Bobby Chandhoke, Sudhir Sharma leave L&L Partners with over 60 lawyers to join DSK Legal: Report

Representative image

Bobby Chandhoke and Sudhir Sharma, equity partners at L&L Partners Law Offices, have left the firm along with more than 60 lawyers, a report said on July 11.

All of them have joined law firm DSK Legal, sources told Bar and Bench. Their en-masse switch, as reported by the news portal, comes days after the dissolution of L&L Partners' litigation arm.

L&L's Founder and Managing Partner Rajiv Luthra had dissolved the company's litigation arm on July 4, reports had said, adding that the employees were given the option to join the existing corporate arm of the firm.

Dissolution notices were issued to the company's existing equity partners by Luthra, the Bar and Bench report said.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the developments.

Apart from Chandhoke and Sharma, other partners who are reported to have left L&L include Abdullah Hussain, Akhil Anand, Altaf Fathima, Anant Garg and Ashish Chandra, among others. The exiting partners have expertise in an array of legal fields, including international trade, mergers and acquisitions, dispute resolution, taxation and competition laws, among others, the report added.

The litigation firm, Luthra & Luthra Law Offices Litigation, was set up by Luthra, along with Chandhoke, Sharma, Vijay Sondhi and Mohit Saraf, in April 2003.

Saraf, a corporate lawyer, left the firm last year following a legal feud with Luthra. After his acrimonious split from L&L, Saraf had announced the launch of a new law firm - Saraf and Partners - in July 2021.

The background of the L&L spat

L&L was a two-partner partnership firm that was run by Saraf and Luthra, according to the statement released by the former. Differences emerged between the two over sharing of ownership of the firm with younger partners, according to Saraf.

This reportedly resulted in Luthra expelling Saraf from the firm which led to a legal battle between the two partners before the Delhi High Court. In January 2021, the court ruled in favour of Saraf.

In an appeal before the division bench of the Delhi High Court, the parties, in the interest of all the clients, attorneys and staff associated with the practice, decided to agree to separate - on terms of settlement which were recorded by the court through its orders.