India’s culture of doing business, the legal system, the market necessity and the customer’s demands are very different from all over the world. Especially due to complicated Legal Scenario of India, most international clients feel the sense of despair for being involved in Arbitration or Litigation in India. According to a study, they would rather conduct their arbitrations outside India as far as possible. Although the Arbitration Act has been amended to meet some of these concerns, international parties are yet to feel to what extent these amendments will succeed. A very few Indian firms like Advani & Co. are trying to solve this specific problem by focusing particularly on Acquisitions by Foreign Companies taking over Indian Companies.
Highly Recognized Firm
Advani & Co. is one of the very few law firms in India having expertise to handle International Dispute Resolution. The firm consists of 4 Partner and 20 advocates and has strong presence in country with offices in Mumbai and Delhi. The firm has a plethora of experiences in resolving disputes with respect to real estate, banking and financial services apart from having a fully-fledged litigation and corporate team. The firm has been listed as the best law firm in Mumbai for commercial dispute resolution in “Asia Pacific Legal 500”. The firm has been featured in “chamber Global 2016- Leaders” along with being a regular feature in the “Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration”. The firm has an enviable record of having successfully fought Arbitrations ranging from $50 million to $500 million in India and abroad. Apart from Arbitration, the firm provides comprehensive representation in all aspects of commercial, civil and criminal law and the advocates have extensive experience in dealing with a host of matters under various courts and tribunals.
The firm offers specialized services in Mergers & Acquisitions, particularly Acquisitions by Foreign Companies taking over Indian Companies. Additionally, the firm also has expertise in Arbitration, Corporate Law, Construction and Infrastructure, Intellectual Property Rights, Immigration Laws, Litigation, Labour Laws, Project Finance and Real Estate.
Leading Authority on Arbitration and Joint Ventures in India
Mr. Advani being a Gold Medalist from Bombay University in the first year of law in 1970, went on to obtain his Degree in Law from the University of Cambridge, UK and qualified as a Barrister.
His firm Advani & Co. has also evolved as a leading name in arbitration law practice. Mr. Advani is a specialist in both domestic and international arbitration. As a lead counsel, he has represented a large number of international arbitrations under different arbitration rules such as the LCIA, Swedish Arbitration Association, the ICC, Singapore Association of Arbitration (SIAC) and Zurich Chamber of Commerce.
Advani & Co. under the aegis of Mr. Hiroo Advani, has been recognized in the International Who’s Who of Commercial Arbitration, 2016. Mr. Hiroo Advani is placed in Band I – Dispute Resolution, India of the Chambers Directory, 2017.
Mr. Advani was the only Indian member of the SIAC Court till 2016.
Mr. Advani is also the first President of the newly formed Indian Arbitration Forum, an association of legal professionals aiming to streamline the process of arbitration in India.
Client Benefits
Over a period of time, in small medium and large arbitrations, Advani & Co. recognized that costs are going out of control and there was no cost benefit in arbitrating due to the manner in which arbitrations are running in India, they also realized that this is even more pronounced outside Mumbai. In Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and other cities, where arbitration is treated like a part time operation. Advani & Co. therefore decided to evolve a model of fixed fee arbitrations which would depend upon the size and complexity of the case. All their large clients found this very advantageous as they could budget these costs in their annual legal budgets. This also enables clients to compare pricing with other firms.
Inspiration to all the Firms in the Market
The transforming of the firm from a full service firm to an Arbitration and Litigation boutique, is being seen as an inspiration by every firm in the market. Despite the relatively small size, Advani & Co. is successfully competing with the large global players in their field of operation, particularly in International Arbitration.
When asked about the inspiration behind focusing mainly on Arbitration and Litigation, Mr. Advani Asserts, “We recognized that large scale arbitrations require teams, especially for International Arbitrations as work load and pressure is enormous. Without setting up the firm it would simply not be possible to tackle large domestic and international arbitrations.”
Starting as a small firm, today Advani & Co. has developed strong teams for different arbitrations and is able to conduct several arbitrations which involved 300-400 million dollars each, and the largest ones being close to a billion dollars. Advani & Co. was also awarded as the best law firm in India in the practice area of Intellectual Property for the year 2008 based on a survey of in-house counsel in Asia and in the Middle East. They are confident to start conducting and being involved in Investment Treaty Arbitrations in the near future.
Advani & Co.: Barristers-at-Law
