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I am new to legallyindia.com. I love reading posts of Nandii Reywal, Legal Poet and Folly Nariman. All of them inspire me a lot. This is my first ever BLOG. So, since I am a newbie I request all to be lenient while commenting.    

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1st September, 2010

A total of 83 unique public votes are in. Most of them are Legal Poet's friends. Napster didn't join the PARTY so the votes are less. 

But for the bloggers the PARTY is about to begin because Legally Bindia doles the moolah to the blogger with the funniest post, the most helpful post and the best written post under his/her BELT.

Well, it seems that as we speak only Nandii Reywal is wearing a BELT, sitting somewhere in his ergonomically designed chair. Folly Nariman is 'not male' and belts are a bit too uncool for her. Legal Poet is out, playing a day-night cricket match in pyjamas. No belts for him either. SSS (with trishul as his symbol) is a worshipper of lord Shiva and prefers a leopard skin around his waist, specially during this time of day.

Congratulations to the clear run-away winner in each of the categories.

Judges ignored reader comments and the popular vote. A special technology was used where just as a judge was about to sneek into the comments or the votes section his computer would shut down. It was hard work (and annoying too). But an LPO owner and a law firm partner should be used to it by now.

Here are the results:

The Funniest Post Weekly Round-up: BARELYLEGALINDIA. COM/ ISSUE 1 Nandii Reywal.

Most Helpful Post Puppy Training: The ABCs Of a National Law University: Part I- Adjusting Legal Poet.

Best Written Post Positive Interaction and my Observations Folly Nariman.

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Ashish Alexander, a 2nd year law student at NUJS, Kolkata has won the IDIA Logo Designing Competition. Not only has Ashish given IDIA, its emblem; he has in the process also won the prize money of 5000/-. IDIA congratulates Ashish on his superlative effort.

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I have always been thrilled by entrepreneurs. The first entrepreneur I came in ‘virtual’ contact with was Sachin Malhan who was our legal aptitude mentor at LST and used to teach through VSAT sessions. Seeing him in real life always evaded me. Thankfully, he once came to NUJS for a talk on his entrepreneurial journey which I attended. I loved the talk. I also love to track the growth of his ventures: LST, Rainmaker and now Inclusive Planet.

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New Delhi

In a recent study conducted by KuttaLaw Group, the researches have found that 98% of dogs owned by law firm partners are overweight and underworked. 

“For example Mr. Ahuja who is a partner at Ahuja & Sons law firm owns Mutt, an English Mastiff, a breed which normally weighs at 80-120 kilograms. But Mutt weighs at an astonishing 150 kilograms”, said Billi Gupta, lead researcher at the KuttaLaw Group.

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All India Bar Examination

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Next time visit a prostitute, but only to fight their cause

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The title of this blog has been taken from a blog by GABE ACEVEDO published on an American legal tabloid, Above the Law. In the blog, the columnist talks about how Indian LPOs have been marketing the growth and benefits of outsourcing in American media and “trampling all over the US legal system”. Acevedo argues that the current tide in favor of Legal Process Outsourcing can be turned in two ways – by using social media and by offering a legitimate alternative.

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“Next time, the eleven of us are on a corporate deal, or fighting it out in the court; we’ll know that you don’t win till the scoreboard says so”.

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Hello to all, this blog which comes after along gap is the result of requests from some of my juniors to write a blog on sources of International Law (and this could be probably because those little lazy mutts might not want to make the notes of the topic themselves). So here have tried to make brief notes on sources of International Law, which could come handy for a quick revision, and also for interesting reading.  These notes are made after a sincere reading, apart from other works, from ‘A Modern Introduction to International Law’ by Michael Akehurst, therefore, the incidents of similarity in expressions are high.

