Mr. Abhai Pandey

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Abhai Pandey is a Partner at LexOrbis, a specialist Intellectual Property law firm. He has  over 27 years of experience in Corporate, IP & TMT and Competitions laws. He works at the Firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice and advises clients in contentious matters for all IP rights, including patents, trademarks and passing off, designs, copyright and databases, trade secrets and confidential information, anti-counterfeiting and domain name disputes.

Abhai works with a team of litigators and investigators for enforcing, protecting or defending IP rights and represents clients at all stages of litigation and dispute resolution including devising pre-litigation strategies. He regularly appears in pre- and post-grant opposition cases at IP Offices, revocation and appeal cases at IPAB, infringement and passing off litigations at courts and for anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting actions with enforcement agencies.

Abhai represents a wide range of businesses and industries including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, electronics, mechanical, ICT, publishing, media & entertainment, etc.

Abhai writes prolifically for many renowned publications worldwide, including Managing IP, World Intellectual Property Review, Indian Business Law Journal, IP Frontline, Mondaq, Asialaw, Lexology to name a few. He is also associated with many significant IP forums and professional bodies in India and abroad, including the International Trademark Association (INTA), International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), Licensing Executives Society International (LESI), Asian Patent attorneys Association (APAA), European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA) and Pharmaceuticals Trade Marks Group (PTMG).

Manisha Singh

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Manisha Singh is a Co- Founder and Partner at LexOrbis, India’s premier Intellectual Property Firm, providing end-to-end IP services and solutions starting from ideation to monetization including, procurement, protection, maintenance and enforcement of all forms of IP rights and assets and other legal services. She has been advising and handling dispute resolutions for a wide range of clients including global technology and pharmaceutical companies, public sector companies, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Department of Bio-technology, Government of India, Indian Oil Corporation, Department of Non-Banking Companies, Reserve Bank of India, to name a few. She regularly represents clients as their litigating counsel at the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts and has over 20 years of litigation experience practicing at all forums including at the Supreme Court of India, High Court, District Courts and other Tribunals.

Manisha studied law from the one of the premier law schools, The Law Faculty of Delhi University of Delhi after completing her Master’s degree in Economics from Patna.

Manisha is ranked amongst the top and leading lawyers in IP and dispute resolution segments of Indian legal practice by leading law journals and publications. She is known as one of the leading thought leaders in these segments and liked for providing proactive, out of the box, business oriented counselling and representation. She founded LexOrbis in 1997 with a set of like-minded lawyers to bring international perspective to the Indian intellectual property right laws, that were in the process of being integrated with the International IP systems post signing by India of TRIPS Agreement in 1995. She worked closely with the policy makers, judiciary and other stakeholders to establish robust and level playing IP regime in India and she continues to work on critical and high-stake policy related cases.

Her in-depth understanding and knowledge of all the aspects of IPR is reflected in her prolific academic and research based writing in renowned publications worldwide and she has been routinely invited to author articles and commentaries on contemporary IP policies and issues by national and international publications including Managing IP, World Intellectual Property Review, Indian Business Law Journal, IP Frontline, Marques, Mondaq, Asialaw, etc..

Manisha is member of many significant IP forums and professional bodies in India and abroad, including the International Trademark Association (INTA), International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), Licensing Executives Society International (LESI), Asian Patent attorneys Association (APAA), European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA) and Pharmaceuticals Trade Marks Group (PTMG).

Manisha has been widely recognized for her work in the IP space by various national / international associations. Some of her latest accolades include her recognition for Patent prosecution work by the  IAM Patent 1000, 2019; IP Strategist by IAM 300, 2019; IP Star Women of the Year, 2019 by Legal Media Group;  2019 GIPC- Award for Excellence for invaluable services in the field of IP; Recognised amongst India’s Top 100 Lawyers, The A-List by India Business Law Journal; Recognized as Leading Lawyer for IP by Asialaw 2018; Managing Intellectual Property, 2018, recognizing as an IP Star for Litigation and Strategy & Counselling.

