson Reuters proudly presented the 6th ALB India Law Awards 2024. This distinguished prize acknowledged the outstanding achievement of private practitioners and in-house counsel in India.
The 6th ALB India Law Awards 2024 recently recognized and celebrated the outstanding achievements and exceptional contributions of legal professionals across India. This prestigious event, hosted by ALB, acknowledged the most accomplished law firms and lawyers in various categories, recognizing their exceptional legal expertise, outstanding leadership, and outstanding client service. This highly-coveted recognition serves as a testament to their continued commitment to the Indian legal sector and sets a benchmark of excellence for the profession as a whole.
The ALB India Law Awards is a highly-anticipated event in the legal sector, and winning an award is indeed a significant accomplishment. Recognizing the efforts of these legal professionals not only promotes excellence within the industry but also inspires young lawyers to aim high and strive for excellence in their careers.
Hon’ble Justice B.N Srikrishna, Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India was the guest of honor, delivered a keynote lecture titled “The Expectations from the New Digital India Act, 2023.” The emphasis was on the essential issues on which to focus and prepare for the impending Digital India Act 2023.
Justice B.N. Srikrishna, an esteemed jurist and an authority on legal matters, offered valuable insights on the potential implications of the proposed Digital India Act, 2023. He has opined that the act, if enacted, should provide a comprehensive legal framework to regulate India’s rapidly-evolving digital landscape, including issues like cybersecurity, data privacy, and digital rights.
Justice Srikrishna emphasized on the importance of a balanced approach that considers the interest of all stakeholders, including consumers, businesses, and the government. Justice Srikrishna highlighted the significance of a well-crafted legal framework that can strike a balance between promoting the growth of digital economy and protecting the rights of individuals and businesses. This will be crucial for India’s digital transformation, especially with the rising number of internet users and the increasing reliance on digital services.
Baker McKenzie took home “International Law Firm of the Year” at the Asian Legal Business (ALB) India Law Awards 2024 held in Mumbai on 4 April. This is the third year that the Firm has won this award. Mini vandePol, a member of the Global India Practice’s Steering Committee, who accepted the award on the Firm’s behalf, said: “We would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to our valued clients for their continued trust and partnership, without which we would not be here today. Our clients’ success is our success.”
Ashok Lalwani, head of Baker McKenzie’s Global India Practice, said: “We are very pleased to win the ALB award again, which underscores our Firm’s unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional inbound and outbound services to Indian and global clients. It also highlights the excellent talents and cross-border capabilities of our India team.”
Peerapan Tungsuwan, who serves as the principal Liaison for the India Practice on the Firm’s Global Executive Committee, said: “I am incredibly proud of the outstanding work and client service that the team is delivering and would like to thank everyone in the team who have contributed to this win.”
Ashok Lalwani, head of Baker McKenzie’s Global India Practice, said: “We are very pleased to win the ALB award again, which underscores our Firm’s unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional inbound and outbound services to Indian and global clients. It also highlights the excellent talents and cross-border capabilities of our India team.”
Peerapan Tungsuwan, who serves as the principal Liaison for the India Practice on the Firm’s Global Executive Committee, said: “I am incredibly proud of the outstanding work and client service that the team is delivering and would like to thank everyone in the team who have contributed to this win.”
AZB & Partners dominated the ALB India Law trophies on April 3, 2024, winning six trophies. The firm was named “India Law Firm of the Year”, “Deal Firm of the Year”, “Restructuring & Insolvency Law Firm of the Year”, and “M&A Deal of the Year (Premium)” for the “IDFC Bank merger with IDFC Limited”.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas was named “Banking and Financial Services Law Firm of the Year,” and our Managing Partner, Cyril Shroff, was named ‘Managing Partner of the Year’ at the ‘ALB India Law Awards 2024’ sponsored by Asian Legal Business. Additionally earned the following honours for some of our major transactions:
Awards included Debt Market Deal of the Year, Equity Market Deal of the Year, and M&A Deal of the Year (Midsize or Premium).
