Snake's Alive! India Law Firm Opens London Office
An Indian law firm has created a stir by opening an office in London.
“FoxMandal Little has become the first major Indian law house to set up a practice in the U.K. and in the process created quite a splash in the local legal community,” reports the Economic Times. Hundreds of lawyers, many of them senior partners from major British law firms, attended the new firm’s recent launch event, apparently attracted by the opportunity to network with those who might help them get a foot in the door in India.
Adds the Lawyer, in a color report of the event: “If the live python, the jugglers, the belly-dancers and the City lawyers wearing bindis were not reason enough to attend FoxMandal Little’s recent London launch party, finding out just what the firm plans to do in the capital was.”
FoxMandal reportedly sees its role as something of a two-way street, serving as a referral network for clients from India who are seeking lawyers in the U.K., while meanwhile offering U.K. clients who need counsel in India face-to-face legal services at an attractive price, the Economic Times explains.
“The idea is that we can offer local clients better rates than local firms, as well as the backup of our India offices,” partner Som Mandal says.
The new London office will have three full-time lawyers, with partner Ajit Mishra, who is qualified to practice both in India and the U.K., in charge of two associates. Additionally, Mandal and Arlington Shahma, who heads the firm’s India practice, are both expected to spend more than a week monthly in the London office, explains the Lawyer.
Mandal says he expects steady growth in London, but predicts FML will have no more than seven lawyers in the office in a year.