Dina Wadia

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Dina specialises in Banking & Finance, Investment Funds, Financial Services and Mergers & Cross Border Investments & Acquisitions. She has extensive experience in Banking & Finance related transactions including all manner of Debt Transactions (secured, limited recourse and syndicated), Project Finance, Acquisition Finance, Structured Finance, Real Estate Financing, Security creation, Unlisted Debt and General Banking Products.

Dina also advises on the establishment of funds and investment by onshore & offshore funds and investment vehicles including general or sector specific Private Equity vehicles, Venture Capital funds, Mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles. She has been involved with the domestic mutual fund industry since the opening of this sector to banks, offshore and private players in 1989 and with offshore depository receipt programmes of Indian issuers since inception of these transactions in India in 1993 / 1994.

In addition, she has extensive experience in Corporate Commercial and Finance related transactions including Private Equity & Capital Markets, Foreign Investment, Joint Ventures and Acquisitions across industry sectors.
She has been practicing law since 1982. Before joining JSA, she was for twenty one years with Little & Co, one of India’s premier and oldest law firms and she was a partner there for over ten years.

Banking and Finance Law Practice:

JSA has been widely recognized as having a leading national Banking & Finance practice which is highly regarded for its excellence, consistency and commercial sense, and has a reputation for working on challenging and innovative transactions.

The practice covers a wide range of financing transactions such as (i) Corporate Debt, including syndicated loans, secured and unsecured loans, revolving credits, guarantee facilities and other forms of security; (ii) Structured Finance; (iii) Acquisition and Leveraged Finance using senior, mezzanine and subordinated debt; (iv) Project Finance and Public Private Partnerships across all Infrastructure and Energy sectors; (v) Securitization; (vi) Real Estate Finance including structured lending, secured property lending and property securitization; (vii) Asset Finance; (viii) Derivative transactions; (ix) Debt Capital Markets encompassing issues of rupee denominated bonds and debentures, foreign currency convertible bonds, bank MTN programmes and other securities; and (x) Debt Restructuring and re-financing, including asset reconstruction and schemes of arrangement.

We have extensive experience in diverse types of Banking & Finance transactions and have represented clients on high-profile and complex Syndicated Lending, Structured Products, Project Finance, External Commercial Borrowings, and plain vanilla bilateral lending deals. Our scope of work covers the entire spectrum including structuring transactions, drafting term sheets and transactional documents, negotiations, advising on the regulatory framework and related issues.

The Firm acts for several Global & Domestic Banks, and also represents a number of Institutional Lenders, Multi-lateral, Developmental & Export Credit Institutions, Asset Managers, Funds, Real Estate Investors, Arrangers and Corporate Borrowers.

Dr. Surat Singh

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Surat Singh & Associates is based out of New Delhi and it offers legal services to national and international clients in corporate and business matters.

Dr. Surat Singh – Harvard & Oxford Educated Top Lawyer of India

Dr. Surat Singh is Harvard and Oxford educated top lawyer of India. He practices at Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court. He is also an international lawyer. He was educated at Delhi (India), Oxford (England) and Harvard (America). With his three masters’ degrees in law from Delhi, Oxford and Harvard and his Doctor of Laws (S.J.D) from Harvard, he is arguably the highest educated lawyer of India. Incidentally, he happens to be the contemporary of American President Barack Obama at Harvard Law School during 1988-90. After his seven years stint at Oxford and Harvard, Dr. Surat Singh returned to India and started his law career in 1992 with the then Attorney General of India, G. Ramaswamy.

Illustrious Career & Professional Achievements

Dr. Surat Singh’s list of professional achievements is long. To date, Dr. Surat Singh has successfully handled complex legal cases involving land & real estate properties valuing more than INR 250,000 crores (US$ 50 billion) for State and Federal Government, top corporate houses and Government corporations.

