The beginning of the week got off to a slow start as opposition parties called a national strike (Bharat bandh) to protest the fuel price hike. In Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata many streets were deserted.

By contrast Tamil Nadu, which was largely unaffected by the bandh, was comparatively active.

After languishing four months in the Madras High Court the 31 foreign law firms and an LPO will now have to defend themselves against the writ petition alleging that they have been practising even non-Indian law illegally.

Although some of the foreign firms are likely to instruct joint counsel, many respondents will fight on unique facts and are understood to seek independent advice.

This could very well turn into a bonanza for the Chennai bar and local lawyers despite some foreign firms and a number of Indian in-house and corporate lawyers doubting that the case will throw a serious spanner into law firms' India desk-work.

Indeed, at worst, the petition would not change most corporates' lives greatly.

For example, Legally India's new qualified institutional placement (QIP) advisors league table shows that eight foreign firms acted on 47 such fundraisings in the 2009-10 financial year. That would no doubt continue, whether the instructions happen in person or over email.

And take the Linklaters-Talwar Thakore and Norton Rose/Bharucha-led HSBC takeover of Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) Indian retail and commercial banking assets, for example. On such long-running international deals foreign and domestic law firm partnerships will be impossible to wish away or undo.

Not just law firms but also foreign celebrities apparently have their eye on India. Although, as this week's Legal Opinion warns, cybersquatting of domain names such as www.juliaroberts.in is on the rise and the current laws may not offer quite enough protection.

Also in the entertainment sector, several movie studios are up in arms about the new service tax on copyright transfers. Economic Laws Practice (ELP) and Naik Paranjpe & Co are representing Bollywood studios PVR Pictures and Reliance Big Entertainment in their petition that the tax is illegal and unconstitutional.

Best of blogs

• john2010 on how privacy is illusory, how to stalk someone or why we need stronger data protection laws
• folly_nariman practices ornithology in college. One of the most insightful and amusing law school life blogs to date.
• danishsheikh on the courts of love, a lawyers lament.
• legaldrift is back with a detailed analysis of the Bhopal gas tragedy (il)legalities and how the case was lost before even going to trial
• napster looks at the little-known silent warriors of the 'women's courts' or Nari Adalat and how they bring justice to Indian homes; and Bharat bandh: good or bad?
• legalpoet rhymes on how cases take so long in Indian courts (ps: it is the fault of Mr Tareekh)
• DB7-HS17 on the pathos in law student activism
• Biharii Babuu, twisted as usual, tries to get his gaddi dog into a national law school
• and legaltiger gives decidedly unromantic dating tips for boys seeking girls according to Marx and other economic theories.

And how to start up an IDIA diversity initiative in your law college. Get to it.

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