Aayushmaan Gauba & Gunjan Chhabra: Two enthralling Attorneys, Partnered For Progress
Aditya Legal is a team of expert lawyers who are practicing par excellence and resolving conflicts and legal disputes both in the Country and across borders.
Indian law has straightened out from religious prescription to the modernistic legal system we have today, traversing through the secular legal systems and the common law.
These days, we have a hybrid legal system with an amalgamation of civil, common law, and customary or religious law within the legal framework. It was inherited from the colonial era, and multifarious legislation first introduced by the British is still effect in modified forms.
After independence, the legal system emerged as a compulsory element of the world's largest democracy and an important pillar in the battle to secure the constitutional rights of people.
However, 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 the intent to tackle the needs of people and make 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.
Aditya Legal is a distinct law firm providing a complete suite of services including Corporate & Commercial Laws, transactional advisory, intellectual property, dispute resolution, and arbitration effectively and efficiently, and specializes in representing major corporations with diverse business interests in India.
AdwityaLegal is based in New Delhi with an off-shore office in Bangalore. Its clients are spread across verticals, including infrastructure companies, IT/ITES, Ed-tech, real estate, food, retail, fashion, media, healthcare, and more.
To date, the firm has handled contentious and non-contentious issues in providing legal opinions as well as dealt with multifarious arbitrations and litigation ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
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 an 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 experience in working on multi-dimensional and complex litigation and intellectual property matters.
Gunjan Chhabra is the Partner, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration at Adwitya Legal. She has expertise in diverse chamber practices and law firms, she also worked with a Delhi-based law firm for 6 years.
Thence forward, she joined hands with Aayushmaan Gauba at Adwitya Legal, LLP. Apart from being a master in variant commercial litigation, Gunjan Chhabra has developed a specialization in Domestic and International Arbitration.
She completed the LL.B 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 for 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 its inception. To perceive more about the firm and the team, we interacted with both partners. Here are the edited excerpts of the interview.
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 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 that 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, makes 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.
Throw some light on the differentiating factors of Adwitya Legal.
Aditya 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 prospects.
We start by making the client's business compliant, offering structuring advice, drafting employment and business contracts, and 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.
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 integrities 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 applies to those circumstances.
For example, trademark law is same for everyone, but recently the government has given some exceptions to startups. It is in situations like these that we have to be on top of our game while advising clients, particularly startups.
This change also occurs because of the diversity in the technical and working facets of each sector. We 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 numbers of legal luminaries and hardworking lawyers. Notwithstanding, the Indian Legal system is suffering from the issue of delays, which majorly arise due to complexities. Here, if the process is made straightforward, it would benefit the legal system.
What is your take on legal education in India?
Two aspects of legal education should be improved. First of all, there is the need for a medium to encourage 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 program for young lawyers, similar to young doctors would be a brilliant step.
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 organizational perspective and to get better at tasks we are already experts in.
What advice would you give law students and current lawyers aspiring to enter the startup world?
We advise young legal entrepreneurs to work begrudgingly. These long nights and hard case research will pay off; move ahead with courage and do not fear taking risks.
