Recognizing Legal Finesse and Accomplishments and Celebrating the Continuous Pursuit of Legal Excellence
The 14th Annual Legal Era Indian Legal Awards shone the light on the stars of the legal industry, unearthing their singular talents and contributions to the business
The opulence of Hotel ITC Maurya, New Delhi, formed the backdrop of the 14th Legal Era Indian Legal Awards 2025 organised by Legal Era – Legal Media Group on April 26, 2025. The Awards – graced by independent practitioners, General Counsels, In-house Counsels, Lawyers from various law firms, business professionals and promoters of companies – feted excellence, innovation and significant achievements in the legal universe.
The awards saw the who’s who of the Indian legal fraternity in attendance with Honourable Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, Judge, Delhi High Court as the Chief Guest for the evening and Dr Manoj Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India and Dr Lalit Bhasin, President, Society of Indian Law Firms, as the Guest of Honour.
In the leadup to the Awards, hundreds of submissions were painstakingly and impartially appraised by an eminent group of judges to arrive at a core list of awardees who personify exemplary capabilities and accomplishments over the course of 2024-25.
Our distinguished Jury was helmed by Chairperson Justice Dipak Misra, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and comprised Arjan Sikri, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India; Justice Deepak Verma, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India; Gourab Banerjee, Senior Counsel; Rajiv Dutta, Senior Counsel; Sidharth Luthra, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Ashok Raizada, Chairman, Legal Era – Legal Media Group; Hemant Kumar, Group General Counsel, L&T Group; Arpita Sen, Head of Business Legal, Associate General Counsel, Intel India; and Sameet Gambhir, Vice president (Corp. Law) & Company Secretary, DCM Shriram Limited as its members.
Awards were conferred in four distinct segments namely Best Law Firm of the Year – Practice focus, Best In-House Team of the Year, Best Individual Lawyer of the Year, and Premier League Awards for Law Leaders.
Since their inception till date, the Legal Era Indian Legal Awards have evolved into a sort of gold standard for the legal fraternity. It would be no exaggeration then to say that they have grown in stature to become one of the most credible, coveted and venerated Awards in the industry. Not to mention the invaluable leverage they afford in terms of opportunities for growth and innovation.
As the illustrious evening drew to a close, Dr Bhasin lauded Legal Era’s continuing efforts towards leadership, professional excellence and service. He reiterated Legal Era’s commitment towards the betterment of the legal profession, society and nation as a whole even as he renewed the group’s promise to return with another unprecedented edition of the Awards next year.
Here is the list of these winners in the “Premier League” segment of awards.
|
CATEGORY |
WINNER NAME |
|
Leadership Excellence Award for Continuous Growth As a In-House |
Susheel Jad, President & General Counsel, AGP City Gas Private Limited |
|
Leadership Excellence Award for Continuous Growth As a In-House |
Sormistha Ghosh, Group General Counsel, Chief Risk & Sustainability Officer, Strides Pharma Science Limited |
|
Sutradhar Award of the Year for Law & Policy Initiatives (In-House) |
Debolina Partap, Sr. Vice President Legal and Group General Counsel, Wockhardt Ltd |
|
Legal Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution & Excellence in the Field of Construction Disputes |
Ratan K. Singh, Senior Advocate |
|
Senior Counsel of the Year |
Geeta Luthra, Senior Advocate |
Here is the list of all the winners in the “Individual – In House” segment of awards.
