The current developments in the Indian business eco-system, marked by the ever-evolving startup culture, have instigated a necessity in being au fait with the requisites of these developments, and the prominent of them being the sphere of Business or Commercial Law. For a fact, the discipline of Law, or much precisely, the science and art of justice, in its essence is complex for the common multitude to comprehend efficiently. This fact, in turn, leads us to the justification, as to why professional advocates play a significant role when it comes to legal conjectures within all spheres under the umbrella. Now, evidently, these notions of significance and the quest for unparalleled expertise have cleared the path for us at Insights Success in our endeavor to seek and unveil, the 10 rising law firms in India, and brought us to the gates of Veritas Legal, Mumbai.
Established in 2015, Veritas Legal is a boutique business law firm comprising of experienced professionals who have worked in leading law firms in the country. The firm has extensively emphasized upon mergers and acquisitions, corporate commercial advisory, transactions and dispute resolution has successfully carved a niche for itself in the highly competitive legal market in India. The firm’s congregation of experienced, motivated and dedicated lawyers thrives on energy and complexity. Its clients benefit tremendously from the team’s unparalleled skills blended with Veritas Legal’s culture, personal attention and streamlined advice that it provides. The firm’s success is driven by its core values which form the very foundation in defining its cohesive culture and what it stands for as a team. The key practice areas of the Firm include, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Dispute Resolution, Real Estate, Retail & Franchising, Competition law, Banking & Finance, Private Client practice, Restructuring & Insolvency and Data Protection and Privacy.
In its initial stages, the firm was only a team of five lawyers. Through the course of time, it has grown exponentially, and in less than four years, the firm’s strength accounts of approximately 60 people including 40 lawyers. As is the case, with the initial journey, there were a fair number of challenges, however, the client confidence in the firm and its people has been unwavering, thereby making the firm’s journey an exhilarating one.
Recently, Veritas Legal was ranked in the Top 10 Law Firms by Deal Value and Deal Count for India in the Mergermarket Global & Regional M&A Report Q1 2019; and ranked #6 by Deal Volume and #7 by Deal Count for the India Announced Deals in the Bloomberg Global M&A Market Review Q1 Legal Rankings 2019. The firm has been consistently ranked in the Mergermarket, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and Venture Intelligence league tables for India and other global rankings. The firm and its members have also been recognized in the RSG India Report 2017 in the top 40 India ranking, Chambers and Partners (Asia-Pacific and Global Guides), IFLR1000, IBLJ, Benchmark Litigation, Asian Legal Business and Asialaw Profiles. (Source: LinkedIn, veritaslegal.in, mergermarket.com)
The Torch of Leadership
Veritas Legal has been consistently ascending the stairs of unmatched excellence under the leadership of Abhijit Joshi, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner. From the flames of his inquisitive nature, his inclination towards logic-based solutions acting as a catalyst, and being apathetic towards math and science, conceived Abhijit’s decision of choosing law as a profession. With a prominent career spanning across 25 years, Abhijit is a qualified Solicitor in India and England and one of India’s leading Corporate and M&A lawyers.
Abhijit has been recognized in The A-List: India’s top 100 lawyers by India Business Law Journal and ranked in Band-1 for Corporate/M&A by the prestigious Chambers & Partners Asia Pacific Guide for a few years now. In addition, he has received many accolades including ‘Highly Regarded’ lawyer by IFLR1000. He has in the past received the Financial Times Innovation Award (Asia Pacific) for a complex merger transaction.
Addressing Contemporary Challenges
Abhijit strongly believes that the legal profession in the last two decades has changed dramatically, trying to keep pace with the economic evolution of the country and consequently, many new laws have evolved. Pertaining to the same landscape, the legal profession is away from institutionalization considering it is presently devoid of competition from foreign law firms. Growth on one side and lack of institutionalization on the other, sometimes creates an unhealthy tension for the evolution of the legal profession and developing a centre of excellence within the country. This also sometimes results in a lack of consolidation and over fragmentation in the market, which is not necessarily good for the legal industry at large.
Upholding Culture, Achieving Distinction
Veritas Legal has established a Pro Bono Program to ensure access to justice, promote the rule of law, provide legal services to those unable to afford a lawyer, and to assist clients to achieve their Corporate Social Responsibility objectives. The Pro bono service has been an integral part of the firm’s culture and is the backbone of the value system, which is clearly demonstrated from the firm’s and its lawyers’ involvement in several cases, one of which includes, being appointed as an Amicus Curie by the Bombay High Court in a Public Interest Litigation to assist the Division Bench of the High Court in regard to the issue regarding the right of inmates to practice their own religion during the tenure of their sentences in prisons all over India.
The firm has recently announced a 40% average increase of fixed remuneration across all associate levels for the Financial Year 2019-20(Source: IBLJ). This is a substantial increase and puts a 4-year old Firm significantly in line with the Tier-I law Firms in India as far as remuneration is concerned. The firm expects to attract even better talent with the above announcement and has also embarked on structured internship programs with various law schools.
“Culture continues to be the cornerstone of our philosophy, but the remuneration in line with the top tier of the industry is essential for any platform, which intends to deliver high quality services to clients. It has taken us a little time given that we are only 4 years old, but this move has been on our mind for a while,” Abhijit expresses.
Exhibiting Prominence
- RSG India Top 40 Law Firm 2017
Clients praised Veritas Legal for a number of reasons, namely, lawyers’ ‘exceptional knowledge of all legal issues’ and ability to provide a ‘personalised service’. Some clients commented on attitudes and culture at the firm, highlighting trust in its lawyers, their integrity and willingness to help. Clients also noted the efficiency with which the firm delivered legal services and praised its ‘phenomenal work’.
- Asialaw Profiles 2019
“The firm consists of a young team of professionals who are extremely dedicated to their clients and have in depth knowledge of the law as well as the facts. The firm is able to understand the client’s requirements, give practical advice and adapt to the situation at hand. Extremely nimble and always on hand, thereby instilling a great level of confidence in the client.” – Corporate and M&A, Dispute resolution, Regulatory
- Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2018
“Veritas Legal provides strategic advice and has business acumen. Further, it is able to deliver within stringent timelines with high quality advice and drafting. It also has strong negotiation skills. The firm is very responsive, has strong bench strength and well-seasoned professionals. Access to partner time and attention on matters strengthens clients’ confidence in working with the firm.” – Commercial and transactions
- Chambers and Partners 2019
Commentators highlight the team as “an emerging firm in the M&A space.”
Bequeathing Success, Beholding the Future
In his advice to the budding entrepreneurs and startups, Abhijit says, “the first lesson for any entrepreneur, in my view, would be for them to know their own business. Often there is haste or allure to many success stories without much concentration on the substance. The second aspect is that every entrepreneur should look into is scalability of their business. Great ideas are worth little if they cannot be implemented and even if implemented, are not scaled to its potential. Therefore, sustained implementation plays a huge role in the success of any organization.”
Commenting upon the future prospects of Veritas Legal, Abhijit says, “We see India poised to grow and along with it, the legal industry will also grow exponentially.” The firm plans to grow deeper into specialization and has added senior resources in Bankruptcy and Real Estate practice. “We will grow, but in a calibrated fashion, deeper as opposed to wider whilst continuing to remain true to our values. The rest will follow,” he concludes.
