Indian law firm Trilegal has continued its hot hiring streak in 2023 with the addition of the year’s fourteenth lateral partner of the year – and the second within a week – in the form of corporate governance expert Sampath Rajagopalan, who returns to the firm from EY in Delhi.

Sampath will focus on corporate governance and compliance matters for the firm, now 114-partner Trilegal said in a statement.

Most recently, a partner and national leader at Big Four accounting firm EY, Sampath has significant experience advising on governance, compliance and transactional matters, advising boards and committees of large listed companies, REITs, InvITs, private companies, and LLPs.

He interacts with and manages boards comprising leading industrialists in the country, placing him in a unique position to provide legal advisory tailored to commercial priorities, the firm said in a statement.

Sampath previously joined Trilegal in 2008 and helped set up the firm’s governance and compliance practice, before moving to EY.

His move back to Trilegal comes as the firm is seeing an “increasing demand for corporate governance and compliance specialists” in the market, Yogesh Singh, head of the firm’s corporate practice, said in a statement.

The return of Sampath, Trilegal now has notched up 14th lateral partner hires this year, with the 13th, corporate partner Rachita Bhat joining from S&R less than a week ago.

The others include nine partners from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, including eight partners in one go, and disputes experts Milanka Chaudhury from Dentons Link Legal and Tanmay Patnaik from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

The firm also hired Adani’s head of litigation, Payel Chatterjee, in Mumbai.