Champions of Indian legal system Style Definition: Normal: Font: (Default) +Body (Calibri)

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Aayushmaan Gauba & Gunjan Chhabra: Two enthralling attorneys, Style Definition: Heading 2
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partnered for progress Style Definition: Heading 4
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Adwitya Legal is a team of expert lawyers, who are practicing par excellence and resolving
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conflicts and legal disputes both, in the Country and across borders.
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Indian law has straightened out from religious prescription to the modernistic legal Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
system we have today, traversing through the secular legal systems and the common law. Formatted

These days, we have a hybrid legal system with an amalgamation of civil, common law Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)

and customary or religious law within the legal framework. It was inherited from the Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)

colonial era and multifarious legislation first introduced by the British are still in effect in Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
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modified forms. After independence, the legal system emerged as a compulsory element
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of the world’s largest democracy and an important pillar in the battle to secure the
constitutional rights of people. Though, access to quality legal services is still a tough task
for a substantial segment of the Indian population due to geographical, resource and
infrastructure constraints. Since legal representation is costly and out of reach for many,
the need for legal aid arises.

With intent to tackle the needs of people and making the availability of legal services
more efficient and cost-effective, two attorneys Aayushmaan Gauba and Gunjan Chhabra
laid the foundation of Adwitya Legal in 2015. It

Adwitya Legal is a distinct law firm providing a complete suite of services including Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
Corporate & Commercial Laws, transactional advisory, intellectual property, dispute Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
resolution, and arbitration effectively and efficiently and specializes in representing
major corporations with diverse business interests in India.

Adwitya Legal is based in New Delhi with an off-shore office in Bangalore. Its clients are Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
from differentspread across verticals including infrastructure companies, IT/ITES, Ed- Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
tech, real estate, food, retail, fashion, media, healthcare and more. Till date, the firm has
handled contentious and non-contentious issues in providing legal opinions as well as
dealt with multifarious arbitrations and litigations ranging from StartUps to Fortune 500
companies.

Founders’ Periscope
Aayushmaan Gauba

Aayushmaan Gauba is the Partner, Intellectual Property and Corporate Commercial

expert in the company. He initiated his career in 2011 with a Delhi Based Law Firm.
Aayushmaan is armed with LL.B. Degree from IP University. He switched gears to
litigation eventually and now has experience of about a decade in the field. He has Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
experience in working on multi-dimensional and complex litigation and intellectual
property matters.

Gunjan Chhabra

Gunjan Chhabra is the Partner, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration specialist inat Adwitya Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
Legal. She has expertise in diverse chamber practices, and law firms, she also worked Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
with a Delhi based law firm for 6 years. Thenceforward, she joined hands with
Aayushmaan Gauba at Adwitya Legal, LLP. Apart from being master in variant
commercial litigation, Gunjan Chhabra has developed a specialization in Domestic and
International Arbitration. She completed the LL.B top of her class from Amity, Delhi and
has also earned her master's degree. She is well-known and appreciated for her laborious
and objective attitude with an eye to detail while making any case strategy.

Aayushmaan Gauba and Gunjan Chhabra are the key partners of the firm and have been
spearheading the firm’s practice since inception. To perceive more about the firm and the
team, we interacted with both partners. Here are the edited excerpts of the interview. Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)

What inspired you to establish Adwitya Legal?

While working in law firms, we noticed that very few firms and individuals are offering a
holistic approach to law. It is the age of expertise, but no document or draft can be
prepared in a vacuum. The firm Adwitya Legal LLP was set up with this approach. The
firm now aims to have lawyers from different fields working and reviewing each
document so that no lacunae remain. This is especially advantageous for start-ups, who
cannot afford to miss out on any aspect of legal compliance or future challenges while
building their base.

