Practice areas
The firm practises in seven areas. Each is described below in plain words, with three matters of the kind the firm has handled, in general terms,2 and the partner who leads the work.
Commercial disputes
Disagreements between businesses over contracts, supply, payment and partnership, before the Commercial Division of the Madras High Court and the civil courts. Most of this work is about reading what was signed and deciding, early, whether to fight, settle or wait.
- A ₹42 crore claim under a long-term supply contract for automotive castings, where the question was whether a force majeure clause covered a customs stoppage.
- A partnership dissolution between three brothers running a textile export house in Tiruppur, resolved by consent terms after two hearings.
- Recovery of dues from a Chennai hospital group under an equipment lease, with an interim order securing the equipment.
Led by K. R. Venkataraman, see ¶ 3.1.
Arbitration
Disputes that a contract says must go to a private tribunal rather than a court, and the court proceedings that surround them: appointing arbitrators, interim relief under section 9, and challenges to awards under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
- A three-member domestic tribunal seated in Chennai on an EPC contract for a 60 MW solar plant in Tuticorin, with claims and counter-claims of ₹118 crore.
- Resisting a section 34 challenge to an award in favour of a Coimbatore pump manufacturer, upheld by the High Court and, on appeal, the Supreme Court.
- An SIAC-administered arbitration between a Chennai software exporter and its Singapore distributor, with a parallel section 9 application for interim protection of receivables.
Led by Meenakshi Sundaram, see ¶ 3.2.
Real estate and property
Title, possession, partition, tenancy and the disputes that attach to land and buildings in and around Chennai. Also the quiet work: examining title before a purchase, and settling documents so that no dispute arises.
- A partition suit over 2.4 acres in Sholinganallur held by a joint family for three generations, with a preliminary decree after seven years of litigation.
- Title examination for the purchase of a 1932 house in Mylapore, tracing thirty-one documents back to the original grant.
- Eviction and arrears proceedings for a landlord of a commercial building on Mount Road under the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants Act, 2017.
Led by Priya Chandrasekaran, see ¶ 3.3.
Family and succession
Wills, probate, letters of administration, succession certificates, and the disputes between family members that follow a death or a marriage ending. The firm advises on drafting wills and family settlements so that the second kind of work is rarely needed.
- Probate of a contested will disposing of a Nungambakkam house and a shareholding in a family company, before the Original Side of the High Court.
- A family settlement dividing the assets of a Coimbatore engineering business among four branches, drafted and registered without a suit being filed.
- Guardianship and custody proceedings before the Family Court, Chennai, concluded by a parenting arrangement recorded in the order.
Led by Lakshmi Narayanan, see ¶ 3.5.
Intellectual property
Trade marks, copyright, designs and the occasional patent: registration, opposition, and infringement suits before the Commercial Division of the High Court. A large part of the practice is advising businesses on what they can and cannot call themselves.
- A passing-off action for a Madurai jewellery house against a chain trading under a near-identical Tamil name, with an interim injunction on the first hearing.
- Copyright and performers' rights advice for a Chennai film production company on a re-release of a 1978 film.
- Opposition proceedings before the Trade Marks Registry, Chennai, against the registration of a mark for coffee that copied a client's 1954 device.
Led by Arjun Balasubramanian, see ¶ 3.4.
Tax
Income tax and GST disputes at every stage: replies to notices, appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals) and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, and writ petitions and tax appeals before the High Court. The firm does not prepare returns; it advises when an assessment has gone wrong.
- A transfer-pricing appeal for a Chennai auto-component subsidiary of a German group, with an adjustment of ₹27 crore deleted by the Tribunal.
- A writ petition challenging a GST demand on a hotel group for the period before its registration was migrated, allowed by the High Court.
- Reassessment proceedings against a retired shipping executive reopened after six years, quashed for want of tangible material.
Led by S. Mohammed Faizal, see ¶ 3.6.
Writs and public law
Petitions under article 226 of the Constitution against the State, its boards and its corporations: licences refused, tenders cancelled, land acquired, orders passed without hearing the person affected.
- A challenge to the cancellation of a tender for road works in Kancheepuram district, remitted for fresh consideration.
- Compensation proceedings for landowners in Sriperumbudur whose land was acquired for an industrial estate, with the award enhanced on reference.
- A petition for a Chennai school against a fee-fixation order, disposed with directions to the committee.
Led by K. R. Venkataraman, see ¶ 3.1.
- 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.
- Representative matters are described without names or identifying detail, as the rule at note 1 and the firm's duty of confidence to its clients require. Sums are the amounts in dispute, not amounts recovered.
- Where a matter is listed under more than one area, it appears under the area in which the substantive question arose.