M P Bharucha, one of the foremost solicitors in the country, is busy setting up his new office in south Mumbai. Put differently, he is opening a fresh chapter in his life.
Former partner of the country’s largest corporate law firm denies any spat with other promoters
MUMBAI: M P Bharucha, one of the foremost solicitors in the country, is busy setting up his new office in south Mumbai. Put differently, he is opening a fresh chapter in his life.
It was on March 15, 2008, that he and his wife Alka ended their 13-year stint as partners at Amarchand & Mangaldas and Suresh A Shroff & Co, the largest Indian corporate law firm in terms of the number of clients it handles and employees on its payrolls.
While rumour in the legal circles was that the Bharuchas fell out with Amarchand’s other promoter group, the Shroff family — Cyril and Vandana Shroff in Mumbai, and Cyril’s brother and sister-in-law Shardul and Pallavi Shroff in Delhi — Bharucha rubbishes any such spat.
“There is no bad blood between the Shroffs and us,” he said when DNA Money caught up with the media-shy lawyer at his new office above Regal Cinema in Colaba.
What about Amarchand clients? Will there be an exodus to the new firm, Bharucha & Partners?
“We don’t have an agenda to specifically go after Amarchand clients. We live in a civilised world, you know. The friends and networks we’ve built over the years should ensure a steady stream of business,” said Bharucha, who started his career in 1969 as a trainee with Mulla & Mulla.
Apart from the husband-and-wife Bharucha duo, their son Justin Bharucha and litigator Vivek Vashi will be the other partners at Bharucha & Partners.
He has also hired 12 associates, nine of them from his team at Amarchand.
Bharucha said his current office has the capacity to seat seven partners and 30 lawyers, thus not ruling out further hires once the office becomes fully operational. “Our intention is to be a national law firm,” he said, adding that there will be no “friendly” tie-ups whatsoever with any foreign law firm.
“Several Indian lawyers are under the misguided perception that when foreign law firms are allowed to operate in India, they will buy out the Indian partners. But nowhere in the world are law firms used to writing out cheques as an entry strategy,” he added.
While Barucha describes himself as an arbitrator and litigator, “personally not making a difference between the two”, his wife, whom he says he met at Mulla & Mulla in “one of those happy accidents”, is a hard-nosed corporate lawyer specialised in mergers and acquisitions and structured finance.
Justin also specialises in the same domain, while Vivek Vashi, the other partner, is a dedicated litigator, and an expert in intellectual property rights.
Bharucha completed his degree from the Government Law College in Mumbai, joined Mulla & Mulla and rose through the ranks to become senior partner by the time he left in 1995.
Reminiscing on his union with Amarchand in 1995, Bharucha said he met up with Cyril and Shardul’s father, who was keen to have a partner then. “I regard the practice of lawyers as a daily learning exercise and my expectation was to learn from him,” he said.
But when the old man passed away before the partnership fructified, Bharucha was anxious. “It was the first time an outsider was joining what was essentially a family-run business,” said Bharucha, explaining his apprehension then.
Nevertheless, join he did, and built up a huge practice with the Shroffs. ITC, among others, was said to be Bharucha’s big client.
While Bharucha evaded all questions on the exact reason for the split with Amarchand, a piece written by a former Amarchand employee, Ashwin Mathew, titled “Ramblings of a former Amarchand Associate”, throws up some interesting clues. “Cyril has vision but does not have the administrative capabilities to implement them. MP Bharucha has the administrative capabilities, but cannot work with Cyril since their working styles are totally different,” he had written in 2006.
That Bharucha himself realised this is probably what set the ball rolling for his departure from Amarchand, and the beginning of a new innings where he will call the shots.
sanat_vallikappen@dnaindia.net
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