Latest news with #Trilegal
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
I-T Bill 2025: Relief for corporates on dividend taxation, LLP AMT burden
The New Income Tax Bill, 2025, has introduced significant amendments in corporate taxation, aimed at simplifying compliance and providing greater certainty to businesses. A key concern of double taxation on dividend income has been addressed, alongside clarifications on the Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) for LLPs, inter-corporate dividend deductions, and the concept of 'beneficial ownership'. 'By removing the restrictive clause that would have denied refunds for belatedly filed returns and refining provisions akin to Section 79 by omitting the 'beneficial owner' reference, the Bill reduces potential litigation and enhances clarity. The restoration of inter-corporate dividend deductions for companies opting for concessional tax rates further strengthens the framework,' said Abhinav Sogani, VP & Global Tax Head, Tata Consumer Products. The draft Bill had initially appeared to withdraw deductions for inter-corporate dividends for companies under the concessional 22% tax rate, raising fears of cascading taxation in multi-tier structures. 'The final Bill corrects this by allowing such companies to claim deductions on dividends received from domestic companies, foreign companies, or business trusts—provided the dividends are onward distributed. This is critical in preventing double or even triple taxation of the same income and supports efficient capital flows,' noted Aditi Goyal, Partner, Tax Practice, Trilegal. For the FMCG industry, Sogani said, the reforms bring simplicity and legal certainty, enabling faster growth and reaffirming the government's commitment to a transparent, business-friendly environment. On LLPs, the clarification has been welcomed by industry. The draft Bill tabled in February had suggested that AMT at 18.5% would apply to all LLPs, even those not availing any tax holidays or deductions. This would have effectively nullified the concessional 12.5% rate on long-term capital gains and weakened LLPs as an investment vehicle. The revised Bill confirms that only LLPs availing specified deductions will be subject to AMT, restoring parity with the current framework under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Bill also resolves ambiguities around shareholding continuity under clause 119, which governs carry-forward and set-off of losses. The draft's use of the phrase 'shall continue to be the beneficial owner' had raised concerns about uninterrupted 51% shareholding between the loss year and set-off year. According to Goyal, the final Bill clarifies this by prescribing a point-to-point comparison between two dates and by reverting to the established phrase 'beneficially held,' thereby avoiding any unnecessary look-through to ultimate individual shareholders.
Economic Times
12-08-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
AI suits are here
ETtech Top legal firms leaning on GenAI tools are cautiously ushering in a radical reform of the profession as they wean away the traditional practice of billing clients by the hour to value delivered services. The legal sector, generally considered slow to adapt, is now actively experimenting with AI. While concerns around confidentiality, billing model, and hallucination persist, Indian law firms are mapping a careful path. This combination of human judgment and machine intelligence could reshape the economics and efficiency of legal practice, provided clients are willing to evolve with it. The transformation is not immediate. However, the growing role of AI in routine legal tasks such as contract drafting, document summarisation, and due diligence is beginning to challenge the very foundation of time-based billing. Partner of Mumbai-headquartered law firm Trilegal Nishant Parikh is seeing tangible improvements in due diligence tasks by using tools like Lucio. 'We follow a mix of hourly and flat-fee rates,' he said. 'Clients want faster results but aren't always willing to pay more. The market is still anchored to time spent. But ideally, I'd want value-based billing to become the norm.' Some firms are going further. Khaitan & Co. has developed its own AI platform, KAI (Khaitan & Co. AI), with tools like and for internal research, drafting, and workflow automation. 'Faster analysis and automated document parsing are already showing results,' said Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner. 'But it's still early to attribute billing changes solely to AI. We remain flexible in our structures, but our current billing still depends on complexity, practice area, and client needs.'Firms are clear on their stand that 'AI is an assistant and not a replacement'. 'The 'lawyer in the loop' model is fundamental,' Khaitan emphasised. Kartik Ganpathy, founding partner at IndusLaw, also believes AI brings efficiency but not necessarily savings, at least not yet. 'The technology comes at a cost. Clients expect us to deliver faster, but they're not willing to pay more. We're not seeing profit margins increase yet, but maybe in 4-5 years,' that may allows only experienced lawyers to use GenAI tools, citing prompt quality as a key factor. 'You need at least 2-3 years' experience to get the best results from these tools,' he said. 'About 50-60% of larger firms already use GenAI tools, at least to some extent. 'These tools have been tested thoroughly,' according to Parag Srivastava, partner at Bombay Law Chambers. While BLC is still in the early stages of GenAI adoption, the firm recognises the potential. 'Due diligence has been streamlined massively. But billing models are still hybrid, a mix of hourly, flat, and blended fees. We'll only see a shift to value-based billing if clients see measurable gains.' ButAI hasn't yet moved the needle significantly on profitability. 'We don't make much on diligence work,' Parikh admitted. 'Margins are still very, very low.' Finally, client-side adoption will be the real game changer. 