Going to the next piece, what need have you felt which needs to be filled
– and what are those challenges for the law firms that jump out on their
own?
We believe that the most challenging proposition that law firms need to face is to retain
clients and keep moving forward in the face of wins and losses. we move ahead with the
approach that, If you lose the case, make sure you do not lose the client. If you lose a client,
make sure you do not lose the Court. If you lose the Court, make sure you do not lose your
conscience.

With this spirit, Adwitya Legal LLP has already won when it has been surviving and
thriving for more than four years when most law firms do not survive the first 6 months. Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)

Throw some light on the differentiating factors of Adwitya Legal.

Adwitya Legal LLP has the unparalleled selling point of presenting a holistic approach to
every problem, which a client might pose. We aim to arrive at a legal solution that
addresses the expectations of clients with the legal framework, without ignoring any legal
lacunae and future prospects. We start from making the Client’s business compliant,
offering structuring advice, drafting employment and business contracts, NDAs,
overlooking IP Protection as well as all possible stages of dispute resolution. We further
have a litigation arm that protects the client’s interest in case of any untoward breach of
contracts or legal and common law rights. Formatted: Font: (Default) +Headings (Cambria)

Does the law take turns from sector to sector? Do the legal questions
facing different industries differ and how do you take them on?
There are numerous nitigrities in law and legal compliances, which may differ from sector
to sector. Though law with a few exceptions does not differ from one industry to another,
it is actually how the law is applicable to changes. This changethose circumstances. To
give you an. Example, trademark law is the same for every one, but recently the
government has given some exemptions to start ups. It is in situations like these that we
have to be on top of our game while advising clients, particularly start ups. This change
also occurs because of the diversity in the technical and working facets of each sector. We Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
strive to understand the functions and technicalities of our clients and support them with
their legal issues.

What are your thoughts about the Indian legal system and its
problems?
We believe that the Indian Legal system is filled with umpteen numbernumbers of legal Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
luminaries and hardworking lawyers. Notwithstanding, the Indian Legal system is
definitely suffering from the issue of delays, which majorly arise due to complexities.
Here, if the process is made straightforward, it would definitely benefit the legal system.
Another difficulty that we see with the current approach is that a lot of the colonial era
practices are still alive, which in todays day and age have become redundant. One step
that the Hon’ble Delhi High Court has taken is to encourage e-filing of petitions that
atelast if nothing else is a noble step to save trees, by saving thousand of tons paper every
year. We have also started this initiative and are in the process of converting our office
into an e-office. Formatted: Font: (Default) +Headings (Cambria)

At the end of the day, every client doesn’t just want victory but needs justice, which implies
reasons for the causation of what is occurring.
What is your take on legal education in India?
There are two aspects of legal education that should be improved. First of all, there is athe Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)
need for a medium to encourage an out of the box thinking in young professionals and
the second one is to strengthen the youth with practical knowledge rather than
theoretical knowledge. We also believe that a residency programme for young lawyers,
similar to young doctors would be a brilliant step. Formatted: Font: (Default) +Headings (Cambria)

The plan and the roadmap for the days ahead

We are planning to expand at a sustainable pace. The goal is to keep learning new things
from a legal and an organizational perspective and to get better at tasks we are already
experts at.

What advice would you give law students and currently lawyers
aspiring to enter the start-upstartup world? Formatted: Font: +Headings (Cambria)

We advise young legal entrepreneurs to work non-begrudgingly. These long nights and
hard case researches will definitely pay off; move ahead with courage and do not fear in
taking risks.

Favorite Quote: Formatted: English (United Kingdom)

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Aayushmaan Gauba: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect Formatted: English (United Kingdom)
them looking backwardbackwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow Formatted: English (United Kingdom)
connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma,
whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the
confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well- worn path; and that Formatted: English (United Kingdom)
will make all the difference.” Steve Jobs Formatted: English (United Kingdom)

Gunjan Chhabra: “I may not approve of what you say, but I will defend theto death, your Formatted: English (United Kingdom)
right to say it” -Evelyn Beatrice Hall

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