JSA National Corporate Lead & Equity Partner Iqbal Khan steps down; in talks with Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

JSA National Corporate Lead & Equity Partner Iqbal Khan steps down; in talks with Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Iqbal Khan, the National Corporate Lead and Equity Partner of JSA Advocates & Solicitors (JSA) has stepped down, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol.

"Iqbal has resigned from JSA and has held talks to join the Mumbai office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM). More clarity can be expected in the coming days," said one of the persons quoted above.

Two other persons confirmed the same.

All the three persons quoted above spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Email and text queries have been sent to Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and an immediate comment could not be elicited from them. Despite repeated attempts, Khan was unavailable for an immediate comment. This article will be updated as soon as we hear from them.

When contacted, Vivek Chandy and Amar Gupta, the Joint Managing Partners of JSA said, " Iqbal Khan has communicated his resignation from JSA. The exit modalities will be worked out mutually keeping in mind the interest of clients, teams involved and the firm. JSA has grown exponentially over the last 18 months and has integrated well with all its lateral partners who are aligned with the culture and values of the firm. The firm will continue to aggressively pursue its growth path and wishes Iqbal well."

Khan, who specialises in private equity, mergers & acquisitions and joint venture practices, joined JSA from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) 9 months ago, according to his LinkedIn page. He had joined with a team of around 18-20 lawyers along with equity partner Ambarish.

During this period, according to disclosures by JSA and legal websites, Khan and his team have advised on deals like Adar Poonawalla picking up a 50 percent stake in Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, Serum's stake sale in SCHOTT Poonawalla to TPG and the merger of Blackstone- and TPG-backed Quality Care India with Aster DM Healthcare.

Khan was an equity partner at SAM for 9-and-a-half years and previously spent 1 year and 10 months at Khaitan & Co, as per his LinkedIn page. He has also had stints at two foreign law firms - ​Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

On July 12, 2024 Moneycontrol was the first to report that Khaitan & Co had roped in Shishir Vayttaden and two other partners - K Aishwarya and Aditi Singhvi - from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, for the former's Corporate and M&A practice .

A few days later, JSA Advocates & Solicitors (JSA) took on board rival Trilegal's Nisha Kaur Uberoi as the Chair of the Competition Practice, along with her team of over 25 attorneys, according to an official statement.