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Hmmm. The million dollar question. What is an LPO exactly?!!!!. No one know that, some tell that its an outsourcing of legal work from western countries, some call it as global law firm which does paralegal work apart from the litigation... Folks i will tell u what it is :-). Its nothing but a center of over ambitious people trying to show that they have a niche hand over the laws of all countries and over all areas of trade which even the business tycoons might be scared to try out. They themselves are struggling to gain profits but they claim clients to get a million dollars in a short span of time. But the whites.."word used for the clients when they don't clear the bill on the time" show that they are far more advanced, not only in terms of development but also in terms of thinking process. They use all these LPO'S like their clerks which are paid minimal. The big LPO's are doing well because they are the part of US or UK law firms or else they are owned by corporate giants who don't have liquidity crunch. But the real sufferers are the small players who dream of going big. Even if the Legal Outsourcing market is blooming, most of the small LPO's are struggling to sustain.... What is the reason?????. Recession... na.....Less litigation abroad.. na... Its nothing but recognizing the type of work they have to do, which is not so niche but will fetch u million dollars. Thats why the companies doing Document Review projects are not suffering as compared to small companies giving Legal support to the big clients(whites:-)). A fresh law graduate joins a company thinking that he will make big but ends up managing the life with delayed salaries and mental trauma. But still they want to work hard because they have to meet their ends and support their families. So big players KOUDOS... and small fish just get out of the ocean , there are ponds for u... NO OFFENCE

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Scene: A hard-fought, electrifying, marathon litigation bout with drummers playing to the full volume to add to the drama.  The drummers stop when mediation begins. The litigators too are disappointed.

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Mumbai

Two associates of Indi Law Firm, Karan Johari and Yogesh Yadav  have entered the Guiness book of world records. Karan now holds the record for drinking the largest number of coffee cups in one day, while Yogesh has himself in the record books for maintaining a position of yogic trance for the longest time.

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Disclaimer: This is my final post. Disclaimer stays the same. No offence is intended to anything living, alive or metaphysical. Read in peace.

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Commonwealth games, the event that people have awaited since past couple of years with a strong belief that it will make India a stunning representative in the sphere of cultural togetherness and bonding through the combination and play of various sports with players coming from throughout the world. The Commonwealth is primarily an organization in which countries with diverse economic backgrounds have an opportunity for close and equal interaction. The primary focus of the Commonwealth is to create an atmosphere of economic co-operation between its member nations, as well as to promote democracy, human rights, and good governance in those nations.

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I started this blogging competition with a philosophical (attempted) post on law and life. I am ending the competition with some more on the same lines (just to make the exit a bit dramatic).

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The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) restrained MSM Discovery, a channel distribution company, from representing Viacom. Viacom 18 Media Private Ltd., Mumbai had filed a petition with the TDSAT alleging that MSM Discovery had materially breached, misrepresented and under reported the subscribers' base on MSM Discovery's distribution bundle in a deliberate, unfair and unfavorable manner.

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Gotcha!

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It’s been exactly a month since my last post. 

In the meantime, I have worked on and closed three multi-million pound deals, forgotten several important family birthdays, missed social events and temporarily lost the ability to tell which day of the week it is.

While in itself this is not particularly shocking, it inevitably leads me to the question- are corporate lawyers happy with the way their lives are turning out?

I asked around and while most of our ilk basks in the glorious sunshine of the corporate life, the few that are disgruntled have certain complaints.

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1. Ticket to Ride (Year: 1965; Album: Help!; Authors: Lennon with McCartney)

 Any journey to Dante’s Fourth Circle of Hell (Avarice and Prodigality) starts in law school where (without the services of Chris Nolan’s dream-inducing protagonist) the idea is planted in young, impressionable minds that picking up a corporate job is the ultimate mark of success in law school. The brightest, i.e., who land a job with Ramachand & Saunf are regarded with the sort of awe that was previously reserved for the dashing opening bat that knocked off a century in the first ten overs of the final house match. The mental picture painted is one of a room full of geniuses pulling ideas out of the proverbial hat to solve complex legal problems that would boggle the ordinary mind. Inevitably, one aspires to be the object of such reverence.

In most cases, however, what follows is disappointingly anti-climactic. As Folly Nariman points out in her entry Due Diligence and Dreaming Beyond It., the work can be desperately mind-numbing and after a while even the most enthusiastic worker is aware that he/she has been lured into and trapped in an Indonesian sweatshop. Upon identification of this fact, some quit pretty quickly and take up the fine arts. Others switch firms every couple of years hoping that they come across something that excites them. The rest grumble a bit about being sold a dummy pass, but decide to take one on the chin and continue on with the ride.

