Nishith Desai Associates has appointed Chintan Vaishnav in Boston and Ritika Patni in New York as part of its expanding US operations, reinforcing the firm’s three-decade commitment to multidisciplinary, business-focused expertise over pure legal credentials.
Vaishnav joins as a futurist and techno-policy strategist, bringing his experience as mission director of Atal Innovation Mission at NITI Aayog and chair of the Startup20 Engagement Group during India’s G20 Presidency. The MIT PhD will guide AI governance and strategy consulting engagements.
Patni, based in New York, leads the global legal strategy consulting practice. A former Linklaters corporate lawyer turned Columbia MBA and wellness entrepreneur, she brings Fortune 500 consulting experience from Alvarez & Marsal to NDA’s boardroom advisory practice.
The appointments continue NDA’s pattern of recruiting professionals whose primary expertise lies outside traditional law. The firm’s leadership includes surgeon-turned-lawyer Dr. Milind Antani, engineer Vaibhav Parikh, and AI PhD Mihir Parikh—reflecting what founder Nishith Desai calls the “4D model of Practice–Industry–Leadership–Skillset expertise.”
“Chintan’s expertise in technology, policy, and academia, and Ritika’s cross-border experience in law, entrepreneurship, and consulting, strongly reinforce our 4D model,” said Desai.
The US expansion reflects broader trends as Indian law firms seek to serve clients’ global ambitions while American companies increase India engagement. NDA’s research-based approach and policy expertise position it distinctly in cross-border technology and regulatory work.
The firm now operates across nine cities, from Mumbai to Silicon Valley, with the Boston and New York hires strengthening its North American strategic consulting capabilities.