'Right now, there's fixed pricing for some GenAI-driven tasks, which makes sense. But once clients start associating AI with better outcomes, not just faster ones, we'll see serious movement toward value-based billing,' said Vasu Aggarwal, cofounder, Lucio, a widely adopted GenAI legal platform. 'The next 12 months are crucial. The Indian market is way ahead of its Western counterparts in GenAI adoption. If that momentum continues, pricing based on value delivered might become a competitive necessity,' added Aggarwal. 'Lucio is a horizontal legal AI platform but adapts vertically to specific needs,' said Aggarwal. 'The most prominent use cases are drafting and due diligence.' GenAI tools like Lucio can cut task time by up to 90% or 20% depending on the type of task. 'If drafting took 75 minutes before, it now takes 15. Summarising a document that took 40 minutes can be done in 10.'While AI hasn't been transformational yet, it's rapidly gaining traction, including in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.'Adoption will take its natural course,' said Aggarwal. 'Once that happens, the shift toward value-based billing will follow. Right now, there's no uniform model, but the mindset is changing.' Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. As 50% US tariff looms, 6 key steps that can safeguard Indian economy As big fat Indian wedding slims to budget, Manyavar loses lustre Why are mid-cap stocks fizzling out? It's not just about Trump tariffs. The airport lounge war has begun — and DreamFolks is losing Stock Radar: UNO Minda eyeing fresh 52-week high in next few weeks; check target and stop loss for long positions Buy, Sell or Hold: Antique recommends buy on Siemens; Avendus upgrades SBI to Buy post June quarter results Stock picks of the week: 5 stocks with consistent score improvement and upside potential of up to 25% Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus
Time of India
12-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
AI suits are here
ETtech Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills ETtech Top legal firms leaning on GenAI tools are cautiously ushering in a radical reform of the profession as they wean away the traditional practice of billing clients by the hour to value delivered services. The legal sector, generally considered slow to adapt, is now actively experimenting with AI. While concerns around confidentiality, billing model, and hallucination persist, Indian law firms are mapping a careful path. This combination of human judgment and machine intelligence could reshape the economics and efficiency of legal practice, provided clients are willing to evolve with it. The transformation is not immediate. However, the growing role of AI in routine legal tasks such as contract drafting, document summarisation, and due diligence is beginning to challenge the very foundation of time-based of Mumbai-headquartered law firm Trilegal Nishant Parikh is seeing tangible improvements in due diligence tasks by using tools like Lucio. 'We follow a mix of hourly and flat-fee rates,' he said. 'Clients want faster results but aren't always willing to pay more. The market is still anchored to time spent. But ideally, I'd want value-based billing to become the norm.'Some firms are going further. Khaitan & Co. has developed its own AI platform, KAI (Khaitan & Co. AI), with tools like and for internal research, drafting, and workflow automation.'Faster analysis and automated document parsing are already showing results,' said Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner. 'But it's still early to attribute billing changes solely to AI. We remain flexible in our structures, but our current billing still depends on complexity, practice area, and client needs.'Firms are clear on their stand that 'AI is an assistant and not a replacement'. 'The 'lawyer in the loop' model is fundamental,' Khaitan emphasised. Kartik Ganpathy, founding partner at IndusLaw, also believes AI brings efficiency but not necessarily savings, at least not yet. 'The technology comes at a cost. Clients expect us to deliver faster, but they're not willing to pay more. We're not seeing profit margins increase yet, but maybe in 4-5 years,' that may allows only experienced lawyers to use GenAI tools, citing prompt quality as a key factor. 'You need at least 2-3 years' experience to get the best results from these tools,' he said. 'About 50-60% of larger firms already use GenAI tools, at least to some extent. 'These tools have been tested thoroughly,' according to Parag Srivastava, partner at Bombay Law Chambers. While BLC is still in the early stages of GenAI adoption, the firm recognises the potential. 'Due diligence has been streamlined massively. But billing models are still hybrid, a mix of hourly, flat, and blended fees. We'll only see a shift to value-based billing if clients see measurable gains.' ButAI hasn't yet moved the needle significantly on profitability. 'We don't make much on diligence work,' Parikh admitted. 'Margins are still very, very low.' Finally, client-side adoption will be the real game changer. 'Right now, there's fixed pricing for some GenAI-driven tasks, which makes sense. But once clients start associating AI with better outcomes, not just faster ones, we'll see serious movement toward value-based billing,' said Vasu Aggarwal, cofounder, Lucio, a widely adopted GenAI legal platform.'The next 12 months are crucial. The Indian market is way ahead of its Western counterparts in GenAI adoption. If that momentum continues, pricing based on value delivered might become a competitive necessity,' added Aggarwal. 'Lucio is a horizontal legal AI platform but adapts vertically to specific needs,' said Aggarwal. 'The most prominent use cases are drafting and due diligence.' GenAI tools like Lucio can cut task time by up to 90% or 20% depending on the type of task. 'If drafting took 75 minutes before, it now takes 15. Summarising a document that took 40 minutes can be done in 10.'While AI hasn't been transformational yet, it's rapidly gaining traction, including in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.'Adoption will take its natural course,' said Aggarwal. 'Once that happens, the shift toward value-based billing will follow. Right now, there's no uniform model, but the mindset is changing.'
