Legal Era Magazine recently organized the seventh annual of its annual Indian Legal Awards (Legal Era Awards 2017-18) to recognize the achievers of 2017-18. The Indian Legal Awards, instituted by Legal Era Magazine seven years ago, have come to be known as the most coveted and credible awards of the country that recognize finesse, innovation, and accomplishment among the legal community. The glittering ceremony witnessed strong domestic and overseas participation.
Welcoming the dignitaries, delegates, academia, and members of the Press, Aakriti Raizada Sharma, Founder & Managing Editor, Legal Era Magazine, Legal Media Group, said, “Most of us – whether we are private practitioners or part of a law firm or an in-house legal team; know how a typical day in the life of a lawyer pans out. Long working hours; erratic schedules; relentless deadlines; difficult seniors, associates and/or clients; lack of control over when work comes in or must be done; and a general feeling that it’s all pointless.
However, those who manage to soar above all this, get up and get going with a sense of purpose, and make every day count are the winners amongst us. These exceptional men and women have dared to make a difference through sheer dedication and hard work. They are the ones who’ve blazed a luminous trail of finesse, innovation, and achievement for the rest of us to follow”.
The who’s who of business law was present at the awards that were attended by nearly 480 lawyers and corporate. The audience, more so the nominees, waited with bated breath for the winners to be announced.
The Premier League Awards hailed legal legends – The “Lifetime Achievement Award” was conferred upon Rafique Dada, Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court, by Justice A. K. Sikri, Judge, Supreme Court of India; Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.; Ashok Raizada, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Legal Era Magazine; Dr. Lalit Bhasin, President, Bar Association of India & Society of Indian Law Firms; and Justice Deepak Verma, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India.
“Senior Counsel of the Year” Award went to Janak Dwarkadas, Senior Counsel, Bombay High Court, while the “Leadership Excellence Award for Continuous Growth: In-House” was given away to Debolina Partap, General Counsel & Vice President – Head Legal, Wockhardt Group. Legal Era Magazine honored Majeed Memon, Senior Advocate, with the “Leadership Excellence Award For Outstanding Achievement as a Lawyer and Leader” for his contribution to the Indian legal industry.
Madhavi Divan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, took home the “Woman Lawyer of the Year” award while Dr. Manoj Kumar, Founder & Managing Partner, Hammurabi & Solomon, walked away with the “Policy & Regulatory Lawyer of the Year” award. In the Law Firm segment, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan won both “Tax Law Firm of the Year” and “Litigation Law Firm of the Year (New Delhi)”. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., too, picked up both “Private Equity Law Firm of the Year” and “Best Law Firm of the Year for Innovation, Strategies & Continuous Growth”. Likewise, Anand and Anand bagged “Media and Entertainment Law Firm of the Year” as well as “Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year”.
“Litigation Law Firm of the Year (Mumbai)” was awarded to DSK Legal; “Banking & Finance Law Firm of the Year” went to JSA Advocates & Solicitors; whereas “Corporate & M&A Law Firm of the Year” was given away to Khaitan & Co.
MZM Legal won “White Collar Crime Law Firm of the Year,” while Singh and Singh Law Firm LLP took home “TMT Law Firm of the Year”.
“Dispute Resolution Law Firm of the Year (Mumbai)” was awarded to Manilal Kher Ambalal & Co., while “Dispute Resolution Law Firm of the Year (New Delhi)” went to P&A Law Offices. Veritas Legal was the proud winner of “Most Promising Law Firm of the Year (3 years and above)”; while Tatva Legal (Hyderabad) and Surana & Surana Attorneys (Chennai) both won “Regional Law Firm of the Year”.
In the In-House segment, Accenture Solutions Private Limited got “Best IT Legal Team of the Year,” while Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. was awarded “Best Pharmaceutical Legal Team of the Year.” Ambuja Cements Ltd. received “Best Compliance In-House Legal Team of the Year.” HDFC Life walked away with “Best Insurance Legal Team of the Year,” while Axis Bank Ltd. was judged “Best Banking & Finance Legal Team of the Year.”
Godrej Industries Ltd. was presented the “Corporate Governance Excellence Award”; and ITC Limited was awarded “Best In-House Legal Team of the Year.” The “Best Media & Entertainment Legal Team of the Year” went to Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Not just established names, the evening also saw up-and-coming names enjoy their moment in the limelight. In the Individual category, “Young Achievers Award of the Year in the Law Firm Category (30 Years & Below),” went to Arush Khanna, Partner, Trinaya Legal. Damini Marwah, General Counsel And Legal Head, Axis Bank and Vineet Chaudhary, Deputy General Counsel and Asst. General Manager Legal, Wockhardt Ltd both won the “Young Achievers Award of the Year in the In-House Category (42 Years & Below)” while Sameer Chugh, Director – Legal & Regulatory (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel Limited, walked away with the“General Counsel of the Year” award.
The “Emerging Corporate Lawyer of the Year” was bestowed upon Shweta Shroff Chopra, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. while Satish Kishanchandani, Co-Founding Partner, DSK Legal, was awarded the “Corporate Lawyer of the Year” award. Anand S Pathak, Managing Partner, P&A Law Offices, got “Competition Lawyer of the Year” whileSujitGhosh, Partner, and National Head, Advaita Legal, won “Tax Lawyer of the Year”.
“Leading Lawyer of the Year (International)” was given away to Gautam Bhattacharyya, Partner, Reed Smith LLP.
The evening stretched long after the actual ceremony with the attendees wining and dining into the starry night.
About The Organiser
Set Up In 2007, Legal Media Group (ARA Techno Legal Solutions Pvt. Ltd.) is one of the leading business media companies producing high quality print publications like Legal Era, IP Era etc., digital products, events, research & consultancy and the custom content in the fields of legal,business, finance, intellectual property & investment. Through their fast and accurate news reporting, insight analysis,expert views, and scientific trend forecasting, the market leading group publications and portals have an unmatched readership among in the industry.
Legal Era provides timely legal and corporate news, updates and judgments from around the globe, in-depth editorials, expert articles, interviews with eminent legal and corporate personalities, and legal trivia. IP Era is a niche magazine that deals specifically with the Indian and global IP scene. The websites provide timely updates on a daily basis. We nurtured them to be a unique platform for legal luminaries across the globe to converge and share ideas and information towards achieving measurable goals.
www.legaleraonline.com is an online legal newspaper that aims to provide one-stop legal information from across the globe. We believe in Initiating, Integrating, and Innovating the New-Generation Law via publishing expert articles of eminent lawyers and field experts on various thought-provoking issues. We believe that better governance can only be achieved when legal literacy is achieved. Thus, we focus to be the beacon of information as well as the first and most reputed firm providing accurate, useful, and first-hand information to the readers.
www.iperaonline.com aims to provide information about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and other IP-related issues. Our news portal www.iperaonline.com is regularly updated with case studies, IP articles, and news catering to Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Designs, and Trade Secrets.
