Naik Naik and Company is a full-service law firm established in the year 2004. Naik Naik and Company’s core area of practice includes banking and finance, corporate and commercial advisory, intellectual property, litigation & arbitration, mergers & acquisitions, and private equity.
In a candid talk with Ms. Madhu Gadodia, Partner at Naik Naik and Company, let’s discover more about the firm and her journey towards prominence.
Tell us about Naik Naik and Company.
Naik Naik and Company has an unparalleled service in dispute resolution across all practices of corporate & commercial, intellectual property, private equity, restructuring & insolvency, technology, media, telecommunications, and white-collar crimes. The company has several high-profile clients in leading industries in the country.
The firm’s Dispute Resolution practice has peaked in the past few years. Within Dispute Resolution, we cover all practices ranging from white-collar crimes, frauds and scam-related litigations, disputes related to intellectual property, constitutional challenges, private equity, corporate commercial, bankruptcy, mergers, and amalgamations, amongst others. Naik Naik and Company’s practice has been very active in Delhi mainly due to the location of forums Supreme Court, NCLAT, CCI, TDSAT, APTEL, FCAT. Given our deep-rooted relationships with most senior counsels, we are fortunate to be guided by them from time to time.
Our International Arbitration expertise in key industry sectors such as oil & gas, real estate, infrastructure, and retail has enabled us to establish a robust presence in International Commercial Arbitrations in Singapore and London. In the banking and finance sector (including the NBFCs), we have been able to provide innovative and plausible solutions to our clients, to mitigate procedural bottlenecks.
Our corporate team is well versed in cross-border and global aspects of corporate practice. We handle inbound and outbound corporate clients who have involved us in their expansion stories. Over the years, they have generated exceptional revenue for the corporate practice of Naik Naik and Company. Similarly, the Private Equity and mergers and Acquisition sectors are growing.
Naik Naik and Company is known to be a preferred choice for Corporate and Commercial disputes given its vast experience in dealing with practical aspects of Corporate & Commercial Laws, especially concerning FDI and SEBI norms.
What were the initial challenges you faced?
We started our journey as one of the first few firms with a comprehensive media practice. While there was a first-mover advantage, we also faced issues as there were no ready templates and the sector was still evolving. One factor that has always worked in our favor, is the tremendous amount of hard work we put in legal research and familiarizing ourselves with sector-specific nuances. It was challenging to make a mark in a sector that was evolving, but all of us conjoined our synergies to make sure that we walk steadily on this unconventional path.
Another challenge we faced was to be typecast as a boutique media firm. The expanse of work we did in the media sector catapulted us as the top-notch firm doing all high-end and high-stake matters in the media space. But our capabilities were much larger. The phenomenal work is done by us in all the other practice areas including litigation, corporate advisory, banking & finance, real estate, etc.
Therefore, building a full-service law firm was not just a natural progression, but also a well-thought-out vision. Naik Naik and Company now swears by the amalgamation of industry focus and service lines. Our practice areas have substantially expanded to corporate transactions and dispute resolution in the areas of real estate, retail, oil and gas, hospitality, e-commerce to name a few.
Which was that point that triggered the growth of Naik Naik and Company?
Technology and emerging media led the growth of companies provided us with an opportunity to widen our scope of services in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication. The increased use of tech by businesses and individuals profited us with booming growth. We simultaneously grew our number of clients and also widened the knowledge and skills of our professionals vastly.
We swiftly evolved with the trends and today are extremely specialized in emerging areas like creation of digital platforms, e-commerce, content acquisition, distribution, exhibition, and IP advisory, advising some of the largest digital media players and leading international studios. Today, we cover the entire spectrum of services ranging from litigation to non-litigation, digital media, technology, and convergence. Our growth in the TMT sector provided us an opportunity to expand to several other practice areas such as Corporate and Real-estate.
What is the reason behind your firm’s long-standing success?
Naik Naik and Company believes the long-standing success of our firm is positively related to the efficiency of our human resources. We believe in strengthening our partnership by adding partners to create a more robust platform. We believe in encouraging and nurturing talent and equipping them with the necessary skill-sets to build their identity. We take pride in our pedigree, which has nurtured some of the finest lawyers and counsels of today’s generation. The varied nature of matters handled by Naik Naik and Company enables them to gain the practical exposure required in resolving complex legal issues.
What are the services Naik Naik and Company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?