WINNERS
INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES
Dealmaker of the Year
Ashwath Rau – AZB & Partners
Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year
Ajay Bhargava – Khaitan & Co
In-House Lawyer of the Year
Hemant Kumar – Larsen & Toubro
Managing Partner of the Year
Cyril Shroff – Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Woman Lawyer of the Year (In-House)
Kanika Shah Wadhwa – Haleon India
Woman Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm)
Darshika Kothari – AZB & Partners
Young Lawyer of the Year (In-House)
Ashwat Kumar – Zomato
Young Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm)
Kalpit Khandelwal – AEKOM Legal
IN-HOUSE CATEGORIES
Banking and Financial Services In-House Team of the Year
Standard Chartered Bank
Compliance and Risk Management In-House Team of the Year
Maruti Suzuki
Energy and Resources In-House Team of the Year
HPCL
Innovative In-House Team of the Year
Qure.ai Technologies
Technology, Media and Telecommunications In-House Team of the Year
GamesKraft
Transportation and Logistics In-House Team of the Year
Alstom
Retail and Manufacturing In-House Team of the Year
PepsiCo
Pharmaceutical and Healthcare In-House Team of the Year
AGS Health
India In-House Team of the Year
Tech Mahindra Limited
LAW FIRM CATEGORIES
Antitrust and Competition Law Firm of The Year
Chandhiok & Mahajan
Arbitration Law Firm of the Year
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
Banking and Financial Services Law Firm of the Year
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Dispute Resolution Boutique Law Firm of the Year
Karanjawala & Company
Transactional Boutique Law Firm of the Year
Anagram Partners
Data Protection Law Firm of the Year
Trilegal
Deal Firm of the Year
AZB & Partners
Emerging Markets Law Firm of the Year
Novojuris Legal
Energy and Resources Law Firm of the Year
JSA
India Practice, Asian Law Firm of the Year
Rajah & Tann Singapore
Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year
Anand and Anand
International Law Firm of the Year
Baker McKenzie
Labour and Employment Law Firm of the Year
IndusLaw
Litigation Law Firm of the Year
JSA
Medical and Healthcare Law Firm of the Year
Saraf and Partners
Real Estate and Construction Law Firm of the Year
Trilegal
Restructuring and Insolvency Law Firm of the Year
AZB & Partners
Rising Law Firm of the Year
Numen Law Offices
Sports and Gaming Law Firm of the Year
Argus Partners
Tax Law Firm of the Year
Khaitan & Co
Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law Firm of the Year
IndusLaw
White Collar Crime Law Firm of the Year
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
India Law Firm of the Year
AZB & Partners
DEAL CATEGORIES
Debt Market Deal of the Year
Innovative Green Financing Notes Issuance with Foreign Venture Capital Structure
Law Firms: Ashurst; Appleby; Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; Linklaters; TT&A
Equity Market Deal of the Year
Bajaj Finance’s QIP
Law Firms: Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; Khaitan & Co; Linklaters
M&A Deal of the Year (Midsize)
Blackstone’s Majority Acquisition of R Systems
Law Firms: Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
M&A Deal of the Year (Premium)
IDFC FIRST Bank’s Merger with IDFC Limited
Law Firms: AZB & Partners; Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
CATEGORIES
Below were the categories for the ALB India Law Awards 2024.
DEAL CATEGORIES
Debt Market Deal of the Year
Equity Market Deal of the Year
M&A Deal of the Year (Midsize)
M&A Deal of the Year (Premium)
INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES
Dealmaker of the Year
Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year
In-House Lawyer of the Year
Managing Partner of the Year
Woman Lawyer of the Year (In-House)
Woman Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm)
Young Lawyer of the Year (In-House)
Young Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm)
IN-HOUSE CATEGORIES
Banking and Financial Services In-House Team of the Year
Compliance and Risk Management In-House Team of the Year
Energy and Resources In-House Team of the Year
Innovative In-House Team of the Year
Technology, Media and Telecommunications In-House Team of the Year
Transportation and Logistics In-House Team of the Year
Retail and Manufacturing In-House Team of the Year
Pharmaceutical and Healthcare In-House Team of the Year
Unicorn In-House Team of the Year
India In-House Team of the Year
LAW FIRM CATEGORIES
Antitrust and Competition Law Firm of The Year
Arbitration Law Firm of the Year
Banking and Financial Services Law Firm of the Year
Dispute Resolution Boutique Law Firm of the Year (NEW!)
