Indian Legal Awards 2021 Celebrates Best Law Firms, Best Legal Teams & Best Lawyers 2021
LEGAL ERA CELEBRATES EXTRAORDINARY RESILIENCE AND INNOVATION WITH THE 10TH ANNUAL INDIAN LEGAL AWARDS 2020-2021
Indian Legal Awards 2021 Celebrates Best Law Firms, Best Legal Teams & Best Lawyers 2021LEGAL ERA CELEBRATES EXTRAORDINARY RESILIENCE AND INNOVATION WITH THE 10TH ANNUAL INDIAN LEGAL AWARDS 2020-2021 Conducted flawlessly in the thick of the second wave of the pandemic to a remote audience and stellar attendees across from continents, the first-ever virtual edition of the coveted 10th...
Indian Legal Awards 2021 Celebrates Best Law Firms, Best Legal Teams & Best Lawyers 2021
LEGAL ERA CELEBRATES EXTRAORDINARY RESILIENCE AND INNOVATION WITH THE 10TH ANNUAL INDIAN LEGAL AWARDS 2020-2021
Conducted flawlessly in the thick of the second wave of the pandemic to a remote audience and stellar attendees across from continents, the first-ever virtual edition of the coveted 10th Annual Legal Era Awards Indian Legal Awards – was held on the 5th of June, 2021.
This 10th Edition of the annual Legal Era Awards was unlike any other awards event.
Recognizing not only the most brilliant minds of the legal industry as always but also the minds that showed extraordinary resilience and innovation in the face of all of last year's unprecedented challenges, the Legal Era Awards today rewarded hard-earned validation and propelled everyone towards an exciting future, where disruptions and challenges were welcomed fearlessly!
Distinct parameters such as future readiness, tech-savviness, ESG initiatives, agile mindset, good governance, and empathy formed the frameworks above and beyond the set patterns of recognition for this 10th Edition.
By calibrating and recalibrating responses to the tectonic technological shifts, Legal Era once again demonstrated the possibilities of granting due recognition in a never-experienced-before environment.
True to the event's tagline, "Reach for the stars, you might just become one," leading legal practitioners, in-house teams, and law firms were felicitated under four Awards categories: Best Legal Minds Recognizing Individual Lawyers 2021 (in-house and Law Firm), Best Legal Teams 2021 (In-House), Best Law Firms 2021, and Premier League.
The event began with a welcome address by Aakriti Raizada, Founder, Legal Era -Legal Media Group and jury award speeches. Driven by unflinching commitment to create opportunities and showcase the stellar talent of the country, Ms. Aakriti epitomized the uniqueness of the awards as she invited a huge round of applause for each one of the finalists for navigating the unchartered waters of the global pandemic. Quoting Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, "If you want to shine like a sun. First, burn yourself like the sun" Ms. Aakriti made a passionate statement that each of the nominees had indeed burnt like the sun.
To thunderous applause, winners of the first segment of the event the Best Legal Minds Recognizing Individual Lawyers 2021 - In-house and Law Firm categories - received awards from stalwarts like Justice B.N Srikrishna, Former Judge Supreme Court of India, Dr Lalit Bhasin, President, Society of Indian Law Firms, GR Raghvendra, Joint Secretary, Department of Law & Justice, Ministry of Law, Govt. of India, and Amarjeet Singh Chandhiok, Senior Advocate, President-Elect of Bar Association of India & President -Insol India.
Justice B.N Srikrishna, Former Judge Supreme Court of India humbled Legal Era with his glowing tribute.
"Legal Era has been making efforts to include new benchmarks and parameters to judge the nominations. Huge congratulations to Legal Era for managing this year after year! It is not easy. Also, there are no other awards in India that have this kind of reputation, glamour and glitz. Each one nominated is certainly entitled to feel proud about it because only the best is selected by the eminent jury after a rigorous process of selection.Legal Era Annual Awards Event is like the Grammy of the Indian Legal Awards!"
Dr Lalit Bhasin, President, Society of Indian Law Firms joined in to say "Legal Era has grown to become a national icon and even internationally recognized."
