Legal consultancy RSG has released the 2015 edition of its India report, which features rankings of the top 40 law firms in India and the leading foreign firms active in India.
Two years since the last report was published, the latest study shows that Linklaters has edged ahead of Allen & Overy to take the number one spot as top foreign law firm in India.
The remainder of the top five is made up of Herbert Smith Freehills, Baker & McKenzie, and Clifford Chance.
However, while India work is traditionally dominated by UK-headquartered firms, US firms have made gains and now occupy five of the top 10 spots.
Over 500 buyers of legal services in India and domestic law firms fed into the survey to determine which foreign firms they rate most highly.
On the domestic front, the report shows that Amarchand & Mangaldas remains the top firm in India.
Although it will be fascinating to see how RSG and other legal directories tackle the issue of how to rank the two halves of Amarchand in the future now that the firm has split into two.
RSG played safe for the time being:
“We ran a hypothetical ranking on Amarchand as two separate firms and found that, today, the two new firms would share the top spot based on their current figures, client relationships and market profile. However, this may change after a year of operating separately, and we’d expect to see the firms differentiate themselves and their market positions in this period.”
The other top law Indian firms are AZB & Partners, J. Sagar Associates, Luthra & Luthra, Khaitan & Co. and Trilegal.
As well as the firm rankings, the broader 240-page report contains client feedback on Indian law firms, an analysis of legal work flowing in and out of India, data on which firms act for which clients, and profiles of over 250 individual lawyers.
According to the Economic Times of India and RSG, Indian law firms expect their revenues to increase by between 10 and 25% in financial year 2015-16, and they say that the consolidated revenues of Indian law firms doing corporate and commercial work in India will exceed $1 billion.
Contact Reena SenGupta at reena.sengupta@rsgconsulting.com for more on the report.
Pictured: Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, India – taken by Lloyd Pearson, 2002
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