Lawyers generally have a conservative relationship with technology although once embraced it can become (sometimes unhealthily) symbiotic. The general argument goes: “Things have always worked for me this way, why do I need anything to change?”

Nishith Desai’s decision to invest Rs 1 crore in state-of-the-art communications technology for the offices is therefore fairly special, as well as very impressive to see in action, showcased to good effect in its new Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) office in the Mumbai office.

At the same time Nishith Desai Associates has now also started a Delhi office with the former legal head of Goldman Sachs India Pratibha Jain, all as reported on Legally India today.

This might all sound like the firm has shifted into belligerent expansionary gear but actually Nishith Desai is keen to make clear that size is not important to him. Indeed, the firm’s specialist model has not really changed much since inception, apart from attempting to create a few new “micro-monopolies” in niche verticals, which follows his ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ mantra to the letter.

One young firm is also experimenting with a new model. Vishnu Jerome, who we first reported had left AZB in June, has now teamed up with JSA partner Priyanka Roy and Talwar Thakore managing associate Ravi Kumar to create a legal equivalent of a musical Supergroup.

Unusually this meeting of legal minds called Alliance Legal has vowed to keep a partner-associate ratio as low as one to three. The three have the BigLaw pedigree and brand names to put them in a special place amongst start-ups and their old law school friendships place them in a pretty good place to avoid partnership or ego clashes that have all too often plagued others.

In what was again a short holiday-speckled week in India, we also received another postcard from the Supreme Court. This time Court Witness documented the torrid love between journalists and the 30-headed hydra of the Supreme Court, in light of the apparent attempts by the latter to crack down on the former.

Finally, the mooting circuit is back again with the third edition of the Mooting Premier League, which again promises to be fantastic. CLC Delhi won the first moot of the season over GLC Mumbai, NLSIU Bangalore and NLIU Bhopal.

Legally News Wire

• CCI smacks DLF again; Singhania chases Microsoft ‘monopoly’; New Sports Bill; SRK Beamer is commercial; Beauty queen lawyer Miss tweets WSJ…
• PIL v SEBI; BCI college deregs increased; High Court youth lawyer motivational posters…
• 7 calls for papers on CSR, air and space Regs, PIL and seeking non-student submissions

Blogs of the week

• Raids!! Privacy? Reform? by ThePrivateSchoolBrat
• I'd rather be an Indian than an Anna or an Arundathi by sammithdixit

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