Ashok Dhingra Associates equity partner Smita Singh has joined Singh & Associates to head its indirect tax practice as a partner in Delhi.
Singh commented in a press release: “With my expertise in indirect taxes, custom & trade, I hope to further strengthen the firm’s talented indirect tax practice team and best serve our clients’ needs.”
Singh & Associates founding partner Manoj K Singh added: “With Smita leading our indirect tax practice team now, we have reinforced our continued commitment to our clients in driving their regulatory requirements and resolving their legal hindrances, if any, and at the same time we have augmented our practice area.”
She is the latest of several lateral hires to join Singh & Associates this year, after nabbing Neeraj Dubey from Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (LKS) Bangalore and setting up a forensics team with an experienced management consultant, and L&L Partners principal associate Apoorve Vashistha as a partner designate.
Singh, a 2006 Delhi University law grad, had been elevated to equity at the tax and regulatory boutique Ashok Dhingra in 2015 by her and Ashok Dhingra.
Dhingra, a former J Sagar Associates (JSA) partner and tax chair, had in March of this year handed over the reins as managing partner to partner Sonia Gupta.
We have reached out to Gupta for comment about Smita Singh’s departure.
In April, Dhingra had told us: “I wanted to transition leadership role to next generation to let fresh air flow and young & dynamic leadership carry ADA to greater heights. In the last 2 years I had largely transitioned relationship with other professional firms to Sonia.
“Further, I wanted to focus on my practice area and training of team. In line with these thoughts, partnership during meeting on March 12, 2018 elected Sonia as next managing partner to takeover from me by April 1, 2020. Accordingly, Sonia took over from me during partners meeting on March 5, 2020.”
Back then, Ashok Dhingra Associates had three equity partners and a total of 7 fee earners.