In any business or profession, clients are the most important factor and they need to be treated with utmost respect. They deserve to know and get every answer for their queries, they need to be ensured that they are at the right place, in safe hands and their legal assignment will be taken care of efficiently and diligently. It is very essential to gain faith of the clients. This is again the part of professionalism. The professionalism doesn’t always mean to act in neat manner and throwing an attitude in the name of policy and working culture. The professionalism also includes how convenient are you for the clients to reach, are you well connected, can the client count on you when he’s in trouble? One needs to make that connection with the client. And that’s where UKP Legal comes in. The team of UKP Legal shares, “There’s only one thing we worship at our firm which is ‘Client Satisfaction’.”
UKP Legal is a core litigation law firm. “We practice mainly in Civil & Criminal Litigation, Arbitration, Environmental Laws. Moreover Commercial Contracts, Real Estate & Conveyancing is our forte,” says its team. In a fast changing world, the dynamics of legal practice are being redefined at breakneck speed. The need of the hour is to evolve, innovate, bring state-of-art and service oriented approach towards the client, and the entire team at UKP Legal is committed towards this, heart and mind.
With the legal universe throwing up new challenges on a daily basis, the UKP legal team realized long back that the foundation of practice has to be a fundamental understanding of the big picture, along with the complexity of the details to provide proactive solutions to a diversity of clients. It is necessary to think of law today as much as a holistic experience for all the stake holders, as much as a world of facts-based knowledge of thousands of clauses and sections and legal jargon. This, eventually, is what makes it all worth it. An integral part of its services is to work closely with the clients so that they can make the right decisions with respect to their legal needs.
The Trio Extraordinaire
“Our partners and associates are involved in some of the most landmark, path- breaking and complex legal cases all over India,” tells the Founding Partner of the firm Rakesh Umarani. A Pune University graduate, Rakesh is armed with a coveted Master of Laws in Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law from the University of East Anglia, UK.
His vast experience in general civil litigation and commercial corporate laws, cyber laws, arbitration, environmental laws, claims and disputes relating to intellectual property laws, translates into knowledge that is profound and diverse. He regularly appears in various courts and tribunals, including regulatory bodies, across India. His ability to act for clients as a legal adviser and plead in court as a counsel has helped him to carve out a niche practice.
“Today in a particular time of utmost essence, at UKP Legal, we know how important it is to help our clients resolve matters as quickly and efficiently as possible,” shares another Founding Partner of the firm, Harish Kumbhar. A 2009 graduate of Pune’s prestigious D. E. S. Law College, Harish complemented this with a diploma in (IPR) Intellectual Property Rights, from the prestigious University of Pune and started achieving his goal and flourishing his career intellectually.
Harish is a legal eagle with a sharp eye on dealing in Real Estate matters such as buying & selling of properties, analysing title for the same, visiting various Government Offices, Revenue Authorities and Due Diligence, RERA Complaints, Environmental Clearance and Co-operative Societies’ Disputes. He has also represented renowned business entities in Civil Litigation before Civil and District Court and Cooperative Departments.
“UKP Legal is a team of smart and prolific lawyers giving each case the attention it deserves. It is never a matter of small or big, UKP Legal is there for the client, whatever it takes- his comfort is all that matters.” says Vaniti Pandit, the Founding Partner who completes the partner’s team of UKP Legal.
She is a law graduate from D. E. S. Law College, Pune. Her practice area broadly includes appeals & writs at High Court, arbitration and family matters. She appears regularly before the High Court of Mumbai, City Civil Court Mumbai, DRT and DRAT Mumbai, Family Court Mumbai & Pune.
With her eloquent style and excellent communication skills, she has an edge in drafting and presenting the case before the court. As the third founding member of UKP Legal, Vaniti also keeps tabs on practical approach towards matters and working closely with the clients. This often means strategic planning to achieve results, weaving in an end to end support across areas.
Dynamics of UKP Legal
All the current partners were working under one roof and under the leadership of senior Advocate S. K. Jain, Adv. Surekha and Sunita Kinkar in Pune. Rakesh Umarani and Harish Kumbhar have worked for almost 5 years under the guidance of Adv. S. K. Jain. “He didn’t just teach us how to practice law but in fact he taught us how to be a better advocate to stand out from thousands of practising advocates,” says the duo.
There are more than 1500 law firms and more than 40,000 practising lawyers in Pune and Mumbai. Initially, seeing the number, all the partners were certainly demoralized a bit before forming UKP Legal. “We won’t say that we were going to the break the taboo of regular Legal process and Law practice, but we wanted to succeed in serving the clients with great satisfaction and speedy disposals of their matters,” states the trio. The partners had one thing in common, their thirst for work and willingness to work harder than yesterday.
The smart and prolific team of ten is performing at their best. The clients prefer UKP Legal for its new performance based practice. The team is always ready to cater the needs of the changing world. Up to March 2021, the trio aims to double the current size of the firm so that with the increasing work, the firm does not have to compromise on quality and efficiency. While all three partners at UKP Legal are young, well-travelled, and savvy, they are also, at the core, empathetic individuals. Not for them the ‘arm’s length’ approach of law. The team says, “Yes, Justice is blind. Yes, it is impartial and objective, but we, who are the support system of the client have to be vigilant, alert and sensitive. That, I think, is what we at UKP Legal live and work for.”
The UKP Legal office is situated in a quiet, leafy part of upmarket Pune. It has been created with the passion- quality that the UKP team believes is vital for the profession as well as for the client’s comfort and satisfaction. As Rakesh Umarani, Founding partner says, “When clients walk in, it is quite common for them to loosen up, smile, feel cheerful, and walk out with a pep in their step. That is why our office reflects what we practice – 100% integrity”. These are not mere clichés. When Founding partners Rakesh Umarani, Harish Kumbhar and Vaniti Pandit came together to form UKP Legal years back, it came with a resolution to serve their clients with utmost empathy and priority. Their office mirrors this resolution – with its liberal use of copper and soft lighting and subtle interiors, it is a place where even the most harassed minds would find solace. Their mentor and well known senior Adv. S. K. Jain said at the time inaugurating their office at Pune, “Decency, utility and environment is the name, and Advocates working here will always be energetic, and work with spiritual view keeping in mind.”
For future generation of the legal leaders, the trio suggests, “If you can’t perform, there are thousands of advocates standing in line to take over the matter or the assignment.” Considering the current market conditions, the clients can’t afford to entangle the property, money or even themselves in litigation for longer. Therefore, the new advocates need to focus more on giving results each and every day of their practice. The clients are becoming impatient and that is in fact good for the legal field because they want results “The traditional ‘Tarikh pe Tarikh’ practice is now fading away. This is an era of performing advocacy,” conclude the three founding partners.
