Commercial documentation, drafted by an advocate
The offices, practices and businesses along R C Dutt Road, Race Course and Alkapuri need a different class of document from the walk-in trade: agreements that will be relied on, sometimes litigated, and that need to have been drafted by someone who has seen how they fail.
- Partnership deeds, reconstitution, retirement and dissolution — with the exit mechanism actually written down rather than left to goodwill.
- LLP agreements, and the supplementary agreements when partners or capital change (Form 3 with the MCA within 30 days of incorporation).
- Employment, appointment, service and consultancy agreements.
- NDAs and confidentiality agreements.
- Commercial rent and leave-and-licence agreements for offices and showrooms — permitted use, GST on rent, lock-in, fit-out and reinstatement, assignment on a sale of the business.
- Franchise, distributorship, dealership and agency agreements.
- Loan agreements, guarantees and indemnity bonds.
- Board resolutions and authorised signatory documents for banks, GST and the MCA.
- Tender and e-procurement declaration sets — non-blacklisting, turnover, EMD, conflict.
See the full list of business agreements →
Post-employment non-competes are largely unenforceable. Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 makes an agreement in restraint of trade void, subject to a statutory exception for the sale of goodwill and certain partnership restraints. Restraints operating during employment stand on far better ground; the case law on non-solicitation is mixed. We will draft what has a realistic chance of being enforced rather than what sounds strong in a meeting.
Training bonds must be a genuine pre-estimate of cost. An amount plucked from the air reads as a penalty and courts treat it accordingly. Tie it to documented training expenditure and it has a chance of being enforced.
We see memoranda of understanding that are full contracts and memoranda that are worth nothing, both called the same thing. And if the MOU concerns immovable property and possession passes, section 17(1A) of the Registration Act, 1908 brings registration back into the picture.
Cheque bounce and recovery
The commercial belt also brings the other side of contracts — money that has not been paid. A statutory demand notice under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 runs on strict timelines — the demand notice within 30 days of your receiving the bank's intimation of dishonour, 15 days for the drawer to pay, and the complaint within one month of that period expiring — and has strict content requirements. A defective notice ends the complaint before it starts. Drafted and, if it proceeds, prosecuted here. Court matters →
What you can get done in one visit
- e-Stamp paper — Government authorised centre, CSC ID 136237240013, issued on the spot with a verifiable certificate number.
- Drafting in Gujarati or English by an advocate of 35+ years.
- Notarisation — affidavits and oaths, attestation, true copies, signature verification, certified translation.
- Court matters where the document is not the end of the story.
- Attendance at your address where someone cannot travel.