Naina Krishna Murthy is the Founding Partner of K Law. She started her career with Arthur Anderson followed by a stint as the in-house Counsel at Biocon. Naina founded K Law in 1999 in Bengaluru; under her leadership and guidance, K Law today is a full-service Indian law firm with 85+ lawyers in offices at Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai. Naina is based out of the Mumbai office.

Naina has been practicing law for 24 years and specializes in corporate commercial law, specifically mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations and PE/VC investments. Naina is also a trusted legal advisor to some of the foremost corporates in India.

Naina is on the Board of several leading organizations, including the Universal Business School. She has co-chaired the Infosys Grievance Redressal Board for five years. In addition to that, she has been on committees of various companies involving sexual harassment complaints. Some of these companies are Novartis India Ltd; Mphasis Ltd; McAfee Software India Pvt Ltd; GE India Technology and British Telecom, among others.

Naina has represented eminent Indian and overseas clients on their operations in India and abroad, such as L&T, Ryerson Steel, Reliance Industries, and Dell Engineering Services, and she has been appointed as the external Ombudsman of SB Energy, a Softbank company. She has authored many articles and white papers on topics including Trade and Renewable Energy.

She has also served as director with companies such as National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd. Currently, she is an Independent Director of Sterling and Wilson, and she is on the board of Bajaj Energy Ltd since March 16, 2019, and IndoStar Capital Finance Ltd since February 5, 2018.

Awards and Recognition

• Recognised as “Managing Partner of the Year” in ALB Women in Law Awards 2023

• Recognised as India Business Law Journal’s ‘A-List’ of India’s top 100 lawyers, 2016, 2017 & 2022

• Leading Lawyer for Corporate and M&A, and Recommended Lawyer for Private Equity and Investment Funds, for India by The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, 2023

• Leading Lawyer for Corporate and M&A, and Recommended Lawyer for Private Equity and Investment Funds, for India by The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, 2022

• Recognised as Top 10 Most Dynamic Entrepreneurs in 2021-22 by The Indian Alert and featured in ANI and INDIA TODAY

• Honoured with ‘Woman of Excellence’ award hosted by Indian Achievers’ Forum, 2022

• Recognised as ‘Female Lawyer of the Year 2022 – India’ by ACQ5 GAMECHANGERS™ Global Awards 2022

• Recognized in the Forbes India Legal Powerlist 2021 in the Top 50 Managing Partners in the “Above 10 Years’ experience” category as well as the Top 100 Individual Lawyers in the “Above 10 Years’ experience” category

• Recognised as one of the Super 50 Lawyers in India by Asian Legal Business (Thomson Reuters), 2021

• Winner of Client Choice Awards within the category of Healthcare in India by Lexology, 2021

• Featured in the Managing Partner Roundtable by Asian Legal Business (Thomson Reuters) in its December 2020 edition

• Honoured with ‘Woman of Excellence’ and ‘Business Leadership’ awards hosted by Indian Achievers’ Forum, 2020

  ‘Notable Practitioner’ for Corporate / M&A by Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific, 2019

• Recognised as ‘Most Influential Woman in M&A Law’ by APAC-Insider, 2016

• ‘Market – Leading Lawyer’ for Corporate / M&A by Asialaw Leading Lawyers, 2016

• ‘Leading Practitioner’ for Corporate / M&A by Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific, 2016

• Honoured with ‘Woman Leadership Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship’ by CMO Asia Awards, 2013

• Named ‘Woman Lawyer of the Year’ by Legal Era Awards, 2013

• Featured in Entrepreneur India magazine, March 2013 edition

Testimonials

Rohan Thacker (Deputy Vice President – Legal – Tata Capital Financial Services)
They are very responsive to clients’ requirements and knowledgeable in their respective areas. Thacker commends Krishna Murthy for her availability and personal involvement when necessary.

Anonymous (RSG 2017)
Naina is highlighted for being a ‘very enthusiastic and proactive leader’ who ‘drives her team heard’. Also described as someone who ‘works towards getting a solution’ for clients.

Krishnamurthy Vijayan (CEO – TNIFMC Ltd.)
Naina Krishnamurthy leads a team of excellent lawyers who have guided me and my team since 2015. Naina has an excellent grasp of the nuances of corporate law, regulations surrounding our interface with the Government which is a crucial part of what we do in infrastructure finance. Having worked with us on a wide variety of sensitive initiatives in affordable housing on our world Bank assisted project, the fleet modernisation and related asset monetization) project with the Transport Corporations, agreements to use but not alienate forest land etc., I have found her and K-law an excellent resource. With speed, accuracy and knowledge, her services as a lawyer are invaluable in “getting it right”. I would certainly recommend her for the Award.

External Member of Committees

Naina has wide experience as an external member of committees of large multinational corporates for guidance on handling various matters including whistle-blower complaints. Some of these include:

SB Energy – External Ombudsman of the company.
Infosys – The Grievance Redressal Board: Co-chair for five years.
L&T Finance – Complaints Committee.
Novartis – Complaints Committee.
Bharati-AXA – Complaints Committee.
OML – External Committee.
Mphasis Ltd – Sexual Harassment Committee.
McAfee Software India Pvt Ltd – Sexual Harassment Committee.
GE India Technology – Sexual Harassment Committee.
British Telecom – Sexual Harassment Committee.