Indian law firm AZB & Partners has made its first partner hires of the year with Vikram Shroff (L), former head of the employment and labour practice at Nishith Desai Associates, joining in Mumbai, and disputes partner Mrinal Shankar joining from Poovayya & Co in Bengaluru.
Shroff leaves NDA after 25 years, having started his career at the firm in 1998. As head of NDA’s employment and labour practice, he advised clients on employment contracts, competition and solicitation, drafting service rules and company policies, compensation structuring, employee stock options, post-merger integration and employment related immigration laws.
He becomes the second senior NDA employment lawyer to leave for AZB in about a year. In April last year, Ajay Singh Solanki joined the latter firm.
Shankar is a dispute resolution specialist with over a decade of experience, particularly before the Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru. He made partner at Poovayya in 2022.
AZB also hired a six-lawyer team in Bengaluru led by corporate partner Malini Raju from J Sagar Associates in October last year.
Earlier this year, the firm also launched a Taiwan desk led by Chennai-based partner Aarthi Sivanandh.