An average human being tries to gather knowledge about every possible field. The learning method can be theoretical or hands-on. But some fields are better left to those who have a flair for it and go through the entire and correct learning procedure. Law and Legislation or legal matters are one such field. A good citizen is always concerned about being a law-abiding citizen and avoids being on the other side of the law.
Legal matters concern not just regular citizens but the corporate too. An enterprise has to consider many legal points for its daily working, human resources policies, market matters and mergers and acquisitions. Legal matters have been always considered complex, arduous, time-consuming and costly and firms are always in search of people and companies who can simplify the legal processes for them and their functioning. In the highly competitive legal market in India, Veritas Legal, a Mumbai based law firm has successfully carved a niche for itself. Established in 2015, the Firm is known for agile thinking, pro-activeness and commitment to clients.
The Founding & Managing Partner of Veritas Legal is Abhijit Joshi, one of country’s leading Corporate and M&A lawyers with a noteworthy career spanning 25 years. At age 46, when others start planning their retirement, he took the plunge to start a new venture. His extraordinarily bold decision has been well supported by the team and the market.
The Firm’s Services
Veritas’ areas of expertise include Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Anti-trust Law, Dispute Resolution, Regulatory & Compliance, Real Estate, Retail & Franchise, Private Client Practice, Banking & Finance, Restructuring & Insolvency and Data Protection & Privacy. Its clients benefit from its unparalleled skills blended with its culture, personal attention and streamlined advice that it provides. It believes in offering experienced/senior hands for every transaction and not pushing down the matter to junior levels. This hopefully results in advice that is more solution-oriented and the ability to understand the issue from 360°. The firm does not believe that it should mean everything to everyone but instead should mean everything to a few. The company has grown in strength having completed over 75 transactions in M&A and private equity and has been involved in significant litigations with over 400 filings in various judicial forums across the country.
From Fighting Odds to Gaining Recognitions
Challenges have been and continue to be a part of Veritas’ story. But it is equipped to the best of its abilities to face the unknown in the coming years, remaining true to its belief. The challenges that it faces are probably no different from those faced by any new venture. What added to their struggle was the fact that a large firm in the industry had split in the middle and the market was extremely disruptive.
Since its four years of existence, Veritas has tackled its challenges and made its presence felt and heard in the market. The firm has been consistently mentioned in the leading tables for India and other global rankings. The firm and its members have been recognized in the RSG India Report in the top 40 India ranking, Chambers and Partners, IFLR, IBLJ, Asia Legal Business, Asia Law & Benchmark Litigation. Abhijit has been recognized in top listings by leading financial publications, recognized as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer by IFLR1000 for M&A and recommended by International Who’s Who Legal for Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Client Practice and Corporate Governance. He has procured the Financial Times Innovation Award (Asia-Pacific) for a complex merger transaction.
On Growth and Competition
Speaking about the current industry situation, Abhijit says that it is operating in a fairly insulated manner in the absence of any competition from foreign firms and growing with a presumption that it will not go down. This is a wrong notion. As per Abhijit, ”To my mind, this is a fallacy, when the best in class, knock at the door and they will eventually. Only centres of quality will survive. Those with a better culture have a more sustainable future.”
For Veritas’ own growth and competition, the company relies on tangible and intangible strategies to stay ahead. The tangible is implicit in terms of knowledge, training, remuneration etc..The ultimate winner, for Veritas is the culture which nurtures and preserves talent and talent is what creates a firm. So at the core, strategies are very simple to give an endearing culture and provide transparency at all levels.
The company believes that the client is increasingly looking for solution-oriented advice. Specialization, the ability to see the problem holistically, thinking through matters from every angle and anticipate issues, are important aspects of service provision. This skill set and specialization are what it believes it is able to provide and therefore grow in a competitive world.
Caring for the Industry
Veritas Legal holds a special program called the Pro Bono program, about which, it is very passionate. This Program was started to ensure access to justice, promote the rule of law, and provide legal services to those unable to afford a lawyer and assist clients to achieve their Corporate Social Responsibility objectives. Everyone at the Firm plays an active role in the Program and our lawyers contribute voluntarily whenever he or she can in terms of time which is the most precious commodity that anyone can contribute to a cause and make a difference. Lawyers are allowed to work on identified projects during office hours, by using the office infrastructure at the expense of the firm. The lawyers have together voluntarily agreed to contribute over 3000 hours a year for this program. The program has been an integral part of the Firm’s culture and is the backbone of its value system.
On the future prospects, Abhijit sees India poised to grow and along with it, the legal industry will also grow exponentially. Veritas plans to grow deeper into its specializations. It has added senior resources in the Bankruptcy practice and continues to bolster its Real Estate practice. He says,” We will grow, but in a calibrated fashion, deeper as opposed to wider whilst continuing to remain true to our values. The rest will follow.”
Source :-The 10 Highly Trusted Merger & Acquisition Consulting Firms in 2018
