Law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth expects to increase its India practice from the current eight lawyers to 30 lawyers over the next two to five years, said partner Philip Catania in an interview with ALB.

 

“We expect to substantially increase our India practice, driven by the expanding activities of our clients,” said Catania. “I can’t tell you which clients, but there are signs of upcoming transactions that look at off-shoring to India.”

 

Among the firm’s Australian clients with activities in India are ANZ, Deakin University and Fosters. Corrs also advises local companies in India, including Tata Consultancy Services, Birlasoft and Satyam Computer Services, on IT and mining matters in Australia.

 

The firm’s India practice has recently been strengthened by the addition of partner Simon Crawford, who joined Corrs in April this year. Crawford came from ANZ where he was deputy general counsel for the bank’s institutional division. In that capacity, he acted on a number of large litigations in India that arose out of the bank’s former ownership of Grindlays Bank.