Amarjeet Singh Chandhiok, Senior Advocate, President-Elect of Bar Association of India & President -Insol India said "In all the darkness all around, there's a candle that brings brightness. And Legal Era is that candle sharing that brightness to enable conversations on how we can bring justice more swiftly to the citizens of this country."
There were many proud winners in this segment. "General Counsel of The Year (Male)" award went to Rajbeer Sachdeva. Sree Patel won the "General Counsel of The Year - (Female)" award and the General Counsel of The Year - South-East Asia Region" award went to Rajeev Chopra.
Zia Mody received "Lawyer of The Year - Mergers & Acquisitions" award, Shardul Shroff won "Lawyer of The Year - Insolvency & Bankruptcy Laws" award and MP Bharucha received "Lawyer of The Year - Dispute Resolution" award.
Pravin Anand received the "Patent Lawyer of The Year" award. Anand Desai won the "Lawyer of the Year - TMT" award. Ameet Naik received the "Lawyer of the Year – Media and Entertainment" award. Sajit Suvarna the "Lawyer of the Year - Real Estate & Construction" award. And the "Managing Partner of the Year" award went to Pallavi Shroff.
Here is the list of all the winners in the "Individual – In House" segment of awards.
CATEGORY | WINNER NAME |
Young Achiever of The Year (In-House) | Abhishek Kanoi, Group General Counsel & Company Secretary, PDS Multinational |
Shubham Khare, Deputy Vice President -Legal, Piramal Capital | |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - Private Equity | Pallavi Sharma, General Counsel / Head Legal, Tomorrow Capital |
Technology Lawyer of The Year | Jyoti Pawar, SVP & Deputy General Counsel Global, Infosys |
Policy & Regulatory Lawyer of The Year | Neera Sharma, CEO/CIO, Sistema Smart Technologies Limited |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - Strategy & Governance | John Thaliath, General Counsel (South Asia), Ge |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - Compliance | Abhayan Jawaharlal, Deputy General Counsel Cipla |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - Cross Border Transactions | Vineet Chaudhary Deputy General Counsel, Wockhardt Ltd |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - Banking & Finance | Anand Vardhan Vice President - Legal, Piramal Enterprises |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - Real Estate & Construction Industry | Rajeevan Nair, Head of Legal Department, L&T Realty |
In-House Lawyer of The Year Media & Entertainment | Zameer Nathani, Senior VP/General Counsel, Ufo Moviez India Ltd |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - Pharma & Healthcare Industry | Dr. Vivek Mittal, Global General Counsel, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories |
In-House Lawyer of The Year - FMCG | Ghanashyam Hegde, Sr. Director & General Counsel- Indian Sub-Continent Procter & Gamble |
General Counsel of The Year (Male) | Rajbeer Sachdeva, President (Group - Legal), JK Organization |
General Counsel of The Year (Female) | Sree Patel, Executive Director, Chief Counsel, India & Amea Legal Lead, Mondelēz International (India) |
General Counsel of The Year - South-East Asia Region | Rajeev Chopra, Managing Director - Legal, Accenture |
And here is the list of all the winners in the "Individual - Law Firms" segment of awards.
