Analysis

Expert academic witnesses Vikramaditya Khanna and Sandeep Parekh locked horns with law firm JSA-instructed and ex-CJI Ahmadi’s testimony in the lead-up to yesterday’s $125m settlement before a New York court, US dockets reveal.

The Indian criminal justice system is near to breaking point as 300,000 people or 70 per cent of India’s prison population consists of those awaiting trial facing a morass of judicial delays, according to a research paper discussing the current state of the Indian criminal justice delivery system.

Exclusive: Activist lawyer Prashanth Bhushan has condemned media ownership and its consequences after secret wiretap tapes that were released as part of the 2G scam case, which contained alleged conversations between well-known publicist Nira Radia and India’s rich, powerful and the Fourth Estate.

State bar councils are planning to hold regional bar exams for each state, as the holding of the all India bar exam has turned into a political circus between the Bar Council of India (BCI), its chairman and the state bar councils. Meanwhile, the BCI will meet in Chennai this weekend (20 November), probably without BCI chairman Gopal Subramanium.

Exclusive: The Supreme Court may have set the stage for the next round of proceedings in the All India Bar Exam challenges after completing the summoning process but certainty has continued to elude thousands of law graduates, as only two out of six anti-exam petitioners are still in active pursuit of the case while the other four have become absentee litigants for most intents and purposes.

Hindu political organisation Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to prevent any party to the dispute from seeking an ex-parte order in appealing against the Allahabad High Court’s 30 September decision on the Ayodhya title dispute matter.

Who are the players in the saga around legal market liberalisation? And do those in favour actually care enough to make a difference? Legally India talks to the opposing factions and finds out why no progress has been made - and if any is around the corner.

Amarchand & Mangaldas, India’s biggest law firm, has all the trappings of a family-run enterprise including sibling rivalry. The Shroff brothers must quickly set their house in order, argues Forbes India magazine's Shloka Nath.

Less than one month ago a financial daily caused a stir in the cozy Delhi capital markets world after reporting that the selection of law firms in the disinvestment of Coal India Limited and Engineers India Limited (EIL) had been discriminatory, alleging political nepotism. But as so often there is more than meets the eye.

One year ago Legally India kicked off the project of bringing independent full-time coverage to the Indian legal market. In that year Indian lawyers and law students saw more changes than ever and for the first time these were documented in real time.

Almost 900 articles, breaking news stories, features, opinions and blogs, nearly 6,000 reader comments and 1,000 forum posts shone a light on the inside workings of India Law Inc and law schools.

In that time many stories have come full circle. We look back at the top stories of the last 12 months, where they have gone and where they might go, starting off with foreign firms, new kids on the block and best friendships.

"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.

"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.