While dealing with different entities exclusively in professional life, it is mandatory to fulfil legal requirements. Many times, issues like disagreement or disputes crop up during mutual dealings. And sometimes, these issues reach a level where legal counsel is a must.
Therein arises the need for expert legal counsel who can guide a business entity in all of its legal obligations throughout and always. That is why the demand for an expert law firm is constantly growing. The clients for such law firms involve professionals, banks, national and multinational companies etc.
By informing the clients about the exact position of law, their rights, duties, violations, and legal recourse, a law firm offers all kinds of legal solutions whenever and wherever necessary. With its team of expert legal professionals in all the areas of law, one law firm which is working diligently for the client’s cause is King Stubb & Kasiva.
Under the exemplary leadership of Jidesh Kumar, the Managing Partner, today, King Stubb & Kasiva (KSK) has emerged as the perfect legal counsellor for every business entity.
Jidesh is a visionary for KSK, who, in 2005, along with his classmate Mr Rajesh Sivaswamy took a leap of faith in themselves and started it. The early 21st century had little meant of exposure, and lesser scope of networking, especially for first-generation lawyers; however, none of it deterred them from embarking upon their respective legal careers together.
Jidesh holds a B.A. LL. B (2002) from University Law College, Bengaluru, and an M.B.L from National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. His practice focused on Intellectual Property Laws initially, which later transitioned into General Corporate and Commercial practice.
At this point, his practice also includes litigation strategy, arbitration, and corporate laws, along with managing the operations of King Stubb & Kasiva (KSK) PAN-India. Jidesh is enrolled with the Karnataka Bar Council and is a member of the Karnataka High Court Bar Association, International Bar Association, and Supreme Court Bar Association.
Jidesh is also a corporate attorney with an experience of over 18 years. His major focus areas are mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investment, intellectual property, contract drafting, review and negotiation, information technology, outsourcing, BPO laws, regulatory, aviation, and entry strategies.
In an interview with Insights Success for its edition of India’s Most Admired Law Firms-2022, Jidesh talked about his journey at KSK, inspirations, services, challenges, and legal offerings.
Please describe KSK in detail.
King Stubb & Kasiva (KSK) is a multi-service corporate law firm with offices in eight cities in India, namely – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai, and Pune. The firm was started in 2005, with its first office in New Delhi opened by Rajesh Sivaswamy (Senior Partner) and me.
Over the last several years, King Stubb & Kasiva (KSK) – Advocates and Attorneys has developed a niche in mid-market M&A, litigation and disputes resolution, employment and labour, banking and finance, IT, e-commerce, and emerging technology practices. Our clients include large and medium Indian and foreign businesses, multinational corporations, and Fortune 500 companies. The firm advises ministries, government authorities, and public sector undertakings.
KSK has also forged close ties with foreign law firms. This has been especially useful since we now act for several Indian majors across the globe, whether it is in terms of cross-border M&A or setting up a presence to undertake business.
What inspired you to venture into the legal space?
I hail from a modest middle-class background, where ‘Law’ was a known word and profession, but no one ventured into it previously in my family. After I completed my 12th, I qualified for Engineering and Medical, and it was around the time I was deciding what to choose that a third option knocked on my door. I heard about an admission opening at ULC, and my mind went right into it.
The next thing I knew, I gave up on my engineering and medical seats and decided to go with Law instead. The choice was simple after it, as I was curious to know and read more about the laws and become a lawyer. It happened pretty suddenly. However, this has to be one of the best decisions I took, as that is where I met my best friend and a confidant, who is now also my co-Partner in the firm.
In law school, I was an active mooter; I took part in various model parliaments and was studious academically. Whenever I read or came across something new in the legal space, I would find myself even more immersed in the profession.
What drove me deeper into it was when I shifted my base to Delhi from Bengaluru in the initial days of my career. I had the privilege of working and being trained under stalwarts like Amitabh Sen, Rohit Kocchar, Tarvinder Singh, Manju Chawla, and Partha Mukherjee, among others. This helped me build myself, create my space, and practice in the legal space.
What challenges have you faced while entering the legal space, and what are the challenges now?
For a Lawyer, a network is his net worth! In 2005, even though the internet had marked an entry into our lives, its accessibility was still scanty. Hence ruling out the possibility of networking with legal professionals and professionals from other domains. Whatever was available was right in front of us, offline, at offices and organizations.
Back then, one major challenge was to build a network and have connections, and that too, as a first-generation lawyer. Exposure was lesser and limited, and this certainly did pose a challenge for someone who wanted to contribute to the legal ecosystem through his law firm.
Challenges, I believe, are integral to growth, and I was no different. While networking and making connections remained challenging for a long time, another challenge was to flair and create a space for me in a new place and learn new things from scratch because we certainly did not have YouTube or Google to know how things functioned.
Many things had to be done manually, even updating my knowledge bank via trusted books, journals, and reports that recurred every month or quarterly with updates/amendments/new judgments. Building a book of records at the onset of my career got a little challenging too, but then again, the absence of many things prepared us to get stronger in the profession.