Transactional Boutique Law Firm of the Year (NEW!)
Data Protection Law Firm of the Year
Deal Firm of the Year
Emerging Markets Law Firm of the Year (NEW!)
Energy and Resources Law Firm of the Year
India Practice, Asian Law Firm of the Year
Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year
International Law Firm of the Year
Labour and Employment Law Firm of the Year
Litigation Law Firm of the Year
Matrimonial and Family Law Firm of the Year (NEW!)
Medical and Healthcare Law Firm of the Year
Real Estate and Construction Law Firm of the Year
Restructuring and Insolvency Law Firm of the Year
Rising Law Firm of the Year
Sports and Gaming Law Firm of the Year
Tax Law Firm of the Year
Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law Firm of the Year
White Collar Crime Law Firm of the Year
India Law Firm of the Year
Each year, ALB invites an independent judging panel of senior and professional legal industry executives from a variety of industries to choose award categories. The following is a list of some of the prominent judges.
The ALB India Law Awards recognised excellence and accomplishments in India-related work by legal practitioners, in-house teams, and law firms throughout the last year. An impartial panel picked the winning law firms based on their exceptional success in terms of breadth, complexity, innovation and effect, development, and social commitment.
Amar Kumar Sundram
General Counsel – Senior Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer, NEC Corporation
Amarjit Singh Chandhiok
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
Amit Bhasin
Chief Legal Officer and Group General Counsel, Marico Limited
Anand Vardhan
President – Legal, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance
Anubhuti Agrawal
Senior Lawyer – South Asia and Special Projects, Cargill
Anupam Sharan
Vice President and Head Legal, Lendingkart Finance Limited
Avneesh Chopra
Head Legal and Company Secretary, Valvoline Cummins
Badrinath Durvasula
Ex Managing Director & Legal Advisor, Essar Group, Mumbai
Gopi Krishnan
Group General Counsel, WNS Global Services
Kaviraj Singh
Founder & Secretary General, Indian National Bar Association
Lakshika Joshi
AVP Legal and Global IP Head, Capgemini Engineering
Manuj Bhardwaj
Executive Secretary, Indian National Association of Legal Professionals
Neera Sharma
Chief Executive Officer & Group General Counsel (India & Southeast Asia), Sistema Smart Technologies Limited
Nilanjan Sinha
General Counsel, ICICI Bank
Nitin Mittal
General Counsel- India Sub/ Pacific Region, Region Systems & Services and Company Secretary, Signify
Pawan Singhal
Chief Legal Officer, Ather Energy
P K Malhotra
Former Secretary, Ministry of Law & Justice, Senior Committee Member, Indian National Bar Association
Preeti Balwani
Global General Counsel, CRISIL
Priyanka Sinha
General Counsel _ VOIS Global (part of Vodafone group)
Managing Director _ VOIS India (Vodafone India Services Pvt Ltd)
Prof. Dr. Subhash Gupta
Senior Counsel and Arbitrator, Government of India
Rajiv Mohapatra
Global Lead Legal Compliance, Mastercard Send, Mastercard
Ratan K. Singh
Chairman-India, Society of Construction Law, UK
Rohitt Salwan
Head of Legal – Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance
Samir Kazi
Executive Vice President & Head Legal, Compliance & IP, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited
Sanjay Notani
Chair, International Trade and Climate Law & Policy Committee, Indian National Association of Legal Professionals
Sanjit Kaur Batra
Group Vice President- Legal & Legal Head, India, Cummins India
Shagoofa Rashid Khan
Group General Counsel and Head of Corporate Affairs, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited
Sugata Ghosh
Head Legal, Marks and Spencer (India)
Tejal Patil
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Wipro
And many more…
It was a night of glamour and celebrations for the best in the legal industry.
