Bangalore The Bengaluru-based law firm, which found itself at the center of a raging controversy after an unusual letter last week by venture capital firm Sequoia, is facing an exodus of employees worried about reputational damage, said three developments. are familiar with.
According to three former executives, at least 24 lawyers, including six partners, have left Algo Legal in the past two months.
People said the firm’s founder and Sequoia’s former general counsel Sandeep Kapur was also confronted by employees after the VC firm severed business ties with the organization in February.
“We learned about the unfortunate incident that happened to this startup in December,” said one of the three executives, a former partner at Algo Legal.
The man was referring to an incident in December when a Bengaluru-based startup told its board members, including a representative for Sequoia, that Kapoor had solicited business in an aggressive manner, prompting complaints at the VC firm’s US headquarters. Mint reported on June 6 that the incident, along with the result of a forensic investigation at Singapore-based Sequoia investment firm Zilingo, last week’s letter from Sequoia warned portfolio companies against working with the firm or its related entities. was given.
“While the news was not public, we heard it through the people of Sequoia and our network. Then we met Sandeep in February and asked for clarification. He had his own version of events, but it satisfies any of us. Or didn’t reassure. Six of us submitted our papers within the next few weeks, and over the past month, we all started negotiating a position with other law firms,” the former partner said. .
K Venkat Satyanarayana was the first to go in April, followed by Smita Goel, Ankit Guha, Namita Mathews, Tushar Thimiya and Abhinav Bhalik.
Mint could not ascertain how many partners it still had with Algo Legal, as the law firm removed all information related to its team from its website on Monday.
“No one wants to bear this reputational damage,” said a third executive, who is also a former partner at Algo Legal.
The developments in the past few months, especially the last week, have triggered a massive debate. First, Sequoia cautioned all of its portfolio firms against doing business with Algo Legal, making it more challenging for the firm to attract new talent, according to another former Algo Legal employee.
In a letter, Sequoia said it has decided to cut ties with Algo Legal and four other entities linked to Kapoor, including Quant Legal Tech India Pvt. Ltd., Themis Associates and affiliated firm, Onedelta Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and One Delta Synergies Singapore Pte.
It advised portfolio firms working with Algo Legal to alert their legal advisor, AZB and Partners, about the relationship.
Kapur founded Algo Legal in August 2019, five months after leaving Sequoia, to tap into the venture capital and private equity ecosystem besides startups. An e-mailed query to Kapoor did not elicit any response till press time.