On another plane, Surat works passionately along with his other compatriot top Indian lawyers to improve the education, training and practice of law in the country. He has lectured extensively in Indian and international law-school campuses. Surat’s opinions, analyses and features regularly publish in the most prestigious of newspapers and magazines and he is a much sought-after panelist on TV channels on debates on high-value national and international issues.

Harvard Contemporary of President Obama

Dr. Surat Singh is also Harvard contemporary of President Barack Obama at Harvard Law School in late eighties and he actively campaigned for the re-election President Obama by starting a blog : http://indiaforobama.wordpress.com. He attended both the first and second inauguration ceremonies of Obama’s Presidency.

HONOURS & AWARDS FOR DR. SURAT SINGH

  • The Pride of India Award 2011 (Bharat Gaurav Award 2011) – by Indo American Friends’ Group along with Chief Justice of India.
  • International Peace Award 2001 – by the International Educators for World Peace
  • Social Scientist of the year 1999 – by National Environmental Science Academy (NESA)
  • Eminent Jurist award 1997 – by the then Delhi Chief Minister, Shri Sahib Singh Verma in April 1997

Network & Associations

  • Dr. Surat Singh served as President of Harvard Club of India (twice)
  • President of Harvard University Alumni Association of Asia (2004- 2006)
  • Hony. Secretary of Oxford Cambridge Society of India

Vineetha M G

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Vineetha MG has extensive experience in private equity investments, investment funds, project and corporate finance, projects, cross-border and domestic M&A, corporate governance, domestic and cross border anti-corruption statutes and ethics. In the infrastructure space specifically power, oil and gas, telecom, roads, airports, railway, and port sectors she has advised and represented the entire spectrum of participants including lenders, developers, project sponsors, equipment suppliers, infrastructure funds and export credit agencies.

Vineetha is also widely experienced in setting up and advising onshore and offshore venture capital and private equity funds which invest in several sectors.

Vineetha also regularly advises clients on issues arising out of domestic anti-corruption laws as well as foreign anti-corruption laws such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977 and the UK Bribery Act, 2010 in connection with mergers and acquisitions, private equity and financing transactions. She has assisted in drafting appropriate documentation, policies and certificates to facilitate compliance. She has also advised Indian companies who have faced enforcement actions under various Indian statutes, including the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Criminal Procedure Code, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Companies Act, 1956, CARO and the listing agreement.

Vineetha has a B.A., LL.B (Hons.) from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, (1998), and an Executive Education Program – “Infrastructure in a Market Economy” from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is admitted to practise law in India.

Acquisition International– The Voice of Corporate Finance recently awarded her “Most Influential Woman in Private Equity Investments 2018- India” . She is included in The A List – India’s Top 100 Lawyers, based on extensive research conducted by India Business Law Journal (IBLJ 2018) and been recognized by Insight Success magazine as “The Top 10 Powerful Lawyers in 2018”.

In her spare time, Vineetha loves to paint. She also enjoys going on occasional treks with friends, when time permits.

Law Firm Overview:

Samvād: Partners is a full-service Indian law firm with offices in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. The Firm is committed to providing innovative and quality legal advice to our clients; maintaining the highest levels of professional integrity; and nurturing our lawyers in a work environment that motivates them to achieve and maintain the highest standards.

The majority of our Partners have a rich mix of domestic and international experience – having worked in several international financial centres outside India, including Hong Kong, London, New York and Singapore. We strive to provide our clients with innovative simple solutions to their most complex legal and business challenges in India.

Kaushal Kumar Sharma

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Mr. KK Sharma is former Director General & Head of Merger Control and Antitrust Divisions of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). He has to his credit the distinction of drafting the competition law and regulations in India and overseeing their enforcement thereafter. Mr. Sharma has investigated several cases of competition law violations falling under a number of sectors as the first Director General of the functional CCI. The creation of Merger Review Format for India, drafting of merger regulations and overseeing the first few merger clearances was done under his leadership. He has a comprehensive experience, of nearly three decades, in various Government departments and public bodies, including direct tax administration, the Competition Commission of India as well as the private sector. A regular speaker at national and international Conferences on competition law, he is an active member of International Competition Network (ICN) Merger Working Group. Mr. Sharma is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, a qualified lawyer and an economics masters. He is trained in competition law economics from King’s College, London.

