
PLG Firm in Focus: King Stubb & Kasiva, India
King Stubb & Kasiva joined PLG towards the end of 2021. They have offices across India. Being the most recent firm to join PLG they are the perfect choice for the first in our new series of member firm profiles.
Could you summarise the history of the firm?
King Stubb and Kasiva was established under the exemplary leadership of Mr. Jidesh Kumar, (Managing Partner), and Mr. Rajesh Sivaswamy (Senior Partner). Jidesh is the visionary founder, who, in 2005, along with his classmate Mr Rajesh took a leap of faith in themselves and started King Stubb & Kasiva (“KSK”). The early 21st century for first-generation lawyers meant scanty exposure, lesser scope of networking and so on. However, none of these deterred them from embarking upon this journey together.
Today, KSK is a full-service law firm in India, with offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Pune & Milan (Italy), with 120+ professionals. We, inter alia, assist multinational companies, banks, private equity and venture capital funds, and financial institutions in India. Our delivery of legal services is supported at both the individual office level and through various firm-wide Practice Areas viz., Litigation and ADR, Commercial Transactions, Corporate, Regulatory and Allied Laws, Labour & Employment, Tax (Indirect and Direct), Customs & Trade, Intellectual Property Rights, Infrastructure, Power& Energy, M&A, VC & PE and Capital Markets.
Why do clients choose KSK?
Our firm is focused on our client’s request for an exceptional legal service model that provides value. We understand that, for clients, value is not a mere hourly rate comparison. Value means efficient processes for efficiency, tracking and reporting; creative approaches to reducing legal risk; enhanced cost certainty; and RESULTS.
Our PAN India and cross-border capabilities, including our ability to work on multi-jurisdictional transactions, are the distinguishing features of our practice. Our credible work has led to repeat business and engagement across multiple businesses under the same group and has helped us grow our clientele organically by way of references as a consequence of the trust we built with our existing clients. This is a testament, to the high degree of service and quality, for which we have become known in the industry. Which is precisely why clients choose KSK.
How do you define a successful result?
A successful result for a lawyer always means gaining their client’s trust and satisfaction. This almost never refers to the commercial aspects of an engagement. It is often in the form of the increased scope of work and engagement than what was initially discussed; an urgent opinion delivered well before the time that saved their money being invested in the wrong project and so on.
For us, a successful result means, when a client that initially engaged with the firm for a limited scope of work, extends it, within months after the first interaction with the team.
What makes KSK different to others?
The firm has developed a unique service delivery model, that enables us to serve client requirements across 900+ locations in the country. This ability, combined with the competency of the lawyers in the firm, has enabled us, to garner several marquee clients, over the years. King Stubb & Kasiva’s lawyers have an extensive understanding of the issues, that involve corporate affairs, information technology, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, cyber security, data privacy, encryption, dispute resolution, arbitration and other related matters. We have grown exponentially to be one of the top and fastest-growing law firms in India, which advises several clients, from domestic as well as international markets.
What do international clients find the most challenging when they approach doing business in India?
In most cases, the laws of the land, business compliances, employment regulations and so on are matters that international clients do not want to delve deep into, but would rather want to be taken care of by local experts. This is more so when the client is doing business in a country such as India where the regulations may vary depending on the state and central laws. It also comes as no surprise that finding the right legal expert within a country, as large as ours, for every legal query is quite challenging.
This is where KSK’s diverse and expansive service model stands out in comparison to its competitors. Be it any practice area, ranging from Real Estate to Mergers and Acquisitions, our team is able to assist our clients with all their needs irrespective of the geographical location they intend to set up their business.
What do employees value about KSK?
Law might be considered a noble profession in India, but most law firms are criticised for the legal profession’s notorious work culture and lack of work-life balance. We recognize this need among our team members, and strive to create a healthy workplace that respects every team member in terms of their mental health and work-life balance. We believe such values have attracted the right talent and have also helped us retain the best of our team.
If you organise a team building/motivation event, what sort of things do you do?
Our team building/ motivation events are always surrounding the idea of understanding team spirit, and we focus on working towards improving it constantly. Activities such as these are conducted during our weekly mental-health breaks, and also during the yearly team-building trips.
What does it take to go from being a good lawyer to an excellent lawyer?
Any successful lawyer would say that consistency and hard work are what go a long way, however, we strongly believe health is wealth, with specific emphasis on mental well-being; we believe our success is a direct consequence to the values and culture we try to cultivate within our work space.
Could you pick three words which summarise the KSK values?
Integrity, Trust and Dedicated