+91 9833 55 98 52 / +91 99009 19429
We are:
- a law firm based in Mumbai, India
- focused on preventive law solutions through application of traditional legal skills, commercial acumen, process orientation and technology
- a team of skilled lawyers who have a good mix of law firm and in-house practice
Our Philosophy
We use fundamental principles of law to find effective legal solutions for key business issues and deliver them efficiently to our clients. This philosophy is at the heart of our practice and we never lose sight of the same. Here’s why:
- As legal professionals, we are expected to know and understand the law. The law in every country can be vast and complicated. This is much more the case for India which is a very diverse country having a plethora of laws, some of which are carry-forwards from pre—Independence days and have yet to be adapted properly for modern use. However, every law is based on certain fundamental principles that are timeless and can provide answers to ever-evolving issues. We focus on such fundamental principles of law to find answers to the trickiest issues faced by our clients.
- It is no longer enough for lawyers to just find the answers. It is also important to apply the answers with a practical and holistic approach in order to resolve the issues effectively. Using this approach, we navigate our clients through tricky legal minefields to help them implement the solution.
- In a fast-paced world, time is money. We recognise there could be constraints of time and cost when dealing with issues. We try to be both, time-efficient and cost-efficient when designing and implementing our solutions.
Our Partners
Basil Almeida
Founder & Managing Partner
Basil is the founder of Counsel & Co. He has more than 25 years of diverse legal experience spanning sectors such as legal services, IT, management consulting and manufacturing. Of these, he spent more than 10 years as the General Counsel of Geometric Ltd., a niche software products and services company, where he set up the legal department at the turn of the century. Under his stewardship, Geometric’s Legal Department was recognised with awards for “Best Use of Technology” and “Best Employer for In-house Counsel” in 2011 by a panel comprising top legal experts. Basil has worked as a commercial contracting practice expert with McKinsey & Co. and was a partner leading the employment law and commercial contracting practices at BTG Legal prior to founding Counsel & Co. Currently, he is also on the board of Lawmetrik Impact Solutions Private Limited, an Alternative Legal Services company, as a Non-Executive Director. When he is not busy advising on complex legal issues, Basil relaxes with movies, music and books. On the community service front, he works on trying to find solutions to the vexing problem of urban traffic congestion.
Guru Prasad Jagannatha
Joint Managing Partner
Guru Prasad has around 14 years of experience, almost all of it as in-house legal counsel in investment banking and IT sectors. He started his career as an associate with a brief stint at one of the country’s top law firms, AZB & Partners. At his next stint of close to 8 years in Goldman Sachs, he handled various commercial contracts and worked in the risk advisory group. He then joined Infosys Limited as a corporate counsel handling commercial IT and outsourcing contracts for the Europe region and then heading the legal team for the IMEA region. Prior to joining Counsel & Co, he was heading HCL’s India legal team for the software division. Guru Prasad believes in advising his clients with a solution-oriented approach with minimal risk exposure. He prefers to unwind after work by spending time with his two kids, enjoying a thriller or action movie or indulging in video games. He is an automobile enthusiast, with a keen interest in motorsports, and follows and plays other sports like cricket and football.
Our People
We have an excellent team of lawyers working in a location-agnostic mode. We provide all our lawyers with a supportive environment and tools to help them grow and develop all-round skills as business lawyers. Our lawyers work on a variety of assignments that are professionally challenging.