2. I’ll Keep You Satisfied (Year: 1963, Single; Authors: McCartney with Lennon)

Corporate lawyers are in a service industry wherein the retention of clients is a significant aspect. Fulfilling every little client whim and fancy is the corporate lawyer’s avowed goal and mission. If the lawyer doesn’t deliver to their exacting expectations, clients will simply up and go someplace else humming the Rolling Stones signature anthem. To guard against this, the corporate lawyer sleeps with one eye on his/her blinking red BlackBerry and when he/she buys a suit, he/she buys two jackets to go with it- one to leave on his/her office chair in the rare instances he/she goes home, just to make sure everyone knows he/she remains at their beck and call at all times.

3. A Hard Days Night (Year: 1964; Album: A Hard Day’s Night; Author: Lennon)

As a direct offshoot of my point above, it is a well known fact hours can be pretty bad at law firms leaving lawyers little time for anything else. As a result, law firms see some of the highest attrition rates across the board. In India, it is rumoured that a huge factor contributing to this is the conscious understaffing of law offices to boost profitability, the operating logic being the abundance of eager law graduates waiting and willing to step into the shoes of those who refuse to bear the donkey-load any longer. Each time, however, the fact being conveniently ignored is that the investment made by the firm in training these people is lost when they leave, thus exacerbating the understaffing issue and a pretty vicious cycle ensues. While conditions in the UK are slightly better, the billable hour centric law firm model ensures that associates keep their nose to the grindstone. From bonuses to appraisals to redundancies, it all comes down to the number of hours recorded.

Since the corporate lawyer bathes, brushes, eats, sleeps, prays and parties at the office itself, I am severely tempted to ask the question why they end up working a job they abhor to pay the rent for that fancy apartment they don’t even get to live in.

4. With A Little Help From My Friends (Year: 1967; Album: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band; Authors: Lennon and McCartney)

Any law firm worth its salt has a highly charged, competitive atmosphere. It’s what you get when you put a set of very bright, ambitious and politically astute people in an enclosed environment. A law firm isn’t a place for the lily-livered. The soft underbellies are identified early and slaughtered mercilessly. While Darwin’s survival of the “fittest” theory doesn’t quite fit the bill here (See Volenti "Non Fit" Injuria), Mario Puzo’s advice on chilling more with your enemies than your friends is practised widely. For example, since being slightly paranoid makes better lawyers, newbies are advised to be wary of each other, as a verbal slip during a night out drinking could make all the difference at the next round of promotions. Often, it does and life lessons of distrust are learnt.

5. When I’m Sixty-Four (Year: 1967; Album: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band; Author: Lennon)

A lot of corporate lawyers are now concerned about how they will feel when they take a look back at their lives. Ironically, it’s this maniacal self-obsession that makes them such great lawyers in the first place. Their main worry, of course, is that they won’t have too much in their biographies which will be rated PG-13. Few corporate lawyers (for no fault of theirs I might add) have had time for things like justice, making a difference and helping the disadvantaged. Bill Gates (who ranked 8^th as a “Hero of our Times”) and his humanitarian philanthropy, therefore, is now turning out to be a dangerous influence on corporate lawyers. 

Also, there are only so many pages over which one can stretch hostile takeover negotiations, irrespective of how brilliantly they may have been carried on.

6. Can’t Buy Me Love (Year: 1964; Album: A Hard Day’s Night; Author: McCartney)

The natural retort any semi-intelligent reader would have is why all the complaining when the corporate lawyer is paid so handsomely. Some would call it being hypocritical since the corporate lawyer was under no obligation to sell his/her soul. Undoubtedly, the argument has its merits, but as any self-respecting life guru will tell you a hefty bank balance will get you a titillating lap-dance but the nice lady won’t be waiting up to listen to you whine when you get home after a bad day.

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Admittedly, I probably fall on the more whiny side of things so my vision might be slightly skewed. But my limited survey tells me that I’m not alone.

Happiness, they sang, is a warm gun.

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The lawyer,nay,elf,

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"The legal profession in so-called advanced countries is a product of Industrial Revolution whereas in India it is a product of Independence Revolution"

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