In a move that has bucked the trend of international law firms recruiting Indian lawyers and taking them out of the country, Khaitan & Co has hired two senior lawyers from the London office of Ashurst and brought them to India.
Murali Neelakantan and Kalpana Unadkat have relocated to Mumbai to take up partnership positions with the Indian firm. Both are qualified in India as well as in England and Wales. Neelakantan was a partner at Ashurst and head of the firm’s India practice. Unadkat was a senior associate.
The hires take on additional significance, coming amid the growing shortage of legal talent in India (see Surviving the talent crunch, page 26). International law firms and legal process outsourcing companies are competing fiercely with domestic firms and corporate legal departments to attract and retain the best lawyers. Indian firms have often been the losers, with many reporting acute difficulties in hiring middle and upper-level lawyers, high attrition rates and spiralling salaries.
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