Kochhar & Co. > Chennai, India > Firm Profile

Kochhar & Co. > The Legal 500 Rankings

India > Corporate and M&A Tier 1

Noted for its transactional capabilities that span manufacturing, green energy, pharma and IT industries among others, Kochhar & Co. maintains a varied offering which is comprised of corporate transactions, corporate restructurings and competition clearance. The experienced team is able to draw upon expertise across tax, employment and IP teams at the firm for assistance with a litany of mandates. In New Delhi, Rohit Kochhar is an expert in high stakes corporate advisory and M&A, and seasoned practitioner Pradeep Ratnam is well-positioned to advise on foreign direct investment alongside a variety of corporate transactions. Bengaluru's Suhas Srinivasiah is a solid choice for multinational corporations and blue-chip firms and Mumbai's Rajarshi Chakrabarti is experienced in representing Fortune 500 companies in an array of joint ventures, asset restructurings and cross-border mandates. Savita Kesav Jagadeesan and Kaveri Srivastava are other key names to note.

India > Labour and employment Tier 1

Entrusted by significant financial service, healthcare, pharmaceutical and tech clients, Kochhar & Co.’s key strengths lie in handling a broad spectrum of employment matters, encompassing contentious proceedings, investigations, and advising on complex transactional issues. New Delhi-based Rohit Kochhar, who has substantial experience handling contentious matters involving employee retrenchments, frauds and discrimination, heads the practice along with Bengaluru-based Suhas Srinivasiah. Other Bengaluru-based key members include Sidharth Santosh, who has expertise in social security compliance. Debjani Aich departed the practice in September 2024.

India > Real estate and construction Tier 1

The real estate and construction offering at Kochhar & Co. stands out for its broad geographical coverage, with seven full-service offices across the country. Handling the full array of real estate projects, real estate contracts, foreign and private equity investments, and construction contracts issues, the team counts both domestic and multinational heavyweights among its clients. Managing partner Rohit Kochhar oversees the firm alongside Suhas Srinivasiah and new co-heads Preetam D’Souza and Mohan Kumar; Hyderabad-based Kumar joined in April 2024. In Bangalore, Srinivasiah handles real estate assets and portfolio mandates, while D’Souza takes point on construction, design and build, and various real estate transactions. Also in Bangalore, Ranjit Mahishi is a name to note for construction projects and land acquisition matters. Simrat Grover and Shivika Upadhyay are key names in New Dehli, while Gaurav Chatterjee is a key port of call in Chennai. The ‘very responsive’ Nishant Arora joined the firm in October 2023, while Kaveri Srivastava joined in June 2023.

India > Tax Tier 1

The full-service taxation practice at Kochhar & Co. handles the full range of transactional, contentious, and advisory work as well as tax investigations and compliance issues. The 'meticulous and practical' Reena Khair and the 'outstanding' Shahid Khan co-head the team; Khair heads up the indirect taxation offering and has extensive experience appearing before the various high courts, tax appellate tribunals, and the Supreme Court, while Khan leads the direct tax offering with a focus on income tax and international taxation matters. Another key name on the indirect front is Shreya Dahiya, who advises on export promotion schemes and foreign trade policy issues.

India > White-collar crime Tier 1

Kochhar & Co.’s anti-corruption, corporate investigations, and white-collar crime offering spans the full range of complex fraud, money laundering, and corruption work. Founding member and managing partner Rohit Kochhar co-heads the practice alongside senior partner Krishna Vijay Singh, an experienced white-collar litigator with notable expertise acting for domestic and international corporations facing enforcement actions in India. Manish Dembla is a key contact for multinational corporations seeking advice on securities fraud, bribery, and anti-corruption issues, while Pradyuman Sewar has extensive experience defending CBI prosecutions. For clients in the pharma, infrastructure, and construction sectors, Nachiketa Goyal is a key port of call. Madhvi Datta joined the team in January 2024, strengthening its anti-bribery and anti-corruption offerings.

India > WTO/international trade Tier 1

Reena Khair heads the international trade team at Kochhar & Co., which stands out for its notable strength in advising on anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations. Senior partner Khair is a seasoned practitioner with a strong track record representing clients before the Designated Authority and Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunals. Gagan Verma takes point on regulatory matters and disputes, as well as foreign entities seeking entry into the Indian market, while Shreya Dahiya is a key contact for anti-dumping and safeguard investigations.

India > Aviation (including aerospace and defence) Tier 2

Counting major airports, domestic and international airlines, and key players in the defence industry among its clients, Kochhar & Co.’s aviation, aerospace, and defence offering leverages its full-service capabilities to advise on the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious aviation matters. Managing partner Rohit Kochhar and senior partners Suhas Srinivasiah and Kaveri Srivastava jointly oversee the team; Srivastava focuses on corporate advisory and employment issues, while Vaibhav Joshi is the name to note for consumer disputes.

