Stephen Mathias

Stephen Mathias is the Partner in charge of the Bangalore office of Kochhar & Co. He also co-chairs the firm's Technology Law Practice, the first of its kind in India.

Stephen is a graduate of the prestigious National Law School of India University where he did an Honours degree in Arts and Law. He is also a British Chevening Scholar and has done a diploma in European and English Law at the College of Law York and worked briefly at a leading law firm in London. He is also a solicitor on the rolls of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Stephen began his career working in the Tax and Regulatory Division of multinational accounting firm Arthur Andersen, doing mergers and acquisitions, foreign investments, joint ventures, securities law and strategic investment work.

Stephen represents some of the world's largest information technology companies and his work involves setting up software development and BPO centers in India, software licensing, e-commerce and outsourcing.

He is a leading expert on legal issues relating to outsourcing to India and has spoken at many conferences in India and abroad on the subject, including conferences organized by the International Technology Law Association, the American Bar Association and the International Federation of Computer Law Associations (IFCLA).

Stephen has been rated by PLC Which Lawyer as the Leading Lawyer in India for Information Technology and E-Commerce work for many years and is listed by Asia Pacific Legal 500 as one of the Leading Names in the Indian Legal Profession for IT and Telecom work. He is listed in the International Who's Who of E-Commerce Lawyers, the Guide to the Worlds Leading Technology, Media and Telecommunication Lawyers and Intellectual Asset Management magazine’s the World’s Leading Patent and Technology Licensing Lawyers.

Stephen was selected by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the largest chamber of commerce in India, as one of India's Young Achievers to meet and interact with British Prime Minister, Tony Blair during his visit to India in 2003.

Stephen is active in representing international companies in doing acquisitions in India and is a leading M&A lawyer in the technology industry in India. He also has experience of doing acquisitions relating to public listed companies in India. Another area of expertise for him is venture capital investments.

Stephen’s leadership of the firm's Bangalore office has seen it being rated by Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a top tier law firm in Bangalore for corporate and commercial work for the last 10 years and as co-chair of the firm's Technology Law Practice, has seen the firm being rated by several journals as the leading TMT practice in the country including about half a dozen awards in 2011-12 itself.

Chambers & Partners states: Stephen Mathias wins plaudits for his "responsive, clear-thinking and hard-working" approach. Clients describe him as a top-notch practitioner with particular expertise in TMT-related matters.