Mint
31-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Non-competes fail to protect CXOs from poaching. India Inc. builds a stronger shield
As the non-compete clause fails to protect senior executives from poaching and worthy replacements remain elusive, Indian companies have found a deterrent to keep senior executives tethered: extended garden leaves. Clients are inserting a garden leave clause in new contracts and also extending the duration of such a period that requires an executive who has quit to be on the rolls but without any responsibility, according to law firms and human resource consultants. Investment banks, consultants, startups and law firms alike now include such conditions. 'When we talk about negotiating terms, everyone is constantly talking about non-competes. But let's be very honest–non-competes are largely not enforceable worldwide," Apeksha Mattoo, partner-labour and employment law practice, Trilegal, told Mint. 'So, what approach are companies looking at instead? Longer garden leave periods." The period, according to Mattoo, can extend from six months to up to a year. During the garden leave, a CXO who has resigned gets full salary but does not have access to the company's emails and data, and doesn't attend meetings and client interactions. The executive wields no influence over teams so that the company and employees can transition to the new appointee. Above all, it's to deter rivals from poaching top executives tied to lengthy garden leaves. A senior executive at one of the largest consulting companies told Mint that one of his key personnel who resigned had a six-month garden leave, and the company is insisting that he must serve the entire period, rejecting his request to leave a month earlier. 'We used to consider such requests earlier and, in most cases, accepted them because one wanted to part on good terms," the executive told Mint on the condition of anonymity. 'But getting a replacement is so tough that we are stretching the candidate, hoping he reconsiders." CXOs and the next-in-line are hesitant to switch jobs, making replacement hiring arduous. Subdued appraisals amid global uncertainties and poor demand outlook have made candidates anxious that the last man in will also be the first one out. 'Given the sensitivities attached to senior management exits and the potential risks, companies are becoming more cautious and making the contracts more watertight when it comes to aspects around poaching clients or employees or having access to sensitive information," said Roopank Chaudhary, partner and head of data consulting at Aon. Unlike notice period that is part of a company's rules, garden leaves are subjective, and terms may vary with each CXO. Garden leave is mostly applicable to the top brass, aiming to create a buffer between the employee and the company and its clients. For CXOs, the notice period may be included in the garden leave. However, at the junior to middle level, the employee is expected to work, hand over duties, and train the replacement during the notice period that may last up to three months. Buyouts with mutual consent Legally buying out the garden leave period is possible, provided it's negotiated between the existing employer, the employee, and the new employer. Mutual consent is a must and may include financial compensation to the current employer for waiving full or part of this requirement. In India, employers can seek an injunction against the breach of garden leave obligations under the terms of the employment agreement and relevant provisions of the Indian Contract Act. Garden leaves are often discussed between the firm and the employee, and while the importance of intellectual properties does not diminish in a lean firm, negotiations remain an option, said Rohit Jain, managing partner at law firm Singhania & Co. 'The high cost of paying a non-productive executive's salary during leaner economic times is definitely a significant factor," said Jain. 'We are seeing that negotiations are getting more common and at times, companies are even trying to negotiate a lump-sum settlement that is less than the full salary cost, allowing for a quicker and cleaner exit." Jain said the flexibility depends on the perceived risk to the business, citing an example. Singhania & Co. was the legal adviser to the acquisition of an auto ancillary company. The deal terms provided that the incumbent CXO would remain in the position during the initial post-acquisition integration phase. 'Upon the conclusion of this agreed-upon service period, the employment contract granted our client the sole discretion to place the CXO on a three-month garden leave," said Jain. 'The intent behind providing this optional clause was to provision for a strategic buffer, allowing our client to protect sensitive business interests, client relationships…" Executive search firms say the preference for garden leave means the waiting period to get the right CXO is getting longer. 'Companies have 3–6 months of garden leave, and for the right candidate, the client is willing to wait," said Navnit Singh, chairman and regional managing director at Korn Ferry, India. 'But the Big Four in some cases are mandating a one-year garden leave," he said, referring to the four largest audit and consulting firms KPMG, EY, PwC, and Deloitte.
