Tech, media and telecom specialists—Indian law firms are searching for you

The race to hire senior partners specialized in the TMT space is fueled by India’s rapidly evolving data protection framework, rising cybersecurity breaches, and tightening privacy norms within corporations.

Law firms want to be prepared for cases arising due to sweeping regulatory changes, such as the promulgation of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, in August. Multiple petitions challenging the constitutionality of the law, which bans all online games involving monetary transactions, have already reached the Supreme Court.

The regulatory and financing challenges in the telecom sector are also creating new opportunities. For instance, troubled telco Vodafone Idea has sought government relief, while Reliance Industries’ telecom and digital arm, Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), is preparing for a public listing in 2026.

The heightened activity in the space has triggered a spike in mandates, from advisory work to high-stakes litigation, said Ranjana Adhikari, partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., who joined the firm in April from CMS Induslaw.

“There has been a marked uptick in mandates related to privacy and data governance over the past few years, driven by a rise in cybersecurity breaches and a growing culture of privacy within companies. Media and OTT (over-the-top) compliance is also highly active, particularly around content guidelines and advertising norms,” she said.

“Additionally, interactive media and online gaming are rapidly gaining traction, reflecting the evolving regulatory landscape and increased enforcement in these sectors,” she added.

Adhikari has previously worked with clients on digital rights, licensing agreements, production deals, brand endorsements and music licensing strategies—all of which are gaining importance in an increasingly regulated environment.

Deal-making to strategic advise

Lawyers also said TMT engagements are no longer limited to transactional work. “In the last 2-3 years, TMT client engagements have transitioned from mere transactional focus to deeper work: strategic advisory on compliance, risk, and innovation. For instance, our clients now prioritize strategic and board-level guidance on data and privacy issues, AI ethics and regulations, cybersecurity risks, and even geopolitical impacts,” said Kapil Chaudhary, partner at Dentons Link Legal.

Chaudhary, formerly executive president-legal and general counsel at online classifieds company Info Edge (India) Ltd, joined Dentons Link Legal in August along with Avisha Gupta and her team. Gupta, earlier with Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India, focuses on data protection, fintech, online gaming and e-commerce.

The numbers reflect the trend.

In the past two years, the Indian legal market may have witnessed the addition of at least 15-20 senior partners, specializing in TMT, across top firms, according to Chaudhary.

Several high-profile moves also underline the momentum. In June, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) hired Mihir Rale, former general counsel at Disney India, for its TMT practice. Rale has over two decades of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, legal strategy, and regulatory issues.

Future-focussed

Demand is no longer limited to tech-first companies. It is also coming from non-tech clients, including banks, hospitals, financial institutions and the government, which are increasingly leaning towards technology, noted Nikhil Narendran, TMT partner, at Trilegal.

“More work has been undertaken on data, cyber and AI implementation for clients. Product counselling is an active part of the TMT practice. Increasing government scrutiny over the operations of technology companies has also expanded the scope of the TMT practice,” he said.

As regulations reshape industries, law firms are gearing up to advise clients on new business models as well. “We are going to see future-focused firms bringing engineers, scientists, and attorneys into one coordinated unit to advise across patent strategy, copyright, privacy, trade secrets, licensing, commercialization and litigation,” Chaudhary said.