As you may have already heard or read, Mr. Fali S. Nariman is no more.
This leaves only a handful of his contemporaries who are still alive and practicing.
Given that this would perhaps be the last generation of legendary lawyers who rose up to this stature, I would like the audience to contribute with any of their anecdotes (good, bad, and ugly) which make these legends unique amongst the countless many.
The thread is not limited to celebrating life of Mr. Fali alone.
Request trolls and timepassers to stay away for the sake of creating one good trail of a conversation. Thanks.
PHP may not be as high profile as the rest but ask any person who has worked under him- they will tell you what a nice person he is. A patient teacher and mentor to scores of lawyers. He is the sweetest person. Parikh and Co., was one of the most busy litigation practices at one time.
Now go drink what you spat out and slap yourself for being judgy without knowing anything.
Every student chose some subject because they were not good at something else. An engineer is not a lawyer, a lawyer is not a doctor, a doctor is not a cricketer and a cricketer is not a MBA CHAIWALAAAAAAAAA
Not trollish, but fact. Many senior lawyers have the same story. It's because of this that law is not seen as prestigious in India, but we need to stop comparing STEM with law.
Kids from tier-1 NLUs of NLS, NLUD, NALSAR and maybe NUJS are not this bad. But after that, this statement is true across the board for all law students.
We lost a legend, and the only glimmer of Fali’s legacy that remains is Sharma, extensively mentioned in his memoir, “Before Memory Fades,” among other accounts. Having been trained for decades under Fali’s guidance, Sharma now stands as our beacon. Let us turn to Sharma and, through his wisdom, catch a glimpse of Fali’s values. I'll never forget my sole interaction with Sharma while attempting to involve Fali in a matter. Unlike many in his influential position, his conduct was remarkably above board. Never did he seek a kickback or any form of favour. He simply acted as any ethical professional should.
Fali, surprise, surprise managed to train only one junior through his entire career. His name is Sharma. Sharma was also like an executive assistant cum clerk to Fali and the original comment is a remark on Sharma and how he conducted himself and didn't make bundles of hot cash selling access to Fali. Satire? Ask around and judge!!
Thank God he's gone. Didn't contribute anything to the larger framework of the legal education or profession. Failed to uphold the independence and people praise him only because of him doing his job then best. How about we celebrate much large personalities that have helped people the legal profession.
You have no clue about his role in the NJAC Judgment (Fourth Judges Case), do you?
His junior, Sharma, in an indianexpress article, says Fali worked from 8 AM to 3 AM for 6 months to prepare for the matter. He refused to take any other matters during the said time (nobody does this in India).
NJAC was held unconstitutional partly because of his herculean efforts and his stature. Otherwise, we would have had the ruling parties appointing political judges. Not that the system is perfect now, but that would have been worse, I believe.
He was 91. think he lived a pretty well lived life. he was ripe for being plucked from this world though. ripe, old, sweet raisin looking cutie. used to see him in SC often when I was litigating. I think he got heard at this point simply for the effort the poor old dude was putting simply getting out of bed to go the darned Dias.
I loved Fali, mostly for his chapter on School of Hard Knocks in his autobiography. Must read.
Also, he lived up to those values except when he did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy matter for Union Carbide (for which he expressed regret).
Interestingly, when he became a member of Rajya Sabha, he quit practicing altogether, which is a huge sacrifice of several crores for a lawyer of his stature.
People are saying he did not train juniors. It is true that he was not like KKV or Ashok Desai, but he did prod Junior Nariman to take up judgeship, which did a lot of good to our system.
He kept writing till the end, spreading awareness about the values of the constitution, for no financial incentive.He clearly did not lack money.
And he was 95 not 91.
Like all of us, he was not perfect. But he was an example to far too many people than you or I will ever be.
Anecdote: I once saw Shyam Divan tell Fali that he wanted to meditate but did not find the time. Fali responded by saying that he lacked inclination and not time. He said there is always time when there is inclination.
This leaves only a handful of his contemporaries who are still alive and practicing.
Given that this would perhaps be the last generation of legendary lawyers who rose up to this stature, I would like the audience to contribute with any of their anecdotes (good, bad, and ugly) which make these legends unique amongst the countless many.
The thread is not limited to celebrating life of Mr. Fali alone.
Request trolls and timepassers to stay away for the sake of creating one good trail of a conversation. Thanks.
Now go drink what you spat out and slap yourself for being judgy without knowing anything.
His junior, Sharma, in an indianexpress article, says Fali worked from 8 AM to 3 AM for 6 months to prepare for the matter. He refused to take any other matters during the said time (nobody does this in India).
NJAC was held unconstitutional partly because of his herculean efforts and his stature. Otherwise, we would have had the ruling parties appointing political judges. Not that the system is perfect now, but that would have been worse, I believe.
I loved Fali, mostly for his chapter on School of Hard Knocks in his autobiography. Must read.
Also, he lived up to those values except when he did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy matter for Union Carbide (for which he expressed regret).
Interestingly, when he became a member of Rajya Sabha, he quit practicing altogether, which is a huge sacrifice of several crores for a lawyer of his stature.
People are saying he did not train juniors. It is true that he was not like KKV or Ashok Desai, but he did prod Junior Nariman to take up judgeship, which did a lot of good to our system.
He kept writing till the end, spreading awareness about the values of the constitution, for no financial incentive.He clearly did not lack money.
And he was 95 not 91.
Like all of us, he was not perfect. But he was an example to far too many people than you or I will ever be.
Anecdote: I once saw Shyam Divan tell Fali that he wanted to meditate but did not find the time. Fali responded by saying that he lacked inclination and not time. He said there is always time when there is inclination.