|
CATEGORY |
WINNER NAME |
|
Young Achiever of the Year (42 Yrs & Below) |
Prateek Sharma, Director-Legal & Compliance, Fractal Analytics Private Limited |
|
In-House Compliance Lawyer of the Year |
Sanjeev Sachdeva, Chief Legal Officer, Elan Group |
|
In-House Lawyer of the Year – Strategy & Governance |
Tapan Chauhan, Deputy General Counsel and General Manager – Legal, Pernod Richard |
|
In-House Lawyer of the Year (Overall) |
Roopa Vikram, Deputy General Counsel, ITC Limited |
|
India General Counsel of the Year |
Archana Gupta, Vice President – General Counsel and Ethics and Compliance Officer, Capgemini India and ME |
|
– |
Zameer Nathani, Group General Counsel, CarDekho Group |
|
Global General Counsel of the Year |
Sanjukta Kulkarni, Executive Vice President & Global General Counsel, LTIMindtree |
Here is the list of all the winners in the “Individual – Law Firms” segment of awards.
|
CATEGORY |
WINNER NAME |
|
Young Achiever of the Year (Law Firm 42 Yrs & Below) |
Ankita Kashyap, Founding Member and Partner, ThinkLaw |
|
– |
Pankaj Agarwal, Founder, Pankaj Agarwal & Associates |
|
Lawyer of the Year – Real Estate |
Sadhav Mishra, Partner, Head of Real Estate, SNG & Partners |
|
Lawyer of the Year – Intellectual Property |
Hari Subramaniam, Founding & Managing Partner, Subramaniam & Associates |
|
Patent Lawyer of the Year |
Hemant Singh, Founder and Managing Partner, Inttl Advocare |
|
Lawyer of the Year – Private Client |
Rajesh Narain Gupta, Founder and Chairman, SNG & Partners |
|
Lawyer of the Year – Intellectual Property & Artificial Intelligence |
Pravin Anand, Managing Partner, Anand & Anand |
|
Lawyer of the Year – Merger & Aquisition ( Deal Maker of the Year) |
Ashwath Rau, Senior Partner, AZB & Partners |
|
Lawyer of the Year – Banking & Financial Services |
Amit Aggarwal, Managing Partner, SNG & Partners |
|
Managing Partner of the Year |
Nishant Parikh, Managing Partner, Trilegal |
|
– |
Sridhar Gorthi, Managing Partner, Trilegal |
Here is the list of all the winners in the “In-House” segment of awards.
|
CATEGORY |
WINNER NAME |
|
Banking & Financial Services Legal Team of the Year |
CITI Bank |
|
Pharma Legal Team of the Year |
Bayer CropScience Limited |
|
Healthcare Legal Team of the Year |
Wockhardt Ltd |
|
FMCG Legal Team of the Year |
ITC Ltd |
|
Food & Beverages Legal Team of the Year |
Coca-Cola |
|
IT In-House Legal Team of the Year |
Microsoft Corporation (India) Private Limited |
|
Manufacturing Legal Team of the Year |
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd |
|
Alco Beverages Legal Team of the Year |
Pernod Ricard India Private Ltd |
|
Retail Legal Team of the Year |
Reliance Retail |
|
Honorary Mention |
Lifestyle International Private Limited (Landmark Group) |
|
Textiles & Apparel Legal Team of the Year |
PDS Limited |
|
Real Estate Legal Team of the Year |
Elan Group |
|
Infra & Energy Legal Team of the Year |
Adani Enterprises |
|
PSU Legal Team of the Year |
Oil India Limited |
|
E-Commerce Legal Team of the Year |
Nykaa |
|
Innovative Legal Team of the Year |
Games 24X7 |
|
Corporate Governance Team of the Year |
Samvardhana Motherson International Limited |
|
Legal Team of the Year – (Small Size Less Than 20 People) |
Fractal Analytics Limited |
|
– |
Cube Highways and Transportation Assets Advisors Private Limited |
|
Legal Team of the Year – (Mid Size More Than 20 People) |
Jones Lang Lasalle Property Consultant (India) Pvt Ltd |
|
Legal Team of the Year (Overall) |
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd |
|
In-House Legal Team of the Year for Innovation, Strategies & Continuous Growth |
Strides Pharma Science Ltd |
|
India Legal Team of the Year |
Tata Steel Ltd |
Here is the list of all the winners in the “Law Firms” segment of awards.