Suhaan Mukerji, who left Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi in June to advise the prime minister’s office, has started up a law firm with part of his former Amarchand team and three other lawyers as partners, which will offer legal and public policy and legitimate lobbying services to clients and NGOs.
The firm is called PLR Chambers – short for Policy, Law and Regulation’ – according to legal website Bar & Bench, which first reported the news.
Three other partners, who specialise in transactional work and niche litigation, have agreed to join from other law firms between January and April 2014, Mukerji told Legally India.
He said: “I think advisory has to be looked at through the prism of policies – it’s not a silo-ed blinkered approach any more. You have to have a pulse on what’s happening around the corner and where the industry is going, and where the entire structure of economy in the country going, because people are largely having more and more complex issues as our economy becomes more sophisticated.”
The key to PLR would be to make such an understanding “intrinsic” to the institution and for every lawyer within it to be trained for recognising such awareness, said Mukerji.
He is joined at PLR by former Amarchand principal associate-designate Aditya Prakash Rao and Sudhanshu Roy who, said Mukerji, was on the cusp of becoming a senior associate before he left Amarchand in May 2013. Sowmya Rao, who was a trainee solicitor at Clifford Chance before joining the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in Delhi in 2012, has also joined, while external consultants would also assist on tax laws for the firm, which has begun operating out of an office in Delhi’s Nizamuddin East area.
The firm’s public policy work would include analysis and research of the implications of Indian laws and regulatory frameworks on behalf of clients, explained Mukerji, while the “advocacy” side of his practice could involve acting on behalf of a client to prepare arguments and to appear before various bodies or forums, such as a government’s roundtable discussion or a ministry or government department.
“We’re sticking to the administrative structure,” he said, when asked about whether PLR would directly approach politicians, but that the firm might act in cases such as ministers who were initiating industry consultations, as when Kapil Sibal recently held an industry consultation in Delhi.
However, Mukerji said that such an advocacy practice should not be described as lobbying in India, despite the practice potentially carrying that name in other jurisdictions.
“If you look at the way that people react to the word [lobbying in India], it is a dirty word,” explained Mukerji. “The fact is when you say ‘lobbying’, people will put you into a different category, that you are not applying professional skill.”
In India, he said, ‘lobbying’ was generally looked at as “under the table political funding” and the like, which he and PLR would obviously not get involved in, whereas in the US the practice was regulated and included the funnelling of political donations.
“Unethical [lobbying] is anything that is linked for a quid-pro-quo [or is lobbying] other than on the merits of the ideas you are discussing,” Mukerji said. “It’s about impropriety and the good thing about it is that you [as an advocate] are a regulated profession under the Advocates Act, and that’s what distinguishes [you potentially from others who are not lawyers].”
The firm’s policy and advocacy-cum-lobbying practice would focus on sectors such as technology, food and retail, pharmaceuticals, defence and nuclear power, as well as the not-for-profit sector.
As the founder and former partner in charge of Amarchand Delhi’s pro bono initiatives, Mukerji said he also integrated pro bono at PLR and was continuing to advise a number of NGOs pro bono.
Mukerji will continue as expert advisor to Sam Pitroda, Office of Adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations (PIII), where he had joined from Amarchand. He was promoted to Amarchand’s partnership in 2010.
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before you all pop up nasty comments here, we must credit Suhaan for realizing his capability in time and cash in on it. Something that a lot of us don't really do.
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Congratulations Suhaan. Wish the best in the new venture.
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Good job, Kian of asking him some substantive questions and not publishing the press release like bar and bench did.
If he graduated in 2001 or 2002 how come he's "on the cusp" of becoming senior associate only now?? Doesnt add up.
Can we get the contact details ?
If it appears defensive that is only because we asked him to clarify and specify exactly what kind of policy and lobbying style work the firm would do, and why lobbying has been a dirty word in India to date.
In my opinion, he deserves a lot of credit for his honesty on this and in explaining this practice area, which a lot of firms do but few talk about...
Best regards
Kian
Would it not be nice to have en environment where entrepreneurship is encouraged and not feared and the firm send off people with a pat on their back, wish them luck and also send some work in that direction (if the practice is different). But none of this would be possible if the firm fears loss of business, possibly because size and quality are not synonymous.
That's what I believe (sadly) is the pecking order for ALL teams at AM, but a managing partner handling A team would be disservice to his own name and very hard to believe.
Some say that there is an intermediary trying to squeeze in this pecking order trying to strike efficiency and cheapness across all teams.
So let me guess, USIBC and the boys there drop in a mandate to 'act' on behalf of oil co's to get ministry documents?; dont you think that's already happening coutesy L&L, AZB and AM?.
Seriously, lets not kid ourselves here, Lobbyists in the U.S who do most of the defense budget pushing, Gun Law Legislation, Healthcare and financial industry regulation have to make public their budgets, meetings and intent, and in some cases, present before the Congress and at Senate Hearing.
India has 3 established lobbyists who 'back-door' wheel-deal and get the job done, and we know who they are, for those who who'd like to see how good they are, google "Deepak Talwar", "Nira Radia(the one with the Roberto Carvalli frock), Dilip Cherian and the wannabe Suhel Seth.
So far, Deepak Talwar ("DT") ranks the highest for being ethical(sure he does wheel and deal) at least in terms of 'drawing-the-line' and stays out of party politics.
To be with the "Big-Boys" one really needs to have some deep pockets, flaunt money and be at the right spots making the deals. DT chooses to meet ministers directly whilst his 'boys' work the 'dhafter-ka-babbu's in Sarojini Nagar, Dilip Cherian's seen in Page three and So far this new Lobby firm's got 17 comments on LEGALLY INDIA.
I really think we need to grow up, Lobbying takes 'high testosterone' and one needs to produce enough if it to have the guys to walk into the PMO if required.
I've in actively lobbying for over 20 years now, i know what it takes to keep and maintain relationships, contracts and to get those contacts to work for you.
Whoever this 'whipper-snapper'is, Get a life son, you have no clue what lobbying is and how its done in India.
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