CATEGORY | WINNER NAME |
Young Achiever of The Year (Law Firm) | Prateek Bagaria, Partner, Singularity Legal LLP |
Sreemoyee Deb, Partner - Competition Law, P&A Law Offices | |
Emerging Lawyer of The Year - Dispute Resolution | Sidharth Sethi, Partner, J. Sagar Associates |
Patent Lawyer of The Year | Pravin Anand, Managing Partner, Anand and Anand |
Trademark Lawyer of The Year | Safir Anand, Senior Partner, Anand and Anand |
Lawyer of The Year - TMT | Anand Desai, Managing Partner, DSK Legal |
Lawyer of The Year - Dispute Resolution | MP Bharucha, Senior Partner, Bharucha & Partners |
Lawyer of The Year - Intellectual Property | Hari Subramaniam, Managing Partner, Subramaniam & Associates (SNA) |
Lawyer of The Year - Media & Entertainment | Ameet Naik, Founding & Managing Partner, Naik Naik & Co |
Lawyer of The Year - Mergers & Acquisitions | Zia Mody, Founder and Managing Partner, AZB & Partners |
Lawyer of The Year - White Collar Crimes | Niraj Singh, Partner, RNS Associates |
Lawyer of The Year (Real Estate & Construction) | Sajit Suvarna, Deputy Managing Partner, DSK Legal |
Lawyer of The Year - Cyber Crimes | Pavan Duggal, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and President, Cyberlaws.Net |
Lawyer of The Year - Technology | Sajai Singh, Partner, J Sagar Associates |
Lawyer of The Year - Capital Markets | Sandip Bhagat, Partner, S & R Associates |
Lawyer of The Year - Competition & Anti-Trust Laws | Karan Chandhiok, Partner, Chandhiok & Mahajan |
Lawyer of The Year - Insolvency & Bankruptcy Laws | Shardul Shroff, Executive Chairman, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas |
Lawyer of The Year - Private Client | Rajesh Narain Gupta, Managing Partner, SNG & Partners |
Managing Partner of The Year | Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas |
The next segment of the event on the Best Legal Teams 2021 (In-House) category saw Justice Dipak Misra, Former Chief Justice of India, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, Judge, Delhi High Court, Justice Anoop Mehta, Former Judge, Bombay High Court, and Badrinath Durvasula, Managing Director at ESSAR Capital Advisory in Mumbai graciously present the awards to the winners.
Justice Dipak Misra, Former Chief Justice of India lifted everyone's spirits as he expressed vehemently, "Conducting this event in a pandemic – this reminds me of the spirit of man! A non-acceptance of defeat! I want to congratulate Legal Era for this specific huge reason! For organising a grand occasion and celebrating such spirit to not be defeated."
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, Judge, Delhi High Court agreed, "This has brought some good news into the gloomy days we are living in. It is so good to see so much recognition for the legal profession in different segments. This segment specially for General Counsels is very important!"
Here is the list of all the winners in the "In-House" segment of awards.
CATEGORY | WINNER NAME |
In-House Legal Team for Innovation, Strategies & Continuous Growth | Accenture |
IT In-House Legal Team of The Year | Tech Mahindra Limited |
FMCG In-House Legal Team of The Year | Nestle India Ltd |
Telecommunication In-House Legal Team of The Year | Vodafone Idea Limited |
Pharmaceutical In-House Legal Team of The Year | Cipla Limited |
E Commerce Legal Team of The Year | Amazon India |
Insurance In-House Team of The Year | Max Bupa Health Insurance Company |
Small Size Legal Team of The Year | Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL) |
Mid-Size Legal Team of The Year | Maruti Suzuki India Limited |
In-House Legal Team of The Year (Best Performer Overall) | ITC Limited |
Every awardee with the Legal Era trophy signified a tough journey of plowing through 2021-21 with versatility and resourcefulness, tackling challenges head-on with patience and agility, resulting in creating avant-garde, epoch-making, and transformative state-of-the-art solutions.
The cheering and celebratory were unrelenting as Distinguished guest presenters Justice Deepak Verma, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Gourab Banerji, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Dev Bajpai, Director -Legal, HUL, and Hemant Kumar, Group General Counsel, Larsen & Toubro graced the third segment of the event showcasing winners in the Law Firm category.
Gourab Banerji, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India observed "I have been listening to the speakers and the awardees thus far and what strikes me is the incredible amount of talent that we have in this country in the legal teams. We can compete with the brightest and the best in the world. And in these dark times, it is particularly important to recognize such talent. Hence much kudos to Legal era! This event is not just the Grammy or the Oscars of the legal profession. Once you get this stamp, it is special for life! Thank you to Legal Era and Aakriti for making this happen."