KK SHARMA LAW OFFICES (KK):

KK SHARMA LAW OFFICES (KK) is an initiative of Mr. Kaushal Kumar Sharma, former DG of the Competition Commission of India and Commissioner of Income Tax. KK, as a law firm, is dedicated towards delivering quality services across the legal spectrum to its clients. Specialising in Competition and Tax Regulation, KK provides litigation, advisory, strategic consultancy, regulatory and compliance services. KK has carved a niche for itself as an exclusive competition law and tax law firm under the guidance, expertise and experience of its chairman, Mr. KK Sharma, augmented by a team of trained, driven professionals creating a formidable cohesive force representing a combination of expertise and swift execution. KK is always at the forefront of competition law litigation in the country, having handled highly complex and high stake matters. It represents clients at all the levels of judicial and quasi-judicial authorities mandated under the Competition Act.

 

Satinder Kapur

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Satinder Kapur is a dual-qualified English Solicitor and Indian Advocate. He has experience of advising clients on a wide variety of issues including structuring of investments, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate advisory. Mr Kapur has also handled various international and domestic arbitrations under various arbitration rules (including ICC, LCIA, AAA, SIAC, DIAC, Swedish Chamber of Commerce, UNCITRAL and GAFTA). He is also presently acting for Russian investors in a Bilateral Investment Treaty Arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague.

He did his Bachelors in Technology (B.Tech) from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India. He post-graduated from Bombay University in the area of Management Sciences (M.M.S) and went on to study law at the prestigious Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, India.

He was called to the Bar in India and also qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales. He is also a member of the Bar Council of India, International Bar Association and The Law Society of England & Wales.

Satinder Kapur & Associates (SKA):

Satinder Kapur & Associates (SKA) is a Full Service Law Firm in New Delhi, India, that provides a complete range of Domestic and International, Corporate, and Dispute Resolution related Legal Services.

The Firm’s practice areas include International Commercial Arbitration, Bilateral Investment Treaty Arbitration, General Corporate Practice, Cross Border and Domestic Mergers and Acquisitions, Domestic Arbitrations and Litigation in India, setting up and supporting FDI Companies in India, Regulatory and Legal support to companies in India.

The Firm has tie-ups with several International Law Firms, Individual Lawyers and Hedge Funds.

 

Ranjit Prakash

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Ranjit founded Archeus Law, a boutique law firm specializing in the areas of Dispute Resolution, Project Advisory and Mining,  in October 2016. Prior to launching Archeus, Ranjit headed the Dispute Resolution, Project Advisory and Corporate Law Divisions and was a Senior Partner with other leading law firms in India. He has been practicing law since 1991 and is enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi.

He has been advising on the infrastructure projects in particular the energy, highways and mining sectors over the past more than 25 years. He also has substantial experience in several international and domestic commercial arbitrations involving large infrastructure and manufacturing companies.

He has advised clients on several high pro le matters like representing SEPCO in the cases relating to the industrial accident which arose after the collapse of a chimney at the BALCO site, Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFL) on a very high stake arbitration proceeding in the wind energy sector in India, Moser` Baer Electric Power Limited in an arbitration proceeding before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) with respect to a dispute arising out of an agreement entered for development Hydro Power Project, Visa Steel Limited in defending arbitration proceedings before London Court of International Arbitration, London.

Ranjit has extensive experience in representing clients before key institutions of arbitration in the world including Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) & International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Ranjit has featured in the Chambers Asia-Pacific list of leading lawyers under the following categories:

·         Highly Recommended leading lawyer under the head Projects, Infrastructure & Energy space 2011 & 2012.