While we lacked the technology to help us navigate the profession back then, the present generation can do so easily. It is a blessing for them and us, too, now that we have it a little easier on the technological front.
In the early 2000s, even though Law as a profession was a choice for many, there was not so much of an influx in the number of law graduates as it is now. The competition that is there today can be a challenge for law enthusiasts.
Kindly brief us about the various specialized legal offerings, solutions, or services you provide to your clientele.
We have established teams to ensure our services meet the most exact standards in every practice area. Our Key Practices include Corporate M&A, Private Equity and Venture Capital, Banking and Finance, Real Estate, Dispute Resolution (Arbitration & Litigation), Insolvency, Regulatory, and Labour and Employment matters.
The Firm also has dedicated practices surrounding Capital Markets, Competition, Antitrust, Environmental, Food, Information Technology, Infrastructure and Project Finance, IPR, Investment, Legal Metrology, Litigation, Media Law, and Tax.
Our industry focus encompasses diversified industries, blockchain and cryptos, e-commerce, defence, fintech, healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, power and energy, telecom, media and telecommunications, transport and logistics, trusts, charities, and not-for-profit and white-collar crime.
We also provide legal, structural, regulatory, and compliance-related services guiding start-ups through all stages of their growth, assistance in incorporation, structuring, funding, and registration of Intellectual Property, among many others.
We assist and advise start-ups in different industry sectors, including e-commerce, fin-tech, genomics, defence, drugs and cosmetics, ed-tech, med-tech, news and media aggregation, logistics, blockchain, airports, mining, green energy, power and energy, real estate, engineering and manufacturing, pharmacy wholesale & retail distribution, F&B, fashion and clothing, fitness.
What specialities make you stand out as an admired law firm in the legal industry?
First and foremost, I believe that our work culture is our USP. We acknowledge the importance of a work-life balance. As a Law Firm with bouts of work coming our way every hour, it puts a lot of pressure to cater to deliverables on time, sometimes at the last moment, but we ensure that our lawyers have a balance in terms of the work they do on behalf of the firm.
Our work policies are liberal; we promote diversity, gender equality, and entrepreneurship spirit within the law firm, which certainly makes us stand out as a Corporate Law Firm here in the legal industry.
As a law firm, we have an equal emphasis on client deliverables and our lawyers’ mental health and understand how we can achieve our professional goals without lawyers experiencing a wear-out. We are also perhaps the only law firm in India with eight offices and have a full-fledged team at every location we are present.
Over the years, we have established long-term relationships with companies, even start-ups during their inception, which have now become unicorns. There are many parameters best known to our clients who have retained us for this long, but I can vouch and claim that KSK has been one of the admired law firms over the years.
What is the impact of technological advancements in the Law space?
In 2002, if someone had told me we would have virtual courts 20 years down the line, I would have laughed it off! The same would be the case with platforms that give us easy and super quick judgments, straight from the court, because accessing judgments in seconds was certainly a dream back then. The impact of technological advancements is so huge at the moment that, deep down, I am a little envious of how easy things have become right now.
Technology has transitioned the way the legal space used to function. Maintaining a diary with future dates of cases and then making sure the dates were followed up has now become easier with an online Calendar. Virtual, online meetings have replaced phone calls and offline meetings.
CRMs have made it easier for law firms to have a record of everything right from their clientele to the point of contact, prospect, and follow-up. Technology has evolved so much that it has seeped deep into the legal space, giving rise to Legal Tech ventures. We are at a point where we require technology everywhere, and that itself speaks of the impact in the legal space.
What would you like to advise the aspiring legal enthusiasts who are willing to step into the legal space today?
Legal Enthusiasts today live in the best possible time where there’s technology, exposure, so many options to choose from, limitless networking opportunities, and excellent opportunities readily available, just a click away. This is how privileged today’s generation is, and my advice to each one of them is to explore and see what fits the best.
Please keep an open mind to things, don’t close your options without dwelling deep into its technicalities. Be more fearless in experimenting with allied professions that go with Law like Business Development, Content Strategizing, Legal Recruitment, Legal Management, etc. These, too, have gained importance in the legal space over time.
It’s monumental for enthusiasts to pick a niche in the long run since there is a lot of competition these days, and this is only set to increase each passing day. Pick up books, read journals, reports, and judgments, take certificate courses, intern, moot, debate, and keep yourself informed because the competition is only getting fiercer. Today is the time to learn, and the world is anyone’s oyster if they’re headstrong about what they want to do.
How do you envision your company’s operation eventually concerning the current scenario of the Legal Space?
We at KSK regularly update ourselves with the ever-changing technology that takes place from time to time. As for our company’s operations, we have been expanding to keep up with the wants of the changing times. With an increase in clientele, we’ve onboarded more members to the team and have our network of lawyers spread over numerous jurisdictions in India alone. This has helped us cater to client deliverables and execute the same seamlessly.
I have a vision for KSK. And that is to build King Stubb & Kasiva as a law firm with the best legal minds in India, provide the best legal solutions to corporates, and become one of the most preferred law firms to work at!