We are a full-service firm that specializes in banking & finance, corporate & commercial advisory, intellectual property, litigation & arbitration, mergers & acquisitions, and private equity. We have been well recognized for our Media & Entertainment (M&E) practice and have excelled in Dispute Resolution across all sectors, mainly all litigations related to Corporate, Private Equity, and Frauds. We deeply understand sector-related technicalities and execute risk mitigation strategies before litigation.
We envision Naik Naik and Company to become a leader in the Litigation, International Arbitration, Corporate and Digital &Technology space within the next three years.
We have also diversified and served clients in the International Arbitration space and handled Shareholder disputes in the Oil and Gas sectors. Our success rate is close to 100 %, we have been a part of most of the significant matters reported in the last three years. In the space of International Commercial Arbitration, we handle a minimum of 3 arbitrations out of Singapore.
The differentiating point for Naik Naik and Company is our diversified knowledge in each industry sector and we believe the level of substance and gravitas in our advice is what sets us apart from our competition. Our Managing Partner, Mr. Ameet B. Naik, is very hands-on with all the mandates and matters; and all the Partners have been groomed also in the same way. Therefore, every mandate gets sufficient Partner time and there are several layers of ‘Quality Check’ through which a piece of advice flows, before reaching the client. We take pride in our quick turnaround time and the comfort with which a client can fall back upon us
What are the key achievements of your journey in the law and media sector?
I have been a known name in the Media & Entertainment sector, having represented some of the biggest individuals and brands. The fraternity reckons me as an expert in the field of Intellectual Property and her practice covers not only copyright but also all areas covered under IP including trademarks and patents. I have extensive experience handling multiple portfolios of work scattered across various fields including gaming and all facets of established and emerging new media.
I also handle Banking & Finance matters at Naik Naik and Company and have been representing some of the biggest Financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). I have had the privilege of handling some of the largest claims in Debt Recovery matters and fortunately, have been able to handle a lot of work under the Indian Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
I have advised over 500 film production and distribution deals; and have rendered legal assistance in the acquisition of film libraries and format rights, service agreements, licensing agreements, and technology related to intellectual property as well as E-Commerce. I have been instrumental in structuring complicated financing-cum-distribution deals, production and co-production deals for Bollywood production houses and Hollywood studios.
Besides the Supreme Court of India and High Courts across various states, key forums where I have been appearing include National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), and Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT). I have also had the experience of representing the Indian Broadcasting Federation, as well as the associations of television and film producers including IFTPC and IMPAA. It was a privilege for me to represent a leading broadcaster before TDSAT in its dispute with the distributor and Indian Broadcasting Federation in its challenge to certain provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957, and amendments thereto.
Given our international affiliations and our international footprint in terms of cross-border work and international disputes, we are gearing up to expand our client base internationally.
Some of the noteworthy clients represented by include the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Shetty, Shashi Ranjan, Viacom 18, T-Series, Tips Industries, Saavn, Phantom, Endemol, Creative Eye Ltd., Pen Films Ltd., Friday Film Works, Kwan, Bling, CA Media, Capital First and Reliance Broadcasting.
How do you look after your employees?
Naik Naik and Company invest a considerable amount of time to nurture our pool of talent and maintain positive energies within our team. The senior members of our firm take personal responsibility to mentor and groom the team members to become trusted advisors of the clients. We work by a principle were success–at–work and happiness–at–home are mutually inclusive. We encourage creativity and our ideals for our team rest on the three sines qua nonpillars of Teamwork, Trust, and Appreciation.
Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?
Naik Naik and Company have assisted two of the top ten conglomerates of the country in acquiring top existing players in the Digital Platform, Gaming Platform, and Talent Acquisition Platform. All the deals that we have orchestrated have been successful in protecting the clients’ interests owing to our understanding of the demand, supply, and other economic factors.
One person, who you admire the most?
In the legal fraternity, it would be Mr. Ameet Naik. Founder of Naik Naik and Company and our Managing Partner, Mr. Ameet Naik, is a visionary in the truest sense of the word. He is a knowledge powerhouse for any individual and his zeal, foresight, go-getter attitude, and aggression towards leading Naik Naik and Company are unparalleled. His enthusiasm and commitment have to lead to the firm’s immense growth and he has carved out a niche in the sector. I truly believe in one of the quotes he frequently orates – “Work comes to the worker”.
Work comes to the worker.
Mr. Ameet Naik