·         Noted Practitioner under the head Disputes Resolution – Arbitration- India 2016.

 

Kavitha Vijay

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Kavitha Vijay has been associated with the Chennai office ever since the commencement of its operations in July 2006.

She works primarily on mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. She has also been a key player in starting the micro-finance practice in the Firm and has been actively engaged in advising many non-banking financial companies and micro finance companies with regulatory compliances, structuring of loan documentations, besides assisting them raise capital. Her other practice areas involve infrastructure and media & entertainment, besides general corporate law and advisory services. Her portfolio of clients include Saksoft Limited, , Emerging Markets Investment Fund 1A, The Midland Rubber and Produce Company Limited, CR Caterers India Private Limited, Eucare Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, MM Forgings Limited, Amrish Oncology Private Limited, Muthu Pharma Private Limited, , Bioserve Clinical Research Private Limited amongst others.

She is an independent woman director on the Board of a listed company, besides directorships in other public and private limited companies. She is also a trustee in an NGO Foundation “The Interface” which is involved with implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility related activities for corporate organizations. She has been involved with The Indus Entrepreneurs, Chennai Chapter, the Round Table of India and the Rotary Club for many years.

She holds a graduate degree in science from Madras University and a graduate degree in law from the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai.

Mergers & Acquisitions Law Practice:

Mergers & Acquisitions (“M&A”) being synonymous with efficient and effective growth strategy to various corporations, we have gained significant expertise in this field by successfully leveraging our experience and specialization in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions. We combine our rich experience and expertise with laws / regulations and research capabilities to devise innovative structures for M&A and have developed a successful domestic and international M&A practice.

Our Joint Ventures (“JV”) practice is an innovative and unique blend of expertise arising from a thorough understanding of domestic and international laws. We are geared to advise clients on all facets of joint ventures be it investment strategies, corporate and tax structures, investment documentation, compliances, IP licensing and strategy, franchising and exits including any third party sales. We represent clients that seek to utilize advantages of competitive operating costs in India in order to leverage their technologies and to take advantage of the burgeoning Indian domestic market and have been engaged as counsel across industries. Our structures for investment and operations from both regulatory and tax perspectives, including the extraction of technology payments are some of the most innovative ones in the JV space.

Our domain and sector focused teams across the country and our complementary practice areas enable us to deal with and advice on complex legal, regulatory and strategic issues involved in any M&A and JV transactions efficiently and cost effectively.

We assist our clients with:

  • Efficient structuring of M&A and JV transactions from a legal, regulatory and tax perspective and resolving complex legal and exchange control considerations through innovative structures.
  • Seeking regulatory approvals and liaising with the regulators as may be mandated by the transaction structure.
  • Leveraged buy-outs, sale and purchase of distressed assets, restructurings, including capital and debt restructuring, buy-back of securities and reduction of capital.
  • Undertaking legal and corporate due diligence with an industry specific focus across various sectors and industries and inter alia advising from a strategic perspective.
  • Drafting, review and negotiation of transaction documents such as term-sheet, scheme of arrangement to be filed with National Company Law Tribunal, various forms of agreements in relation to any given transaction, including but not limited to, share purchase agreements, share subscription agreements, stock swap agreement, shareholders’ agreements, joint venture agreements, asset transfer agreements, business transfer agreements, non-compete agreements, non-disclosure agreements, escrow agreements, intellectual property agreements, employment agreements and other ancillary documents.
  • Preparation of disclosure schedule/letter.
  • Closing and post-closing assistance including but not limited to filing of requisite forms with regulatory authorities.

 

Sameena Chatrapathy

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Sameena Chatrapathy joined the Firm soon after her graduation and has been with the Firm’s Chennai office since the year of its inception in 2006.