Likewise Dev Bajpai, Director -Legal, HUL opined, "It's a pleasure to be in the company of such distinguished judges and professionals. I want to congratulate Legal Era for continuing to appreciate and recognize the legal talent in this country. The e-version of Legal Era magazine and newsletter has been reaching us consistently during this whole journey of difficult times. And I must say, the contribution and collaboration of lawyers during this time has been immense."
Once again, there were proud winners in this segment elated to receive the Legal Era stamp of recognition and that too from such an esteemed panel. The "Best Law Firm of the Year" award went to Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. The "Law Firm of the Year – Mumbai" award went to AZB & Partners and the "Law Firm of the Year -New Delhi" went to L&L Partners.
P&A Law Offices bagged "Litigation Law Firm of the Year & Competition & Anti -Trust Law Firm of the Year" award. Naik & Naik & Co won "Dispute Resolution Law Firm of the Year" award and even "Law Firm of the Year –Mumbai – Runner Up" award. And Kochhar & Co won the "Law Firm of the Year – New Delhi –2nd choice" award.
DSK Legal received multiple accolades - "Real Estate & Construction Law Firm of the Year," "White Collar Crimes Law Firm of the Year" and "Media & Entertainment Law Firm of the Year" awards. Anand & Anand won "Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year Award" and "IT, E-Commerce & Cyber Crime Law Firm of The Year" award. P&A Law Offices bagged "Litigation Law Firm of the Year" and "Competition & Anti -Trust Law Firm of the Year" awards. Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan won "Tax Law Firm of the Year" and "Trademark Law Firm of the Year" awards.
Here is the list of all the winners in the "Law Firms" segment of awards.
CATEGORY | WINNER NAME |
Up & Rising Law Firm of The Year (0-3years) | Numen Law Offices |
Private Equity Law Firm of The Year | |
Banking & Finance Law Firm of The Year | |
Real Estate & Construction Law Firm of The Year | |
Infrastructure & Project Finance Law Firm of The Year | Link Legal |
Aviation Law Firm of The Year | |
IT, E-Commerce & Cyber Crime Law Firm of The Year | |
Shipping & Maritime Law Firm of The Year | Bose & Mitra & Co |
Media & Entertainment Law Firm of The Year | |
Competition & Anti-Trust Law Firm of The Year | |
Corporate Law Firm of The Year | |
Intellectual Property Law Firm of The Year | |
Patent Law Firm of The Year | |
Trademark Law Firm of The Year | |
TMT Law Firm of The Year | Trilegal |
Capital Market Law Firm of The Year | |
Labour & Employment Law Firm of The Year | |
Tax Law Firm of The Year | |
Litigation Law Firm of The Year | |
Dispute Resolution Law Firm of The Year | |
M&A Law Firm of The Year | |
White Collar Crime Law Firm of The Year | |
Insolvency & Restructuring Law Firm of The Year | |
Law Firm of The Year for Specialised Practice on Posh | Lex Jurists |
Law Firm of The Year for Specialised Covid Relief Practice | Bhasin & Co |
Most Promising Law Firm of The Year | S K Singhi & Co LLP |
Law Firm of The Year - New Delhi | |
Law Firm of The Year - New Delhi | Kochhar & Co |
Law Firm of The Year - Mumbai | |
Law Firm of The Year – Mumbai | |
Law Firm of The Year - Hyderabad | Tatva Legal |
Law Firm of The Year - Ahmedabad | |
Law Firm of The Year - Chennai | Dua Associates |
Law Firm of The Year - Bengaluru | |
Best Law Firm of The Year (Overall Best Performer) |
And then it was time for the legends of the legal profession under the very prestigious Premier League Winners Category. Each of the legends was felicitated by Justice Arjan Sikri, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Dr Lalit Bhasin, President, Society of Indian Law Firms, Darius Khambatta, Senior Advocate, Zia Mody, Founder & Managing Partner, AZB & Partners and & Aakriti Raizada, Founder Legal Era -Legal Media Group.
