Surana and Surana

Surana & Surana International Attorneys
No. of offices 1
Date founded 1971
Founder P.S. Surana & Leela Surana
Company type Partnership
Website
http://www.lawindia.com/

Surana and Surana International Attorneys is among the top law firms in India [1] with over 70 lawyers and consultants. Surana & Surana[2] was established in 1971, when co-founders PS Surana & Leela Surana set up practice. It is the largest & best known law firm in South India.[3] In 1987 they got their first international case to represent a large Indian exporter in a dispute before an Italian court. Since then, this firm has continued to build a strong international practice and were ranked among the Top 10 Law Firms in India in 1999 by Legal Business, UK & Business India. In 2009, the firm moved into its modern six storey building in Chennai's central business district. It is the World’s first ISO 14001 & SA 8000 (2004) certified law firm and Asia’s first ISO 9002 certified law firm (1998).[4][5]

Surana and Surana also hosts the Surana and Surana Moots, which is among the oldest, largest, and most prestigious moot court project in India open to students from India & SAARC countries (for international moots). The moots are administered digitally through its unique web portal moot.in in a transparent manner. Since the mid-90's every year the law firm Surana and Surana International Attorneys, has hosted, administered & sponsored over a hundred moot court competitions in partnership with India's leading law schools.

Founders & Partners

Chennai, India

After four decades of successful practice the founders are now full-time mentors to the firms professionals.

Notable International Representatives

Practice Areas & Clients

Practice areas include Arbitration, Corporate, Corporate Compliance, Civil & Criminal Litigation, Infrastructure, Intellectual Property, Legal Risk Audit & Advisory, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate, Direct Tax & Indirect Tax. The firm represents clients from various sectors including automotive, defence, electronics, engineering, entertainment, finance, FMCG, health care, Information Technology and infrastructure. Their clients include Muruggappa Group, Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India, American Consulate, Hyundai Motor Company, Mahindra & Mahindra, Renault, Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor Company, Isuzu Motors, Force Motors, Merrill Technologies, Amdocs, Dorma, HCL Technologies, TAFE, Lotte, Twinings, Future Group, Nippon Steel, Trimble, Schwing Stetter, Freshdesk, ARCIL, Tata Chemicals, Tata Capital, Chennai Metro Rail Limited, Olam International and Deutsche Bank.

Countries represented include Australia, Bangladesh, China, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkey, UAE, U.K., USA, Vietnam, among many others.

Network - International and Domestic

The firm is part of international networks of over 400 mid-sized law, accounting, consulting and off shore services. This provides immediate access to high quality, prompt & personalised professional advice across jurisdictions. The firm is also member of various National and International professional bodies, Chambers of Trade & Industry.

Seminars & Conferences: The firm regularly sponsors/ holds seminars & conferences with major corporations, govt. bodies, trade & industry associations , etc. In 2012 the firm along with International Finance Corporation co-sponsored a CII Seminar on the Latin American Region.[6] The same year it sponsored a CII Seminar on Indigenisation & Offset Opportunities comprising the Indian Air Force -Industry Meet. It regularly lends infrastructure support to various trade & industry bodies like , CII,[7] CII-YI, TiE, MMA amongst many others.

Case Study & Model for Sustainable Development

This was the only Indian Law firm among the eight Asian firms to be featured as a case study in the best selling book "Developing a Profitable Practice In Asia" published in 2010. The study (titled "Surana & Surana - An uncommon law firm: Principles before profits") speaks about the firms professional success, unique value systems, contribution to development of legal education and its various welfare activities and its vision for the future.

Surana & Surana sustainable development is a unique model propounded by Dr. Vinod Surana in 2004. The model highlights that as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) becomes increasingly important in today's economy , a law firm should closely work an international ADR centre. With talent being critical, the law firm will need to work with a world class law school. Lastly, as technology "commoditises" more & more legal processes, a law firm must work closely with an efficient LPO centre. This compact self-sustaining ecosystem is designed to improve quality, reduce cost, deliver quickly & generate employment

Contribution to Industry

International

Till date the members of the firm have led many CII & FICCI delegations of Indian Businesses and Government Leaders to several countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. In 2007 Dr. Vinod Surana, was part of the Prime Minister's delegation to Japan. In 2010 he was part of the FICCI-IIFA delegation to Sri Lanka. In 2011, a 60 member business delegation led by the Vice-President of Uruguay H.E Senator Mr. Danilo Astori was hosted by the firm at its headquarters in Chennai.[8][9][10] The firm is committed to strengthening Indo-Latin American cultural & economic relations as per Government of India's South-South policy to engage with countries in the southern hemisphere. In 2012 the firm signed an MOU with the Province of San Luis, Argentina, to promote bilateral trade, investments & cultural relations and extended support to set up a trade office in their premises. The firm has supported the San Luis Government in Argentina to set up a trade office in its premise to help promote bilateral trade between both regions. The center was inaugurated by H.E. Mr. K. Rosaiah the Governor of Tamil Nadu in the presence of H. E. Claudio Poggi, the Governor of San Luis and Mr. Walter Padula, San Luis' Minister of Industry, Trade, Transport and Mining.[11]