Sameena has worked on several private equity transactions in her experience representing both domestic as well as foreign funds, advising them through multiple rounds of funding. She also represents companies and promoters assisting in their fund raise right from preparation for funding through to completion. In the course of her experience she has worked with varied businesses and her sector expertise include healthcare, pharmaceuticals, energy and information technology. Her portfolio of clients include funds such  as Agnus Capital, IndusAge, the Tenshi Group and  businesses such as Olympus backed Aster DM Healthcare, Carlyle backed Newgen  and Qualcomm backed Attune  Technologies.

Sameena is also a lead member of the Corporate and M&A Team focusing on assisting and advising domestic and foreign clients in acquisitions both in India and overseas. She has worked on some of the high value and big ticket transactions in different verticals on one side and on the other, advised start-ups and early stage businesses in their compliances, investments as well as strategic alliances.

Sameena is also the exclusive ‘Recommended Attorney’ for Private Equity practice in India by Global Law Experts.

Lately, with her experience in investigation of allegations of sexual harassment and her inclination towards protection of women’s rights, Sameena Chatrapathy has spearheaded the Firm’s initiative to bring establishments in India in compliance with the sexual harassment laws, being a key member on the internal complaints committees of over 20 domestic establishments.

Sameena Chatrapathy holds a Masters degree in International Commercial Law from United Kingdom and a graduate with an honours degree from the prestigious, School of Excellence in Law, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai. She has been a university top rank holder all through her five years of under-graduate legal education, graduating with distinction.

Private Equity Law Practice:

Raising capital being synonymous with a much needed and necessary growth strategy to various corporations, we have gained significant expertise in this field by successfully leveraging our experience and specialization in domestic and cross-border investments. We combine our rich experience and expertise with laws / regulations and research capabilities to devise innovative structures for funding and have developed a successful domestic and international venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) industry practice. With the advent of a start up culture and increasing interest in entrepreneurship in the country and the success rate of start ups in the country given the country’s rising consumerism, alternate investment funds (AIF) is poised to become an indispensable and integral part of the nation’s economy. India has meticulously been trying to ease the process of investing in India and constantly tried to boost investments in the country, with introduction of new securities such as convertible notes helping start-ups garner more, better and easier investments.

Our core proficiency lies in assisting national and international funds and investors, identify investment targets, structure the funding, conducting due diligences on the investee companies, preparation and negotiation of the transactional documents and assisting the company and investor through pre and post transaction regulatory compliance. Our transactional team’s expertise also ranges from being able to assist promoters and start ups to raise capital to assisting major corporations with corporate compliance and to further diversify their businesses.

We have constantly explored and mastered several verticals in the M&A and private equity market which has helped us grasp the intricacies of regional laws, regulatory environments, economic and commercial realities which in turn has enhanced our service capability. Our rich cross border experience and technical expertise has helped us provide targeted and tailored investment strategies and avenues for both foreign investment in India and overseas investment by Indian entities.

Our work with both listed and unlisted companies, investors and promoters has helped us appreciate and understand the whole gamut of the investments market in India, enabling us to assist companies and funds by providing an all encompassing advice keeping in mind the interest of all the parties to a transaction.

  • Efficient structuring of the investment mechanisms the prevailing laws, regulations and other market practices.
  • Drafting, review and negotiation of term sheets.
  • Comprehensive and  issue  based legal and  corporate due diligence on target companies in light of industry specifications across various sectors and  respective state legislations for the purpose of legal risk assessment and recommending effective  ways to mitigate the same.
  • Legal and regulatory requirements and assistance in seeking requisite approvals and making representations before the regulatory authorities such as RBI, SEBI, etc.
  • Drafting, review and negotiation of transaction documents including share subscription agreement, shareholders’ agreements, and share purchase agreements, intellectual property assignment agreements, employment agreements, charter documents and such other ancillary documents.
  • With preparation of ancillary documents pertaining to transactions such as disclosure schedule, compliance with conditions precedent and assistance towards closing and post-closing activities.