Desai Desai Carrimjee & Mulla

Practice Areas

The partners have over the years acquired considerable experience and expertise in each of the said areas of practice. With our firm’s philosophy in mind, we seek to combine innovative thinking with a practical, solution based approach to find creative solutions to service our client’s business needs, coupled with the necessary guidance to implement them.

Real Estate Law

Our real estate team provides comprehensive assistance and support in all aspects of the real estate industry. We aim to deliver solutions that help our clients achieve their financial and strategic objectives in the best possible way.

Our expertise includes acquisitions/transfers of immovable property, drafting and negotiating transactional documents, conducting due diligence and title investigations, and advising on transactions including development/redevelopment/joint development / integrated township development / real estate project finance / commercial and residential leave and license / leasing transactions (including build to suit leases). Furthermore, we have been representing our clients across private and commercial disputes and providing representation against the government and statutory bodies. Our firm provides end-to-end support for clients involved in various aspects of real estate transactions and projects. Our firm also provides assistances and advise in formation of associations of allottees (condominiums / societies / limited companies/ apex bodies).

Litigation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution

We represent clients on Civil and Criminal matters. DDCM’s expertise extends to representing our clients in various courts across the country, including but not limited to the Supreme Court of India, various High Courts of India, National Company Law Tribunal and Enforcement Directorate.

Furthermore, over the years, we have established a dispute resolution practice along with specific expertise in commercial arbitration which has quickly emerged as the preferred dispute resolution mechanism in India. Our clients range from multinationals and professional organizations to high-profile individuals and local organizations. Our partners are in the legal industry for generations which has enabled them to build not only a good team for the firm but also a good network of legal counsels working in the Bombay High Court and all major civil and criminal courts across the country.

Corporate Law

Our firm provides expert advice to leading companies and financial institutions on a wide range of complex corporate and commercial issues. Our experience across various jurisdictions enables us to offer nuanced advice that takes Indian regulations into account within an international context and helps our clients understand and comply with the regulatory framework provided under the law.

Mergers & Acquisitions

DDCM’s practice comprises M&A transactions which include asset/share transactions, listed and private company takeovers, corporate reconstructions, leveraged buyouts, and management buyouts. The firm has experience in advising leading buyers, sellers, and investors acting in areas such as real estate, financial services, and asset management, and a strong record assisting with exchange control regulations, contract law, and Takeover Code issues.

Our clients range from private equity and venture capital funds and their respective portfolio companies to non-banking financial institutions, multinational companies, and other strategic investors to investor networks, privately held companies, and family offices.

Joint Ventures and Foreign Collaborations

Our firm offer services involving various industry sectors, including banking and finance, sports, oil and gas, hospitality, healthcare, real estate, and logistics. Team D&D advises on the legal due diligence, risk assessment, risk mitigation advice; transaction structuring, entry strategies, investment routes, choice of equity or debt and types of securities, divestitures and exit strategies; regulatory advice pertaining to foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, foreign exchange (FEMA) regulations, competition compliance, industrial laws, labour laws, anti-bribery laws and the like; advice on industry-specific statues, rules/ regulations, bye-laws of industry associations and market practices; fresh subscriptions, preferential allotments, rights issues and the like; acquisitions, investments, slump sales and business transfers, asset transfers; joint ventures and strategic alliances, technical collaborations, IPR assignment and licencing; drafting of the entire gamut of documentation starting from term sheets to SSAs, SPAs, SHAs and the like; drafting documents pertaining to and advising on issues involving IPR, trade secrets, goodwill, non-compete, confidentiality, non-solicitation; senior executive employment agreements and the like; support for corporate secretarial documentation and compliances such as board or shareholder resolutions and statutory forms and filings.
To achieve clients’ legal objectives, we co-operate, to the extent required, and in agreement with our clients, with specialists such as auditors, management consultants, investment bankers, insurance experts, and also with lawyers where the need so arises. Our contacts include well-reputed lawyers from leading law firms abroad. We are accustomed to working with foreign law firms.

