The firm was founded in Mumbai’s financial district in 1930 by two law university friends and highly respected lawyers, Ambubhai D. Desai & Kisonlal M. Diwanji. Ambubhai and KMD had a unique relationship which embodied the true spirit of partnership – with plenty of camaraderie, collaboration, mutual respect and hard work.

Over the decades that followed its establishment, the eponymous firm of Ambubhai & Diwanji had a thriving practice in litigation and real estate, representing many of India’s leading business houses of the time and some of Bombay’s largest property developers. As corporate India grew through the 1980s and beyond, the firm took on a leading role as one of India’s foremost corporate and commercial law firms.

Post the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, the firm’s practice continued to grow and evolve, keeping pace with India’s changing socio- economic landscape. Today, Desai & Diwanji (so renamed in 1991) has cemented its place as one of India’s premier full-service law firms, advising governments, multilateral organisations, multinationals, large domestic corporates, private equity firms, venture capitalists, investment funds, financial institutions, banks and high net worth families across industrial sectors and practice groups.

The spirit of partnership fostered by our founding partners together with our dedication to prioritising client satisfaction through an innovative, customised, practical and solution-oriented approach, remains the bedrock of the firm and continues to inspire our lawyers to work in cohesive (and often inter - disciplinary) teams to offer legal services of the highest quality to our clients.