The firm has hosted business delegations from a number of countries and is known for facilitating both foreign as well as domestic investments. It's highly rated Global Fellowship Program is popular among international law & business students for short & long-term internships

1) India & Argentina - Strategic partners in Industry and business with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 2010 covering comprehensive guide to trade, tax, legal issues between India and Argentina. This was released in the presence of R. Viswanathan, Ambassador of India to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay

2) Uruguay – India Report on trade and investment links (Key economic indicators and bilateral relations) along with CPA Ferrere (Uruguay) - 2010 released by Uruguayan parliamentary delegation in Mumbai Forewords BY: H.E. Mr. R. Viswanathan, Ambassador of India to Argentina, Uruguay & Paraguay and H.E. Mr. César Ferrer, Ambassador of Uruguay to India. The second edition was released in 2011 by H.E Senator Mr. Danilo Astori during his visit to Chennai.

3) Quick guide to investing in India 2011 Comprehensive Indo-LAC guide with legal, economic & practical information for entrepreneurs wishing to invest in India.

4) International Convergence Regulations: A comparative study and recommendations for India- 2008. Cutting edge research and analysis of over 300 pages, on the convergence of entertainment, media, communications and the internet and its impact on the regulatory environment which, at that point of time, had separate regulations for each sector

Domestic

Senior members from the firm hold important positions in industry associations & professional bodies like International Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR) - Ministry of Law & Justice- Government of India, Indian Society of International Law (ISIL), Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Madras Chambers of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) , Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Institute of Directors (IOD), Institute of Internal Auditors (IID), Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) India-ASEAN-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IASCCI), Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ,Indo French Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IFCCI), Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Indo South American Chamber of Commerce & Industry(ISACCI).

Yellow Box

The firm has an online light and refreshing e- newsletter "Yellow Box" aimed at bringing IP related updates, stories, opinions and much more with a circulation of over 8000 worldwide . The "Yellow Box" is read by attorneys and non-clients showcasing the intellect of Surana & Surana. Contribution to yellow box is by industry leaders, leading attorneys among others. Web Link: http://yellowbox.pro/index.aspx

Awards & Recognition

Corporate Social Responsibility

As a policy since inception the law firm contributes a minimum of 20% of its profits every year towards CSR.

Supporting Academics

Inspired by Hon’ble Mr. Justice V R Krishna Iyer and set in motion by our founder & mentor Shri P S Surana , the firm since mid-1990's administers, sponsors & hosts the Surana and Surana Moots, an initiative which is by far the largest program in the world by any law firm. Having conducted over a hundred and ten moot court competitions( till 2013), in partnership with India's leading law schools covering various emerging areas of law. The firms contribution to developing advocacy skills among generations of Indian law students has been widely acknowledged.

The firm organises, administers & sponsors the Surana & Surana essay & judgement writing competitions covering various areas of law like Corporate Law, Criminal Law, Environment & Energy laws, Social Justice & Public Empowerment and Technology in partnership with India's leading law schools.

The firm every year gives through partner institutions the Surana and Surana Gold Medals for • Toppers in legal education. • Subjects like Criminal law, Corporate law, Constitutional law, Human Rights & International Law. • All round performance based on academics, research & publication, community service, sports, leadership skills & the like.

The firm provides need based scholarships to about 350 students every year to students from the primary level to post graduate level including at School of Excellence in Law (SOEL), Chennai

The firm has instituted endowment lectures since 1987 on socio-legal-political topics with premier educational institutions. Prominent lectures being The Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture & Father Jerome D'Souza Memorial Lecture.

The firm regularly hosts, organises & sponsors seminars, conferences & workshops in partnership with various chambers of commerce, industry bodies & law schools across the country. Members of the firm speak regularly at various industry chambers & professional bodies.

The firm has built a customised hostel facility to accommodate over 65 visually challenged orphan girls[18] pursuing higher education.

Pro Bono

The firm provides free legal advice and representation to various social, charitable and educational institutions including Non-Government Organisations such as Ability Foundation, Bihar Association, Indian Institute of Animal Welfare, Jaipur Foot , Mukti Foundation, Pestalolzzi Trust, Punjab Association, Sri Shudd Hadwaita Vaishnav Mahasahaba , Arya Samaj, etc. The firms lawyers regularly lecture at various law schools, professional bodies & industry associations. Public Interest Litigations on issues affecting human rights, animal rights, environment, heritage are supported by the firm.

Founder Mr. P. S. Surana appeared before the parliamentary committee for review of meat exports (RS link) on behalf of the main petitioner Jain Acharya Shri Vijay Ratnasundarsuri and as petitioner no. 2 (link). This landmark report published on 13.02.2014 accepted the contentions of the petitioner and recommended for a thorough review of the meat export policy in addition to giving several far reaching directions concerning the environment, health & human rights.

Community Development

The firm is committed to development of legal education, supporting animal welfare, environment preservation and has continuous ongoing projects for distribution of food, clothing and medicines for several years now.

References

Further reading

ISBN 978-1-907787-18-8 [1]

External links

  1. ↑ https://www.ark-group.com/downloads/asia.pdf
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