Justice Arjan Sikri, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India spoke his mind impeccably, "What I find discerning – is that the awards we are going to give now under this Premier League segment – those awardees are an open book. They don't need to say what they have done or achieved. The manner they have risen to become extraordinary lawyers speaks for them. And these awardees will actually lend their aura to the awards themselves! I again congratulate Legal Era for honoring all those who have been honored today. In the words of Ram Jethmalani, "Winning awards is like marrying. And marriage is the end of romance." So those who have not won the award, I hope they will continue to work and be motivated and their romance continues for them to win these awards the next year!"
This segment honored Individuals Par Excellence. The award of the evening "Star Lawyer of The Millennium" was presented to the Living Legend Fali Sam Nariman. Harish Salve was felicitated with the "Global Counsel of The Year" Award. The "Legal Excellence Award as A Visionary Leader for Outstanding Contribution & Excellence in The Field of Mediation" went to Amarjit Singh Chandhiok. "The Senior Counsel of The Year" was Tushar Mehta.
Balasubramaniam Murli was honored with the "Lifetime Achievement Award."
Sameer Chugh was the "Legal Personality of The Year for Outstanding Contribution & Excellence as an In-House Counsel." Rajesh Jha was felicitated with the "Leadership Excellence Award for Outstanding Excellence & Continuous Growth in The Field of Law as In-House Counsel."
The "Legal Excellence Award for Corporate & Commercial Litigation" went to Ameet Naik. Gopal Jain was awarded the "Legal Excellence Award for Outstanding Excellence & Continuous Growth as a Business & Regulatory Counsel."
Here is the list of these winners in the "Premier League" segment of awards.
CATEGORY | WINNER NAME |
Star Lawyer of The Millennium | Fali Sam Nariman, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India |
Global Counsel of The Year | Harish Salve Qc, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India |
Senior Counsel of The Year | Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India |
Legal Excellence Award as A Visionary Leader for Outstanding Contribution & Excellence in The Field of Mediation | Amarjit Singh Chandhiok, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India |
Legal Excellence Award for Outstanding Excellence & Continuous Growth As A Business & Regulatory Counsel | Gopal Jain, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court Of India |
Legal Excellence Awards for Corporate & Commercial Litigation as A Lawyer | Ameet Naik, Founding & Managing Partner, Naik Naik & Co |
Lifetime Achievement Award | Balasubramaniam Murli, Senior Vice President Legal & Company Secretary, Nestle India Limited |
Leadership Excellence Award for Outstanding Excellence & Continuous Growth In The Field of Law as In-House Counsel | Rajesh Jha, Head of Legal South Asia, Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd |
Legal Personality of The Year for Outstanding Contribution & Excellence as In- House Counsel | Sameer Chugh, Group General Counsel, Bharti Group |
Even as the applause and winning moments continued, all along, the attendees made the most of the event by networking with the who's who of business and law in attendance. Many explored branding and sponsorship opportunities, including extensive coverage in the pioneering Legal Era Magazine.
The event closed with Ms. Aakriti Raizada's meaningful plea that going forward, the stellar audience needed to come together to analyze what else they could do to empower the fraternity and survive the challenges of the pandemic in 2021. 15th July onwards, Legal Era's GENNEXT CONGRESS 2021 is an upcoming opportunity in the waiting.
In considering 2020's diverse circumstances and experiences, the just concluded 10th Edition of Legal ERA Awards Event has become not only the most coveted and the most relevant certificate of competence in the Indian legal industry. The Legal Era Annual Awards has set a new benchmark. The 11th Edition of the Legal Era Annual Awards is set to stay ahead of the curve. Join send us your interest on awards@legalera.in
Here's an exciting snapshot of the diverse points our stellar Winners made as they expressed their thoughts about their win, the Legal Era event, their mentors, and their experiences!
Legal Excellence Awards for Corporate & Commercial Litigation as A Lawyer - Ameet Naik, Founding & Managing Partner, Naik Naik & Co
"I dedicate this award to Late Justice Bhimrao Naik. He has been my true inspiration from a trial court lawyer to the Supreme Court. Deeply honored."
