Boutique Australian firm Rockwell Bates has announced a mutual referral and preferred partner relationship with Mumbai-based firm Rajani Associates.
This new alliance swims against the market trend of international firms and their Indian partners ending their relationships. Clyde & Co split from best friend ALMT Legal last month, and magic circle firm Clifford Chance and best friend AZB & Partners parted ways earlier this year.
Rajani Associates’ managing partner, Prem Rajani, says this relationship is a contrast to the “best friend” arrangement often favoured by foreign firms looking to partner with an Indian counterpart: “The association is of mutual referral and there is neither any exclusivity nor any “best friend” relationship.”
“We will have access to local laws of Australia through Rockwell Bates and we can recommend our clients to engage the services of Rockwell Bates while dealing in Australia (though this does not restrict us from recommending other firms in Australia). Likewise Rockwell Bates will enjoy the same benefits when it comes to India,” Rajani added.
This more flexible arrangement, coupled with a close alignment of the firms’ ethos and expertise, will likely to make for a more enduring arrangement. Adam Levine, Director of Rockwell Bates, says that the two firms have worked closely together on several matters and adds that Rockwell Bates and Rajani Associates “share a close connection.”
Prem Rajani agrees: “The fact that each firm shares a common focus of being a "trusted advisor" to their respective clients and so in placing our own clients in the hands of the other firm, we can feel comfortable that our own clients will be looked after as we would ourselves.”
Both firms expect the relationship will enable them to provide better assistance to clients interested in overseas opportunities in areas such as healthcare, education and financial services.
For Rockwell Bates this new alliance with an Indian partner, possibly the first of its kind for an Australian firm, marks further progress in achieving its Asia vision. Levine says the firm is working toward developing a “niche practice with a pan Asia focus”. While Rockwell Bates has looser referral arrangements with firms in Asia, Levine says this new relationship with Rajani Associates is something they are looking to replicate with their counterparts across the region.ALB
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