Private Equity Investments

DDCM has represented domestic and international Private Equity firms as well as numerous portfolio companies, and funds. Our experience has enabled us an in-depth and sound understanding of legal and regulatory issues that concern private equity transactions from all perspectives.

Pharma and Life Sciences/ Drug Price Control

DDCM regularly advises various pharma organisations regarding issues ranging from the manufacturing of products to wholesale distribution. Our team has, over the decades of practice gained expertise in the commercial and legal aspects of this sector.

We help our clients navigate the complex regulatory environment with clear advice. We help them with compliance on regulatory and policy issues, ethics, data exclusivity and protection, labelling, legal metrology, intellectual property matters as well as general litigations faced by pharmaceutical companies.

Sexual Harassment at Workplace (POSH)

Our Firm’s practice specialises in ‘Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplaces’ cases, regulation abidance and related awareness programs at all corporate levels across all major cities in India with emphasis on recent updates in the laws in India governing to women’s safety at workplaces. We help our client in (1) Formation of Company’s Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) (2) Conducting Training Workshops (3) Handling Sexual Harassment at Workplace Case or Legal Proceedings (4) preparation of policies, service manuals and employee handbooks, etc.

Labour & Employment

DDCM offers services including advising on corporate employment matters and labour disputes. The team regularly advises clients on matters involving : lay-offs and transfer of employees under a business transfer, drafting, reviewing, and negotiating various kinds of agreements between employers and employees/consultants/ retainers, enforceability of non-compete clauses in employee agreements and structuring various policies and plans for different levels of employees, both in India and overseas; Advising and provide consultation regarding matters involving Employee benefits, earn-outs and management incentives plans; director liability and fiduciary obligations; statutory compliance audit; mass retrenchment and lay-offs; severance negotiations and contentious / senior exits; employee stock option plans (ESOPs) / employee stock option schemes (ESOS), employment contracts, including provisions relating to non-compete, non-solicitation, intellectual property and confidentiality obligations; advisory pertaining to post-acquisition employee transition; conducting investigations of complaints under the law relating to the prevention of sexual harassment (POSH).

Aviation Laws

The Firm’s years of expertise and working across practice areas make the team well-equipped for handling matters that revolve around the Aviation industry. The Firm has successfully obtained and procured the first-ever Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), approval in the aviation sector in India for an airline company. Our practice consists of assisting and advising on all regulatory filings required in Aviation Industry, drafting aircraft lease agreements, fuel supply agreements, employment agreements, general corporate governance, various manuals, and litigation matters.

Offshore Funds and Venture Capital Funds

Our dedicated team will work beyond the initial set-up/structuring phase to assist on continuing operations and long-term business objectives for setting up the off shore funds. We represent many innovative and significant hedge, venture capital and private equity funds for start-up funds and in Offshore Fund Maintenance, Regulation and Compliance. This includes drafting constitutional, regulatory, and compliance documentation and advising on extensive due diligence projects, acquisitions, financings, and listings.

Banking and Finance

Our team of lawyers has advised on a wide range of financial products, including project finance, securitization, financing, external commercial borrowings, syndicated lending and structured products, distressed assets and debt restructuring. Our versatility of work helps us serve our clients from diverse backgrounds and needs.

Intellectual Property Law

We, at DDCM advise our clients on matters pertaining to intellectual property rights, more specifically from creation and protection, to monetisation and enforcement, prosecution, transactional and advisory and enforcement and litigation. Our network and years of understanding of business realities, regulatory environment makes has enabled us to represent our clients to best of our abilities and in designing customised, practical and durable protection strategies for ideas, data and businesses.

Hospitality

DDCM regularly assists and advices our client from the hospitality sector in matters pertaining to acquisitions, due diligence, documentation, financing, various contracts, franchises, joint ventures and alliances, multi-use project development; Tenders, corporate governance, IPR protection and all other agreements, dispute resolution and litigation and dealing with various government organisations and departments.

