Civil suits
Recovery of money, enforcement of contracts, property and title disputes, injunctions, and the appeals and execution proceedings that follow a decree.
Recovery suitsContract enforcementProperty & titleInjunctionsExecution & appeals
Disputes are handled here from the first notice to enforcement of a decree or award. The area covers civil suits, criminal suits, proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal, and arbitration. The firm has advocates in house and appears before courts and tribunals directly.
The approach is the same across all of them: read the documents first, advise on the position honestly, and set out what each available course is likely to cost in time as well as in fees — including the course that involves no proceeding at all.
Criminal matters
Representation in criminal proceedings at every stage, from complaint or FIR through trial to appeal. Matters include complaints under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and economic offences, along with applications for bail, discharge and quashing.
Section 138 complaintsEconomic offencesBail applicationsQuashing petitionsCriminal defence
NCLT & insolvency
Proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal — oppression and mismanagement, scheme approvals, and applications under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code by operational and financial creditors alike.
Insolvency applicationsCreditor representationOppression & mismanagementSchemes & amalgamationsTribunal appearances
Arbitration & mediation
Contractual disputes referred to arbitration, from appointment through to award and enforcement, and negotiated settlement where that serves the client better than a hearing.
Arbitration proceedingsArbitrator appointmentAward enforcementMediated settlementPre-litigation negotiation
How an engagement proceeds
01
Assessment of position
We read the documents before we advise. The first output is a plain statement of where you stand, what a proceeding would need to establish, and what it is likely to cost in time as well as fees.
1–2 weeks02
Notice and negotiation
Most disputes are cheaper to resolve than to litigate. Where that is realistic, a properly drafted notice and a negotiation attempt come before a filing.
2–6 weeks03
Institution of proceedings
Pleadings are drafted, documents compiled and the matter filed in the appropriate forum. You are told what the timetable realistically looks like, including the parts of it outside the control of any party.
Matter-dependent04
Conduct and hearings
The matter is conducted through evidence and hearings to judgment or award, with a written update after each substantive step.
OngoingFrequently asked questions
Three things. The documents are read before advice is given. The client is told what a proceeding is likely to cost in time as well as in fees. And where a dispute would be better resolved than litigated, we say so — including where that means a shorter engagement for us.
Frequently, yes. A dishonoured cheque is the common example — the same instrument can support a civil suit for recovery and a complaint under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Neither displaces the other, and the sensible question is usually which to bring first and to what end.
Honestly, that depends on the forum and on factors no party controls. We will give an estimate of the active work involved and of the ordinary timetable in the relevant forum, and we will not present either as a guarantee.
We advise nationally and appear directly before the courts and tribunals on whose rolls our advocates are enrolled. Where a matter falls in a jurisdiction in which we are not on record, we engage local counsel and remain the point of contact, so the matter is not handed over.