Legal Excellence Award for Outstanding Excellence & Continuous Growth as A Business & Regulatory Counsel - Gopal Jain, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
"Taking forward a leaf from Justice Sikri's address, it's been a romance with the law so far with no awards. So, I hope I can carry forward the romance with this award. Thank you so much Legal Era for giving us this opportunity to interact with so many legends who are on the screen today."
Policy & Regulatory Lawyer of The Year Award - Neera Sharma, CEO/CIO, Sistema Smart Technologies Limited
"I congratulate Legal Era for not just awarding me with this honour but also creating this event in such difficult times and giving us the opportunity to meet our peers and hear the best legal minds of our fraternity. I feel so motivated!"
General Counsel of The Year - South-East Asia Region award - Rajeev Chopra, Managing Director - Legal, Accenture
"Thank you, Legal Era for this recognition. It means a lot to me specially when this award is by the best search platform in the country. And in times where our lives have changed…It is really precious to receive an award during such times as we navigate unprecedented developments…."
Lawyer of The Year - Insolvency & Bankruptcy Laws - Shardul Shroff, Executive Chairman, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
"It's a true privilege to receive such an award during a pandemic year. I thank Legal Era for this opportunity and thank the jury for toiling through so many nominations."
Lawyer of the Year - TMT award - Anand Desai, Managing Partner, DSK Legal
"I can't believe it's been 10 years since Legal era was born! What Legal Era is building is a fabulous stage for us lawyers…Thank you so much!"
Lawyer of The Year - Intellectual Property - Hari Subramaniam, Managing Partner, Subramaniam & Associates (SNA)
"IPR award is not new to me. But to receive an award before such a star-studded presenter panel of the best legal minds of our country and honorable judges, is something extremely delightful and special. Thank you, Legal Era for putting up such a glittering ceremony and making us momentarily forget the misery of the pandemic."
Lawyer of the Year – Media and Entertainment award - Ameet Naik, Founding & Managing Partner, Naik Naik & Co
"Every emerging sector has changed. Just as Aakriti has made that change over the evolving legal profession. Similarly everyone has to change with the needs of the time."
Lawyer of The Year - Mergers & Acquisitions - Zia Mody, Founder and Managing Partner, AZB & Partners
"It's delightful to receive this award. It's been a tough year keeping the flock interested in the profession. M&A has had its ups and downs in this period. Here's hoping for times when we can meet and hug and greet!"
Managing Partner of the Year award - Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
"Thank you very much for this moment. I'm grateful to Legal Era and the jury for selecting me for this prestigious and honorable award. This year has been a very unusual and very difficult year. In a matter of days from being an office we all had to switch to working from home. Ever since then we haven't met each other and said hello. Being virtual has its benefits of efficiency but also challenges - how do we communicate with people without physically meeting them. We have not been able to meet our clients and yet we have been able to work for them. Yet, we have been able to do deals over 50 billion USD over the last year and this was quite incredible. And this would not have been possible without the support of our lawyers. This award is a big thank you to them for their hard work. Another challenge we dealt with was health. And something far more important than physical health has been mental health. With both working parents working from home and children studying at home, there were many challenges we dealt with to help our lawyers as a support group. And we also accepted LGBTQ groups with our new Diversity group. How do we communicate and work seamlessly irrespective of where they may be – that is a relevant challenge before us and we are working to make that journey tech-friendly and seamless"
Lawyer of The Year - Cyber Crimes - Pavan Duggal, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and President, Cyberlaws.Net
"It's been a long night of fear and losses. It may seem like a new dawn and that the world is entering into a new cyber world order that has a lot of cybercriminals. And in this ecosystem of hopelessness, this kind of event is indeed a very pleasant breather as we have the opportunity to reach out to the doyens of the legal fraternity. I congratulate Legal Era for visualizing, conceptualizing, and implementing this thoughtful event. Thank you."
Lawyer of The Year – Technology - Sajai Singh, Partner, J Sagar Associates
"I sincerely thank Legal Era for initiating and hosting this awards function. It is a proud and humbling experience for me and my team at JSA. This moment is much bigger than me. I hope I continue to deliver excellence. And I hope this award demonstrates how law and technology have a prominent place in our lives."
