An All-Round Legal Eagle

Zulfiquar Memon is part of the team defending the Tatas in their courtroom battle against Cyrus mistry, but he also has a mind for the quirky cases.

- Samar Srivastava

WHEN THE BOARDROOM battle between Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, and ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry spilled over to the courts, the former forged a legal team from among the best in the country. There was the ace corporate law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and renowned litigator Raian Karanjawala. The Tata camp also roped in the up and coming Mumbai law firm MZM Legal.

Representing it was 39-year-old Zulfiquar Memon—son of the celebrated criminal lawyer Majeed Memon—who has had an eclectic career that included directing plays. As a young lawyer, with an LLB from the Government Law College, Mumbai, Memon had spent many evenings in his father’s home chamber and noticed the huge “information asymmetry” among clients as to how the criminal justice system operates.