Business Wire
01-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Trilegal employs Intapp Time to enhance timekeeping practices with AI-powered automation
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intapp (NASDAQ: INTA), a leading global provider of AI-powered solutions for professionals at advisory, capital markets, and legal firms, announces that law firm Trilegal is now live on Intapp Time. The firm is using Intapp Time to enhance its timekeeping practices and enable more efficient work processes for its professionals. Leading change As one of the leading law firms in India, Trilegal is committed to consistently enhancing client service excellence, attracting exceptional talent, and driving sustained firmwide growth. The firm takes a strategic and thoughtful approach to technology adoption, prioritizing transparent, rules-based systems that enable both the firm and its lawyers to operate more efficiently and profitably. Aligned with this commitment to innovation, Trilegal is automating and refining its timekeeping practices to improve data accuracy and better inform business decisions. 'Trilegal has been a pioneer in digital technologies, thanks to its significant strategic investments over the years,' said Avnish Kshatriya, Ph.D., Chief Digital Officer at Trilegal. 'We have been focusing not only on adoption but also on setting industry benchmarks. Our commitment to offering our lawyers a superior user experience and data-driven insights and automation on cloud-native platforms is integral to our digital transformation roadmap. Intapp has proven to be a valued partner in our pursuit of technology-centric innovation in key business processes of the firm.' 'At Trilegal, we see technology as a critical enabler of legal service excellence,' said Nikhil Narendran, Partner - Technology, Media and Telecom, Trilegal. 'Our objective has always been to equip our lawyers with tools that enhance efficiency, improve client satisfaction, and allow them to focus on high-value work. The adoption of Intapp Time reflects our continued focus on innovation — streamlining time capture, enhancing accuracy, and reinforcing the data insights that guide our strategic decisions.' Enhancing timekeeping Intapp Time is an efficient, intuitive solution that lets Trilegal's partners and professionals accurately record and submit detailed accounts of time spent on each matter. With highly configurable templates and seamless integration with financial and practice management systems, teams can easily streamline timekeeping processes and increase timecard accuracy. Flexible timekeeping methods and Applied AI also help the firm's professionals recreate their days, adhere to client requirements, and minimize missed and under-recorded effort. Adopting a more user-friendly, compliance-forward approach to timekeeping removes friction from billing processes, reduces billing disputes, and increases both client satisfaction and the firm's topline revenue. Advanced reporting and dashboards help Trilegal's leaders accurately evaluate engagement resources and track time against budget to optimize utilization and profitability. 'We're thrilled to help a large firm like Trilegal move to the cloud as part of their digital transformation journey,' said Laura Saklad, Legal Industry Principal at Intapp. 'Using AI-powered data capture, Intapp Time lets the firm's lawyers focus on important client matters, reduce time spent on administrative tasks, and ensure that the value of work performed is reflected on client bills.' About Intapp Intapp software helps professionals unlock their teams' knowledge, relationships, and operational insights to increase value for their firms. Using the power of Applied AI, we make firm and market intelligence easy to find, understand, and use. With Intapp's portfolio of vertical SaaS solutions, professionals can apply their collective expertise to make smarter decisions, manage risk, and increase competitive advantage. The world's top firms — across accounting, consulting, investment banking, legal, private capital, and real assets — trust Intapp's industry-specific platform and solutions to modernize and drive new growth. For more information, visit and LinkedIn. About Trilegal Trilegal is a leading full-service law firm in India with more than 25 years of experience, trusted for its in-depth expertise and client-centric approach. The firm advises a diverse set of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, global investment funds, major Indian conglomerates, domestic and international banks, technology and media giants, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. With more than 140 partners operating under a distinctive lockstep model, Trilegal is the largest equity partnership in the country. The firm retains more than 1,100 professionals across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Gurugram offices. Trilegal has consistently been recognised among India's top-tier firms in leading legal directories such as Chambers & Partners (Asia Pacific and Global), Legal 500 Asia Pacific, and Benchmark Litigation. It has also earned several prestigious accolades, including being named Best Overall Law Firm by India Business Law Journal (IBLJ) in 2025, Innovative Lawyers in Disputes & Crisis Management at the Financial Times (FT) Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards in 2025, M&A Firm of the Year by IFLR Asia-Pacific in 2024, Law Firm of the Year by Deal Volume at the VCCircle Awards in 2024, India Deal Firm of the Year at the Asian Legal Business (ALB) India Law Awards , and Best Law Firm to Work by Vahura in 2022.