Lawyer of The Year - Competition & Anti-Trust Laws - Karan Chandhiok, Partner, Chandhiok & Mahajan
"Thank you so much Legal Era for this recognition. And thank you for highlighting that we converted a school to a field hospital that is now fully functional as COVID facility. I dedicate this award to all those members of the legal fraternity who we lost to the pandemic."
Emerging Lawyer of The Year - Dispute Resolution - Sidharth Sethi, Partner, J. Sagar Associates
"Although we are in such uncertain times, the recognition and affection such as this not only motivates me but also several young disputes lawyers in India and around the world. In recent years, there is a healthy tendency that more and more lawyers and commercial men are opting for mediation as a mode of dispute resolution. I am a strong proponent of the same. And it is my humble view that the goal of mediation should be strengthened. I hope to continue the good work and take this opportunity to thank everyone and anyone who made this possible."
Here's a snapshot of what a couple of our stellar Winners in the Best Legal Teams 2021 (In-House) category had to say!
E Commerce Legal Team of The Year - Amazon India
"It's a special year to get this award as our team was among the first to be out there on the field to get passes and deliver services even as our team had to rise above many personal challenges."
Insurance In-House Team of The Year - Max Bupa Health Insurance Company
Partha Banerjee said "Thank you very much Legal Era for this award. Last year has been a very difficult year particularly for insurance companies as we were tirelessly working to ensure that families don't get into poverty due to lack of payment of insurance money to them. So, it was a very different year from the routine legal. More to go for ESG and technology!"
Small Size Legal Team of The Year - Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL)
Surendra Sharma, said "A big thank you for recognizing the efforts of our small legal team as we demonstrated agility and resilience and upheld our company's motto! Heartiest congratulations to team Legal Era for organizing this platform and event despite so many challenges!"
Mid-Size Legal Team of The Year - Maruti Suzuki India Limited – Manjaree Chowdhary
"It is indeed my proud privilege to receive this honor from such an esteemed jury. Recognition gives a sense of accomplishment and we deeply feel that today. We are really humbled and honored to get this award in these testing times."
In-House Legal Team of The Year (Best Performer Overall) - ITC Limited
Roopa Vikram said "For the third time in a row, we are really proud to receive this award! And winning it this year makes it extremely special. We feel vindicated for our incredible efforts over this year."
Private Equity Law Firm of The Year - AZB & Partners - Zia Mody, Managing Partner, AZB & Partners
"This is a very important award for us as we pride ourselves as the best private equity lawyers. Our clients are the engine of FDI in this country and to be recognized as being good in class for this legal service is very heartening."
Competition & Anti-Trust Law Firm of The Year - P&A Law Offices - Anand Pathak, Managing Partner, P&A Law offices expressed
"I will miss Soli Sorabjee… And I dedicate this award to my young team of lawyers who are not on the screen right now with me."
Intellectual Property Law Firm of The Year - Anand & Anand -Pravin Anand, Managing Partner, Anand & Anand
"IP is to be loved and admired. Not just learnt. And therefore, the right attitude not just knowledge should be the focus. As a society, we cannot progress unless we have regard for our creators. And in these times, we have seen how books, poetry, films and vaccines saved us. They are all products of IP."
Infrastructure & Project Finance Law Firm of The Year - Link Legal -Atul Sharma, Managing Partner, Link Legal said
"Receiving an award is always a pleasant feeling but receiving it from this really esteemed panel of presenters is something else. I feel like an old VW Beetle car where I'm the engine in the rear and the steering wheel is in the hands of the youngsters. We have to create leaders down the line."
Up & Rising Law Firm of The Year (0-3years) - Numen Law Offices - Arush Khanna, Managing Partner, Numen Law Offices
"It feels surreal… 6 years back I was sitting on the backbench of an awards night and I said to Aakriti, one day I will be on the stage! So, I accept this honor today with utmost humility and a high sense of responsibility. Thank you very much!"