Watch The Prestigious Indian Legal Awards 2014 on ET Now on 5th April, Saturday at 4.00 PM and 6th April, Sunday at 6.00 PM onwards.
Ever since its inception, the LegalEra Awards 2014 have been yet another feather in LegalEra magazine’s long list of achievements. The 3rd edition of the Awards held at Taj Land’s End, Mumbai on March 15 this year saw nearly 550 Lawyers and Corporate in attendance.
The Chief Guest was Justice B.N. Srikrishna, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India; while the Guest of Honour were Justice Deepak Verma, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and Mr. Rana Kapoor, Founder, Managing Director & CEO, YES Bank.
The anxiety was palpable as nominees across 47 categories were announced. It was sheer agony and ecstasy as the winners in each category were finally called out.
Aptly described by Justice Srikrishna as, “Recognition of talent is an incentive for an individual to make better progress.”
Founder & Managing Editor of LegalEra, Aakriti Raizada, began by expressing her gratitude and sincerely thanking the audience for their cooperation and support.
To begin with, the LegalEra Premier League or Best of the Year Awards were announced.
Dev Bajpai, Compliance Officer, Executive Director – Legal & Corporate Affairs and Company Secretary, Hindustan Unilever Limited, won the General Counsel of the Year – Male Award.
“I will fail in my duty if I don’t acknowledge the institutions I have worked with in the 26 years of my career. I had an opportunity to join the Indian Police Service but I left that and don’t regret it at all,” Bajpai said while accepting the Award.
While Shukla Wassan, Executive Director – Legal & Company Secretary, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages won the General Counsel of the Year – Female.
Picking up the Lifetime Achievement Award for Senior Counsel, Iqbal Chagla, Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court, spoke about his father:
“Having spent half a century in this profession, this Award is a recognition of that. This evening, I remember my father and how his shoes were so large that they never really fit anyone. But I think I tried in some way to live by the principles and values that he imbibed. This recognition means that I have not failed him completely.”
M R Prasanna, Former General Counsel, Aditya Birla Group, won the Lifetime Achievement Award for In-House; while Talat Ansari, Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for Law Firm Partner.
The Tata Group bagged the Best In-House Legal Team of the Year; while Satya Hegde, Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Tata Consultancy Services won the Global General Counsel of the Year.
A S Kumar, General Counsel, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories took home the Corporate Personality of the Year Award for Outstanding Contribution & Excellence; whereas, Anand Desai, Managing Partner, DSK Legal, won the Managing Partner of the Year; Tata Consultancy Services took home the Best In-House Global Legal Team of the Year; while Khaitan & Co bagged the Best Indian Law Firm of the Year (Overall) and S.K. Singhi & Co walked away with Best Up & Rising Indian Law Firm of the Year with 2 to 3 years of practice.“I am overwhelmed, yet very humble,” said Namita Chadha, Founder and Managing Partner, Chadha & Co. as she won the Woman Lawyer of the Year. “I would like to thank LegalEra and the Jury for placing confidence in me and my firm. This Award enables me to overcome the challenges a woman lawyer faces in her journey.”
Zia Mody, Managing Partner, AZB & Partners, picked up the Best Corporate Lawyer of the Year and AZB & Partners won the Best Law Firm of the Year – Mumbai. “As you get older, you realise that you are not the only recipient of this Award. Its 250 young lawyers burning the midnight oil every day and making this happen. Thank you,” she said.
Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year was won by Pravin Anand, Managing Partner, Anand & Anand; Ramesh K. Vaidyanathan, Founder and Managing Partner, Advaya Legal, bagged the Young Achievers’ Award of the Year in the Firm Category (40 Years & Below); Dr. Vivek Mittal, Head – Legal, Lupin Limited picked up the Young Achiever In-House Category;
DLA Piper won the Best International Law Firm of the Year; while Bharti Airtel Limited took away the Best Telecommunication In-House Legal Team of the Year; Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) won the Best Insurance In-House Legal Team of the Year; AZB & Partners won the Best Corporate Law Firm of the Year; Best Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year was awarded to Anand & Anand; DSK Legal took away the Best Merger & Acquisition Law Firm of the Year; Best Dispute Resolution Law Firm of the Year went to Bharucha & Partners, while Best Litigation Law Firm of the Year was awarded to Karanjawala and Co.
This year, the elite jury comprised R A Shah, Senior Partner, Crawford Bayley & Co.; Ashok Raizada, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, LegalEra – Legal Media Group; Dr. Lalit Bhasin, President, Society of Indian Law Firms; Girish Gokhale, Former Legal Head, L&T; B. Gopalakrishnan, Legal Advisor & Head – Legal Operations Group, Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd.; S. Ramaswamy, Vice President & Group General Counsel, Escorts Ltd.; Akhil Prasad, Country Counsel, Boeing International Corporation, India; Shardul Thacker, Partner, Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe; and Shailesh Shah, Secretary General, Indian Broadcasting Foundation.
Stressing on setting a benchmark for legal achievement, the jury sincerely thanked LegalEra for taking the lead in the matter.
While Lalit Bhasin, President, Society of Indian Law Firms and Chairman of the Jury said, “Today, in India, we have the best Law Firms which can compete with the best firms in the world in terms of competence, knowledge and even technology. It has not been an easy exercise for us when it comes to choosing the best among equals. Yes, we are all equal here. However, in the end, the jury took to the task with unanimous conclusions. On behalf of the jury, I extend my compliments to all the winners this evening.”
Over 100 Law Firms and more than 150 Corporate Houses attended the do.
The most deserving were felicitated, while the most thriving were motivated at the 3rd edition of the LegalEra Awards 2014.
Ms. Raizada put it correctly when she said that an Awards ceremony which had started as a stepping stone had now become a ladder of success not only for the Legal fraternity but also for the LegalEra Magazine and, “It is because of your support, that this event is what it is today,” she said, going on to thank the jury members among other partners and supporters of the event.
The evening ended with the promise that the next edition of the awards would be even bigger and brighter
LegalEra would like to thank:
Banking Partner: YES Bank; Exchange Partner: BSE; TV Partner: ET NOW; Silver Partner: Pradesh Today; Print Partner: Business Standard; Outdoor Partner: Bright Outdoor Media Pvt. Ltd.; Talent Partner: ARA Consultants; Online Media Partner: legalera.in for their valuable support in this initiative and making this ceremony a huge success. BWI