India > Banking and finance Tier 2

India > Dispute resolution: arbitration Tier 2

Kochhar & Co.‘s arbitration practice is noted for its expertise in both domestic and international construction and criminal arbitration. The group is a popular choice for businesses from an array of industry sectors, including banking and finance, construction, and oil and gas, among others, and its cross-border capabilities, alongside its experience acting before the ICC, LCIA, and DIAC, continue to attract new clients. Founding partner Rohit Kochhar and head of the Gurgaon office Krishna Vijay Singh jointly lead the team and stand out for their deep knowledge of national and cross-border arbitration laws. Kochhar specialises in handling criminal and employment disputes, while Singh concentrates on disputes arising from the construction and infrastructure sectors.

India > Dispute resolution: litigation Tier 2

The litigation practice at Kochhar & Co. has amassed a strong client roster that continues to expand due to its extensive offering which covers corporate, commercial, and construction issues, as well as infrastructure, consumer, and insolvency disputes, among others. The group has a wide industry reach and is regularly instructed by businesses from the media and entertainment, hotels and leisure, and shipping sectors, to name a few. Founding partner Rohit Kochhar and head of the Gurgaon office Krishna Vijay Singh co-lead the team. Kochhar concentrates on corporate, commercial, and white-collar crime matters, while Singh has expertise in handling disputes arising from the construction, infrastructure, and energy sectors, as well as civil and criminal litigation. The team has been bolstered by the arrival of Shiv Sapra from DSK Legal in January 2024.

Intellectual property Tier 2

With practice heads operating across four major cities, Kochhar & Co. is a name to note across India for its solid IP expertise, which spans trademark, copyright, commercial IP, litigation, piracy, anti-counterfeiting and enforcement, in addition to domain name disputes. Tarvinder Singh is regularly sought out by large global corporations for his experience dealing with trademark prosecution and litigation, while in New Delhi, Daksh Kumar is known for handling copyright, design and anti-counterfeiting litigation and prosecution. Other key members include Chennai’s Savitha Kesav Jagadeesan, who specialises in litigation including within the media, IT, education and car manufacturing spaces; Lynn Lazaro of the Bangalore office, handles transactional matters while Anshuman Sharma also stands out for his handling of contentious and non-contentious commercial IP matters. Practitioners are located in Gurgaon unless otherwise stated.

Intellectual property > PATMA: patent and trade mark attorneys Tier 2

Kochhar & Co. offers a comprehensive range of IP protection and related expertise, much of which is cross-border. Tarvinder Singh is dual qualified – both a lawyer and a registered patent attorney and has some 30 years of experience serving famous name brand owners. His work spans the protection and exploitation of IP assets including copyrights together with expertise in trade secrets, passing off, data protection, employee IP ownership and media law. His clients include global automotive companies; he is acting for Toyota to prevent misuse of its LEXUS trademark. Working closely with Singh in Guragon, Anshuman Sharma specialises in trademark protection together with trade dress, unfair competition, copyrights and domain names. Savitha Kesav Jagadeesan , chair of the IPR practice in Chennai, handles the management of extensive IP portfolios across a wide range of industries such as FMCG, auto parts, IT, education and media. Her extensive experience relates to trademarks, patents, industrial designs and copyrights as well as unfair competition while Daksh Kumar (New Delhi) covers all aspects of trade mark protection from prosecution to litigation in addition to copyrights, designs, geographical indications, domain names and anti-counterfeiting. On the contentious side, he undertakes passing off and trademark infringement actions. Lynn Lazaro  focuses on IP transactional matters for Indian and international companies.  

India > Projects and energy Tier 2

India > TMT Tier 2

Enjoying both domestic and international capabilities, Kochhar & Co.’s pan-India practice is well-versed in a diverse range of TMT matters, from IP and data privacy through to tech and software issues. Stephen Mathias leads the team with a diverse practice that includes a mixture of licensing, outsourcing and privacy mandates among others. Media law expert and managing partner Rohit Kochhar, Rajarshi Chakrabarti, whose capabilities span numerous regulated sectors, and Savita Kesav Jagadeesan, who is well-positioned to advise on cyber security and data protection mandates, are other key names to note in the group.

India > Data protection Tier 3

The team at Kochhar & Co. handles an array of data privacy compliance and cyber security matters for its broad client base, including data transfer agreement evaluations, data theft incidents and data recovery. Bangalore-based practice head Stephen Mathias is known for his longstanding expertise in handling a broad range of data protection and privacy issues, while Arun Babu is known for her vast knowledge of cyber incident responses.

India > Fintech and financial services regulatory Tier 3

Kochhar & Co. counts payment gateways, banks, and financial services companies among its diverse roster of clients. The multidisciplinary group, which combines expertise from the firm’s tech and banking and finance teams, regularly advises on NPCI issues, digital payments, and data privacy matters. Key names in the team include fintech and data protection specialist Stephen Mathias, Anuj Kaila, who handles regulatory work and compliance including payment instrument regulations, and Sharmil Bhushan, who brings notable in-house experience from the financial services industry. Arun Babu is the name to note for product development and digital lending regulations.

India > Antitrust and competition Tier 4