DSK holding gate wide open for bulk-shift of HSA personnel to its team

April 23, 2019:

DSK Legal has confirmed the hiring of HSA Advocates Senior Partners Anjan Dasgupta and Aparajit Bhattacharya, alongside only five others, including one Bangalore Partner.

The originally departing team was to include Dasgupta, Bhattacharya and seven other partners, making up a total of up to 29 fee-earners.

However, it now appears that HSA has managed to retain two partners in that group: Finance & Projects Partner Harsh Arora and Associate Partner Akshay Malhotra have decided not to join DSK.

It is understood that up to around 20 fee-earners could end up joining DSK from HSA in total. We have reached out to HSA founding partner Hemant Sahai for comment.

The five other partners, including two associate partners, to join DSK are:

• Harvinder Singh (partner, Delhi): specialises in corporate commercial, M&A, PE/VC and capital markets. He is a 2002 Delhi University LLB graduate.
• Aninda Pal (partner, Mumbai): M&A, PE/VC and corporate commercial, regulatory advisory. He had joined HSA from JurisCorp in 2016. He is a 2005 Symbiosis Law School Pune graduate.
• Sharath Chandrasekhar (partner, Bengaluru): private equity, M&A and corporate commercial. Had joined HSA in 2016, after having set up local boutique law firm Citius Law Partners. He is a 2005 NLSIU Bangalore graduate.
• Devika Chadha (associate partner, Delhi): M&A, PE/VC, corporate commercial & restructuring and regulatory advisory. She is a 2009 Delhi University LLB grad.
• Avinash Kumar Khard (associate partner, Mumbai): banking and finance. He is a 2009 ILS Pune grad.

Referring to Chandrasekhar, DSK stated that “This move has also enabled us to restart our office in Bengaluru, which will help serve our clients there better”.

DSK said in its press release: “These teams include seven partners and add significantly to our projects and project finance practices, making these amongst the strongest in the country, and significantly expand our corporate and M&A practices.

“The partnership at DSK will also benefit from the vast experience of these partners not only in the various practice areas they specialize in, but also on aspects relating to firm management.”

DSK Legal will grow to 32 partners and 130 fee-earners with this bulk hire.