Mahendra Bhavsar & Co

About us: Mahendra Bhavsar & Co. is a leading Gujarat focused law firm, established since 1982. The firm acts as a one stop solution for legal requirements in Gujarat and has long standing expertise in dealing with real estate, foreign investments, corporate, commercial, IP, IT, litigation and arbitration from both domestic and international perspectives.

The firm has been known for its niche in practice areas such as real estate and cross border dispute resolution. The firm has over three decades of experience in assisting foreign and domestic investors and entrepreneurs with their projects and has advised on various cross-border disputes including those governed by the LCIA, SIAC, CIETAC, ICC and other cross border litigations ranging from general trade and commerce disputes to disputes involving interpretation of treaties and international law. The firm caters to a diverse clientele which include domestic and international corporations, law firms, investors, developers, high-net-worth individuals and government authorities in a multitude of transactions with varied industry sectors. The firm attracts both domestic and international clients and is regarded as one of the leading law firms in the State of Gujarat.

Services of the firm include advising and representing clients on both contentious and non-contentious issues arising out of setting up of projects, industries, acquisition of real estate, tenders and contracts, development of industrial parks, real estate investment trusts (REIT) and general dispute resolution. Contentious work includes representing clients before various quasi-judicial authorities, tribunals and courts ranging from District Courts to the Supreme Court of India. The firm assists on a wide range of projects including commercial, residential and industrial, commercial and industrial leasing, built-to-suit projects, mixed use facilities, large scale urban regeneration projects, infrastructure and public private partnership projects etc. The firm has a reputation of providing pragmatic and result oriented solutions with its regional expertise and acts as a single window service provider to its global clients.

The firm is the only Gujarat based law firm featured in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific and also selected as a leading Business Law Firm by Indian Lawyer 250 in its research survey conducted in partnership with the (ABA) American Bar Association. The law firm has been awarded for its practice in commercial, corporate and cross border matters by international legal research agencies like Corp-Intl, UK and Global Law Experts, UK.

The clients engaging with the firm have consistently applauded its strong commitment to the values of integrity and professionalism. With more than three decades of experience in advising across multiple industry sectors, the firm adds value with insights of sectoral issues in assisting its clients.

What we do
Real estate

• Perform due diligence to ascertain the title clear and marketable upon transfer, by extensive search (at least 30 years) regarding transfer of titles in the property, missing documents, easements and other conditions restricting the use of property in certain nature.
• Safeguard landowner’s rights at every stage of land enforce performance or claim damages, where necessary.
• Accurately derive applicable revenue due to the government arising out of mutation, purchase, sale, rent, lease, license in the land.
• Enforcement of rights before, during, and after entering into litigation before concerned judicial authority or by way of formal dispute resolution.
• Advisory services on site acquisition and development, contract negotiation, project bidding and management issues, insurance contracting, code compliance and drafting necessary documentation and conveyance.
• Documentation and consultation services in commercial contracts including advisory on legal risk management.

Dispute resolution

• Pre-litigation asset search which includes personal and business assets along with liabilities facilitating strategic advantage during negotiations as well as litigations.
• Identify procedures that would obtain and enforce a judgment abroad easier and faster in cross-border litigation.
• Litigation varying from matters in the civil, commercial, corporate and intellectual property domains, both at the trial and at appellate courts.
• Alternate dispute resolution by way of negotiation, mediation and arbitration or conciliation as the situation warrants.

Commercial

• Fraud investigations and whistle blower lawsuits.
• Handling business contract issues pertaining to termination and goodwill compensation claims with focus on specific aspects of distribution, agency creation, franchising and litigation in a cost-effective manner.
• Provide strategic solutions to anticipated relationship issues in all commercial contracts that highly diminishes costs on arbitration or litigation.
• High quality legal due diligence in contract reviews.

Corporate and regulatory

• Representation to debtors and creditors in winding-up including objections, recalling to winding up petition; representation before trial sessions and committees of creditors; challenging of, and appealing against, court decrees and judgments.
• Indian regulatory issues pertaining to import/export control, data protection, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering, trade competition, trade disputes and investment barriers.
• Corporate re-structuring including issues of securities, intellectual property, employee benefits, taxation and anti-trust that are inherent in transaction of mergers and acquisitions.
• Joint venture agreements.
• Protect rights of clients in white-collar (corporate) crimes, and other antitrust
  investigations before competent authorities.
• Advisory on the competition law.

IP & IT

• Protect electronic transactions and documents as under cyber law and the legal framework for agreements on software development.
• Representation involving registration or opposition pertaining to patent, copyrights, trademark, geographic indications, designs, and technology before competent government authorities.
• Enforcing rights in intellectual property by litigation specific to an action for infringement or passing off.
• Manage portfolio in intellectual property and information technology with respect to its potential of global exploitation.
• Draft and negotiate agreements under legal framework involving assignment, license, and transfer of rights in an intellectual property and transfer of technology including protection of data therein.

Private client

• Wills, trusts and agreements
• Resolve succession with offshore investments, families with members in multiple jurisdictions as well as for members of the family that follow different personal laws.
• Issues pertaining to joint ownership in an estate.
• Draft wills based on intricate tax and estate laws and creative solutions to satisfy intentions about succession of estate during personal and professional lifespan of the person.
• Probate of wills and for persons dying intestate.
• Counsel fiduciaries during the administration of estates, trusts, guardianships, or conservatorships proceedings.
• Advise on formation, registration, management, and government compliance on trusts and cooperative societies as regards their nature of formation as per jurisdictional intricacies.
• Representation of trusts and co-operatives in litigation or before an authority for alternate dispute resolution.

Banking and debt recovery

• Banking regulatory compliances.
• Business transactions pertaining to securitization pooling, asset based financing and structured finance by way of special purpose entities.
• Matters pertaining to Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
• Litigation pertaining to securitization.
• Negotiable instrument usage, obligations and action for enforcing the instrument in the event the instrument loses its negotiability.
• Practices and procedures followed in cooperative banking
• Matters of default pertaining to bank guarantee and letter of credit in International and national trade transactions of high value.

Maritime and admiralty

• Obtaining order for release of ships against a maritime claim relating to Arrest of Ships.
• Dispute resolution including international arbitration.
• Shipping contracts that vary from bareboat, ship construction contracts to sale and purchase.
• Representation before government pertaining to anti-dumping law investigation.