The firm has a niche presence in the hospitality sector.

E-Commerce & Retail

The Firm’s multi–disciplinary approach helps us understanding the complexities of this relatively new field of work as its transformation accelerates. It is further supported by our knowledge of exchange control laws, regulatory compliance and approvals, payment collection and disbursements, requirements applicable to digital offerings, conformity assessments and other laws affecting this sector.

Estate Planning, Wills,Trusts & Personal Law

Our team has years of expertise and experience on areas like trusts, taxation, wills and other testamentary instruments, obtaining probates, approvals from regulators, advice pertaining to corporate and securities laws and court related dispute resolution.

Our private client practice advises a range of national and international clients including large promoters, global Indian families, banks and financial institutions with respect to their private client needs, trustees, family offices, and High Net Worth Individuals on their private wealth and estate planning. It includes the formation and governance of trust structures, family business successions, settlement of family disputes.

Capital Market

The firm advises on capital market activities including public offerings, rights issues, bonds, acquisitions, and advisory services for listed companies and securities market intermediaries. The Firm also defends regulatory and disciplinary action by (regulatory institutions, SEBI, the Securities Appellate Tribunal) and related litigation before the High Courts and Supreme Court of India.

Admiralty & Shipping

DDCM provides legal advisory services on maritime law leveraging the Admiralty Jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court. We provide legal advisory on maritime legal matters including various maritime claims. We regularly advise our clients on charter-party related matters and dispute resolution matters related thereto, obtaining or challenging vessel arrests and exercise of maritime liens, exercising liens on cargo to secure freight or demurrage. We also help our clients in drafting, negotiating and reviewing charter-party agreements, oil-import agreements, and shipping agency agreements.

Media & Entertainment

We offer legal services to clients in advertising, media, and entertainment. With a comprehendible rise in advertising, media, and entertainment, we work alongside our clients to provide solutions within the legal and regulatory framework.

Energy & Petroleum laws

We regularly advise clients on power projects concerning energy and in emerging green technologies. Our team advises on all aspects of project development, including regulatory framework, transaction structuring, and conducting title diligences; investments in and exits from power projects and platforms; exchange transactions; fresh debt investments and refinancing and restructuring transactions. In the Oil & Gas sector, our lawyers handle the matters including Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, regulatory issues and franchisee arrangements.

Infrastructure contracts/ EPC contracts

DDCM has years of experience in infrastructural space, especially in advising developers, sponsors, contractors, domestic and foreign investor agencies, etc, with investments, exits, project financing, project development, bid process, structuring, project contracting, regulatory issues, public-private partnership, contractual advisory, etc.

Art advisory

Our firm regularly advises our private clients in the management of specialized assets such as art and artifacts and high–value bequests. This becomes especially important in the current scenario wherein art is viewed not only as a commodity but also as a viable option of investment.

Our work details in assisting various artists, art galleries, auction houses in myriad legal concerns revolving around the creation, ownership and transfer of art and antiquities, including valuation, sale and transfer of property, and civil and criminal liability, resolution of conflicting claims/ inconclusive documentation and application of archaic law, representation of art gallerist/ artists/ curators in the criminal proceedings.

Our team has a deep understanding and perspective of the distinctive nature of the arts community and is equipped to give advice and provide solutions for its challenges and meet its expectations of the law.

Our goal is to foster a sense of belonging amongst our team members so that they feel respected and included. We believe in promoting a culture that encourages professional merit, accomplishments, and contributions regardless of any dimension of diversity such as gender, age, sexual orientation, or others.
To achieve our commitment to inclusion, we have implemented policies and practices such as equal opportunity employment, pay parity, structured feedback mechanisms for grievance redressal, and compliance with POSH regulations. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of harassment or bullying and encourage awareness to help understand and celebrate each other’s uniqueness.

Desai Desai Carrimjee & Mulla

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