The First Counsel

Advocates & Corporate Advisors — Pakistan

The modern legal partnerfor businesses.

Corporate, commercial, startup, employment, technology, and investment counsel for the companies building Pakistan — with disputes and arbitration in support.

Practice Areas Book a Consultation
Latest from the FirmAfter Incorporation: The First 90 Days of Compliance

What We Do

Built around the business.

For The BusinessEverything a company generates by operating: incorporation, contracts, employment, technology, tax, and the road to investment.All Practice Areas
Disputes & Defense — In SupportWhen matters harden: dispute resolution, arbitration, white-collar defense, and regulatory enforcement, carried by the same firm.The Disputes Practices

The Hubs

Answers first. Counsel when you need it.

For StartupsThe Startup Legal HubIncorporation, founder agreements, SAFEs, ESOPs, and the road to Series A — twenty working guides with checklists.Open the hub For HR TeamsThe HR HubContracts, handbooks, termination, harassment compliance, EOBI and payroll — seventeen guides for people operations.Open the hub For LeadershipThe Advisory HubGovernance, risk, compliance calendars, and the fractional General Counsel model — twelve guides for boards and CEOs.Open the hub

Selected Matters

The work speaks quietly.

  • 20—Advised the acquirer in the purchase of a majority stake in a Punjab-based food-manufacturing group, including CCP merger clearance.M&A
  • 20—Acted for a syndicate of banks on the restructuring of PKR —bn facilities extended to an energy-sector borrower.Banking & Finance
  • 20—Counsel to the sponsors of a — MW power project on concession, EPC, and financing documentation.Projects & Energy
  • 20—Defended a former public-sector executive in a NAB reference before the Accountability Court, — ; acquitted.NAB Defense
  • 20—Secured pre-arrest bail and subsequent discharge for a company director in an FIA banking-offences inquiry.FIA Matters
All Representative Matters

Illustrative of the firm’s practice areas; client names withheld or matters anonymized consistent with confidentiality obligations.

“Counsel is not a service. It is a duty owed to one client at a time.”

Insights

What we are writing.

BriefingAfter Incorporation: The First 90 Days of ComplianceThe tax, banking, filing and employment obligations that fall due in a Pakistani company's first quarter — sequenced, with the statutes that impose them.12 July 2026 · 7 min read
BriefingAnnual SECP Filings: A Plain-Language GuideWhat a Pakistani company must file with SECP every year, what only needs filing when something changes, and how the AGM date drives almost everything else.12 July 2026 · 7 min read
BriefingAre E-Signatures Legally Binding in Pakistan?Yes for most commercial documents, no for a specific statutory list — and the practical risk lies less in validity than in proving who clicked.12 July 2026 · 7 min read
BriefingBranch vs Subsidiary: How Foreign Companies Enter PakistanThree doors into Pakistan — liaison office, branch, subsidiary — and the permissions, tax treatment and exit mechanics behind each, compared side by side.12 July 2026 · 6 min read
All Insights

The Working Library

The law, as it changes.

InstrumentStatusOur note
Virtual Assets Regulatory Framework, 2025In forceOur note
Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010AmendedOur note
Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962In forceOur note
Punjab Defamation Act, 2024In forceOur note
Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025In forceOur note
Open the Legislation Tracker

People

The lawyers who answer.

Hasnain Ali Qureshi

Managing Partner

White-Collar Crime & Investigations · Mergers & Acquisitions

[Partner Name]

Partner

Private Equity & Venture Capital · Mergers & Acquisitions

[Partner Name]

Partner

Banking & Finance · Capital Markets

[Partner Name]

Partner

Projects, Energy & Infrastructure · Real Estate & Construction

All People

Find Your Counsel

The right lawyer, first time.

Every matter at this firm carries a named partner. Filter by practice and role to find the lawyer who answers your kind of question.

Clients & Partners

The company we keep.

Financial Services[With permission]
Energy & Power[With permission]
Technology & Startups[With permission]
Food & Consumer[With permission]
Textiles & Manufacturing[With permission]
Real Estate & Development[With permission]
Healthcare & Pharma[With permission]
Family Offices[With permission]

Client identity is itself a confidence. Names and marks appear here only with written permission; sectors stand in until they do.

The Office

Lahore

8th Floor, Askari Corporate Towers

Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

[TELEPHONE FORTHCOMING]

The firm's principal office: business-law counsel for companies and founders, and advocacy before the Lahore High Court, the courts of Punjab, and the regulators.

Visit or Write

Every matter begins with a first conversation.

Contact the Firm