LegallyIndia.com

"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." The old saying that can be illustrative in the career success stories of many women, and perhaps few places more so than of female lawyers at the Bar.

"As far as Ashurst is concerned, I'm very happy with where we are today," says the firm's India group head Richard Gubbins. For a lawyer who is just about to shut down an office he has helped build and defend for 15 years, he does not sound upset at all. Is he just putting a brave face on things or is the firm secretly glad to be rid of what had turned into an expensive millstone?

"Law was often looked at as a marriage degree - three years in law, then you get married," recalls AZB founding partner Zia Mody about women's views of a legal career 30 years ago. Since then law firms have gradually fought the profession's gender bias, arguably more successfully in India than abroad. But there is still a long way to go.

After two months of travels through Maharashtra and Goa, ALMT Legal partner Hitesh Jain will try and break into the local Bar Council elections tomorrow (7 January). But despite Luthra & Luthra partner Vijay Sondhi's recent Bar Council win in Delhi, this state is going to prove to be a far tougher fight to win.

"It's a very important milestone in the evolving debate," says Amarchand Mangaldas Mumbai managing partner Cyril Shroff about the Bombay High Court judgment. "Its ramifications will be analysed over the coming weeks by all concerned."

But so far the analysis has yielded little in the way of certainty and the sparse judgment has become a reflection of individuals' hopes and desires, as well as an ill-fitting receptacle for the status quo.

Amarchand Mangaldas has been increasingly turning to the UK and Ireland for talent making three innovative hires in recent weeks alone. So what is the Shroffs' game plan? Is Amarchand spreading its wings to turn into a global law firm?

"Imagine life without books, without having anything to read. Wouldn't it get suffocating?" asks Moiz Tundawala, a visually impaired student at NUJS Kolkata.

A number of engaged lawyers have been working hard to address the suffocation by trying to make books accessible to all in the Right to Read campaign.

Putting together a law school conference is hard work. Increasingly law students are taking matters into their own hands and doing it, as the pay-offs for the school and students are tangible.

Practising lawyers have largely expressed support for AZB & Partners and Justice R.V. Raveendran's shock recusal in the Ambani brothers' dispute, although several have questioned the timing and causes of the decision.

Clifford Chance senior partner Stuart Popham has always exhibited infectious enthusiasm for India. Legally India talks to him about the perennial joke of liberalisation, offshoring, India's legal future and nine months of best friendship with AZB & Partners.

He has been called a "living legend of law" by the International Bar Association and is nothing less than the father of modern Indian legal education. But even at age 75, Padmashree Professor Dr. Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon is not slowing down.

We have talked to him about his vision and hopes for the future of legal education and of India.

Are you dreaming of becoming the next Zia? India is the world's only major legal market where you can still do more than just dream.

Legally India has asked more than a dozen legal entrepreneurs for their advice on how to live that dream.

"If you feel if you are not able to achieve what you want in larger firms with larger brand names, there is enough work to sustain and flourish when you set up on your own," claims Lex Counsel's co-founder Dimpy Mohanty.

Kochhar & Co's founding partner was recently the first practising lawyer to be awarded 'young entrepreneur of the year' at the Rajiv Gandhi Awards.

We have quizzed the lawyer and businessman on his passion for enterprise and what it takes to be an entrepreneurial lawyer - apart from following your dreams.

He was the driving force behind the recent historic judgement that effectively decriminalised homosexuality by 'reading down' section 377 last month. But Anand Grover's battle has been far older than just that case, starting 20 years ago with a series of painful setbacks, death and a growing obsession.

Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) wants to redefine India's academic study of law. Its ambitions are high but so is the price of admission – the college has costlier tuition than any other major law school in the country.

Legally India has asked JGLS' founding dean and vice-chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University to explain the law school's fees and its vision.

For an Indian firm, going under the wing of an international firm is not necessarily as appealing as some might suppose and could even be downright dangerous.

Long delays in recovering fees has become an increasing a problem for law firms whose clients are caught in the credit crunch, most recently preventing FoxMandal Little in Delhi from paying some of its staff their salaries.

"Lock-up is a big issue for most firms these days in particular collections on long-overdue invoices," says Kerma Partners legal consultant Friedrich Blase in New York and adds: "It's become harder for firms to collect on the work produced."

Legally India caught up with Bar Council of India chairman Suraj Narain Prasad Sinha last week. We asked him about legal education, Australian racism and why allowing foreign law firms to practice here is a bad idea.

India’s new government could be the springboard for the country’s legal system to scale new heights.

The recent Indian elections saw a decisive win for the Congress Party, the stock markets rally, the various economic growth forecasts adjusted and the ­rating agencies ditching their gloomy ­outlook for the country (see ‘Elections’ box).

The optimism within the business ­community here is so heartfelt and the belief in the new government so strong, it is ­reminiscent of the first month or so after Barack Obama’s election victory in the US.

Nevertheless, the data for the start of the year makes for depressing reading. India, much like the rest of the world, has suffered in every major sector (see ‘Figures’ box). The country, as ever, faces incredible challenges.

But amid those challenges, even though they come with a long wish list of demands from their old but newly emboldened government, Indian lawyers are also seeing great opportunities. In India, it is business time.

India needs to enhance its arbitration offerings and overhaul its courts’ processes to give its backlog of cases any chance of closure before the year 3000.

A trip to the neo-Gothic ­Bombay High Court is an entertaining experience that should be on every visiting lawyer’s travel itinerary. Once past the sandbagged machine gun emplacements outside, loosen your tie and spend a few hours wandering about open-air corridors between throngs of locals, hundreds of offices with unfathomable purposes and court rooms filled beyond bursting point.

Also spare a thought for the unfortunate litigants, who will most likely not find the experience as enjoyable.

The running joke in India goes that, if you litigate here, your sons and daughters will inherit your dispute.