Barrister & Co.

Counsel

Ten advocates practise from chambers, listed in order of seniority. Each entry gives the year of enrolment,2 the courts before which the advocate ordinarily appears, education, languages, and the matters in which he or she has been responsible for the work.3

K. R. Venkataraman

Senior Advocate, head of chambers

Enrolled
1984; designated Senior Advocate by the Madras High Court, 2009
Courts
Madras High Court; Supreme Court of India; Madurai Bench
Education
B.A., Loyola College, Madras, 1981
B.L., Madras Law College, 1984
Languages
Tamil, English
Matters
  1. Led for the respondent in a Supreme Court appeal on whether a bank guarantee could be invoked after the underlying contract was terminated.
  2. Argued a Full Bench reference before the Madras High Court on the limitation period for section 34 petitions.
  3. Appeared for a group of landowners in Sriperumbudur in acquisition proceedings running from 2011 to 2019.
Leads
Commercial disputes, see ¶ 2.1; Writs and public law, see ¶ 2.7

Meenakshi Sundaram

Partner

Enrolled
1996
Courts
Madras High Court; arbitral tribunals seated in Chennai, Mumbai and Singapore
Education
B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 1996
LL.M., King's College London, 1999
Languages
Tamil, English, Hindi
Matters
  1. Counsel for the contractor in a ₹118 crore EPC arbitration over a solar plant in Tuticorin.
  2. Successfully resisted a section 34 challenge for a Coimbatore pump manufacturer through the High Court and the Supreme Court.
  3. Sits as sole arbitrator on the panel of the Madras High Court Arbitration Centre.
Leads
Arbitration, see ¶ 2.2

Priya Chandrasekaran

Partner

Enrolled
2001
Courts
Madras High Court; City Civil Court, Chennai; Sub-Registrar offices across Chennai district
Education
B.Com., Stella Maris College, Chennai, 1998
B.L., Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai, 2001
Languages
Tamil, English, Telugu
Matters
  1. Conducted a three-generation partition suit over 2.4 acres in Sholinganallur to a preliminary decree.
  2. Examined title for the purchase of a 1932 Mylapore house through thirty-one documents.
  3. Advises two Chennai developers on joint development agreements and RERA compliance.
Leads
Real estate and property, see ¶ 2.3

Arjun Balasubramanian

Partner

Enrolled
2005
Courts
Madras High Court; Trade Marks Registry, Chennai; Copyright Board
Education
B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, 2005
Registered patent agent, 2008
Languages
Tamil, English, Kannada
Matters
  1. Obtained an interim injunction on first hearing in a passing-off action for a Madurai jewellery house.
  2. Advised a Chennai film production company on rights in a 1978 film before its re-release.
  3. Opposed the registration of a coffee mark copying a client's 1954 device.
Leads
Intellectual property, see ¶ 2.5

Lakshmi Narayanan

Partner

Enrolled
1998
Courts
Madras High Court (Original Side); Family Court, Chennai; District Courts in Coimbatore and Salem
Education
B.Sc., Presidency College, Madras, 1995
B.L., Madras Law College, 1998
Languages
Tamil, English, Malayalam
Matters
  1. Probate of a contested will before the Original Side of the High Court.
  2. Drafted and registered a family settlement dividing a Coimbatore engineering business among four branches.
  3. Custody and guardianship proceedings concluded by a recorded parenting arrangement.
Leads
Family and succession, see ¶ 2.4

S. Mohammed Faizal

Partner

Enrolled
2003
Courts
Madras High Court; Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai; GST Appellate Authority
Education
B.Com., The New College, Chennai, 1999
B.L., Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai, 2003
Chartered Accountant, 2002
Languages
Tamil, English, Urdu, Hindi
Matters
  1. Had a ₹27 crore transfer-pricing adjustment deleted before the Tribunal for an auto-component subsidiary.
  2. Argued a writ against a GST demand for a hotel group's pre-migration period, allowed by the High Court.
  3. Quashed reassessment proceedings against a retired executive reopened after six years.
Leads
Tax, see ¶ 2.6

Divya Ramanathan

Senior Associate

Enrolled
2012
Courts
Madras High Court; NCLT and NCLAT, Chennai
Education
B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), National Law University, Delhi, 2012
Languages
Tamil, English, Hindi
Matters
  1. Junior counsel in the Tuticorin solar plant arbitration, responsible for the quantum evidence.
  2. Appeared for an operational creditor in insolvency proceedings against a Chennai logistics company.

Vignesh Kumaraswamy

Associate

Enrolled
2017
Courts
Madras High Court; City Civil Court, Chennai; Commercial Court, Chennai
Education
B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), SASTRA University, Thanjavur, 2017
Languages
Tamil, English
Matters
  1. Drafted pleadings and appeared on interlocutory applications in the automotive castings supply dispute.
  2. Conducts the firm's recovery matters before the Commercial Court, Chennai.

Anitha Joseph

Associate

Enrolled
2019
Courts
Madras High Court; Family Court, Chennai; Trade Marks Registry, Chennai
Education
B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchirappalli, 2019
Languages
Tamil, English, Malayalam
Matters
  1. Prepared the succession-certificate application and evidence in the Nungambakkam probate matter.
  2. Handles trade-mark searches, filings and opposition correspondence for the intellectual property practice.

Hariharan Iyer

Associate

Enrolled
2022
Courts
Madras High Court; Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai
Education
B.Com., Loyola College, Chennai, 2019
LL.B., Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai, 2022
Languages
Tamil, English, Hindi
Matters
  1. Prepared paper books and written submissions in the transfer-pricing appeal.
  2. Assists with replies to income tax and GST notices across the tax practice.
  1. Rule 36, Section IV, Chapter II, Part VI of the Bar Council of India Rules restrains advocates from advertising or soliciting work. This site is published under the proviso to that rule and is limited to the firm's name, address, areas of practice and the particulars of its advocates.
  2. Every advocate named at ¶ 3 is enrolled with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The year given is the year of enrolment; the designation of Senior Advocate is conferred by the High Court and its year is given separately.
  3. A partner is responsible for every matter from the letter of engagement to its end. Associates appear with a partner or, in interlocutory and registry work, on the partner's instructions.