Baker McKenzie has welcomed three new members to its Global India Practice Group's Steering Committee. The Firm is also pleased to announce that four committee members have been named to India Business Law Journal’s “The International A-List” for 2024, which recognizes the top lawyers based outside India who are most recommended by clients and peers for their work on international aspects of India-related matters.
The steering committee includes partner representatives across the Firm's global platform who actively work on India-related matters, with responsibility for developing and implementing the strategy for the Global India Practice Group. The new appointees are as follows:
- Ash Tiwari, Corporate/M&A partner in the London office, specializing in domestic and cross-border private M&A, joint ventures, restructurings, reorganizations, listed company advice, and corporate governance
- Hani Naja, Corporate/M&A partner in the UAE offices, whose practice focuses on M&A, joint ventures, corporate reorganizations and post-acquisition integration, as well as corporate structuring, foreign direct investment and market entry in the Middle East, with a particular focus on the UAE and Qatar
- Joy K. Gallup, Corporate & Securities partner in the New York office, with extensive experience in a broad range of cross-border corporate finance transactions, including cross-border liability management transactions, distressed and high-yield debt, green bonds, project bond offerings, syndicated loans, and structured debt products (including securitizations and monetizations)
Other members on the steering committee include: Ashok Lalwani (chair); Aarthi Belani; Ashish Chugh; Adolfo Duranona; Emmanuel Hadjidakis; Samantha Mobley; Philippe Reich; Virusha Subban; Teresa Tovar; Peerapan Tungsuwan; and Mini vandePol.
Moreover, Ashok Lalwani, Samantha Mobley, Philippe Reich and Ash Tiwari have been named “International A-List” lawyer by India Business Law Journal for 2024. This accolade recognizes international lawyers who have a strong grasp of the intricacies of India’s corporate landscape and the needs of Indian clients, as well as those with extensive connections within the Indian legal community. They are able to adeptly guide clients through complex legal and compliance issues, while demonstrating a practical problem-solving approach in the face of adversity.
This deep pool of legal talent is key to the Firm’s long-standing track record of successfully assisting Indian and international companies with their India outbound and inbound investments, which sees Baker McKenzie being regularly featured at industry awards and publications as the top foreign law firm for India-related work. This includes the Firm’s most recent recognition for its involvement in the linkage of India’s Unified Payments Interface and Singapore’s PayNow, which has been named “2023 Disputes Deal of the Year” by India Business Law Journal. In what was touted as the world’s first real-time payment systems linkage to use a scalable cloud-based infrastructure, the linking of the two digital payments systems was a first for India and is expected to disrupt existing methods and platforms for transferring money between the two nations. Singapore member firm Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow advised the participating Singapore banks, and the team was led by principals Ken Chia and Stephanie Magnus.
"I would like to welcome our appointees to the Steering Committee. They do not only bring with them a wealth of diverse experience and legal knowhow to our broad-based India Practice, but they will help us to better capture opportunities arising from the ever increasing business between India and the UK, the UAE and the US," Global India Practice Head Ashok Lalwani said. “I would also like to congratulate Samantha, Philippe and Ash on their wins, and also to Ken and Stephanie for being recognized for their work on India’s first real-time payment systems linkage. These wins demonstrate the incredible pool of legal talent we have and our ability to support clients on some of the world’s most complex and innovative deals.”