As I sit in my ergonomically designed chair and look out of my office window (a favourite pastime), my mind wanders to the dangers of being a lawyer in today’s day and age.  While lawyers of the past have faced angry clients and been targeted by hit men, apart from alcoholism and stress-related disorders the modern lawyer faces demons of his own. 

Based on my experiences at Colby, Hewitt and Richards LLP, I present to you a list of the top ten hazards faced by the lawyers of today:

1 Being mistaken for a chair by your myopic, obese boss.

Result:  Seeing stars in the day, wind being knocked out.

Recuperation: 20 minutes. 

2. Creating the perfect document by working 14 hours straight.    

Result: Deep Vein Thrombosis, severe numbness of hindquarters.

Recuperation: 48 hours.

3. Keyboard and BlackBerry overuse.

Result: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, lack of sensation and inabilty to use fingers to change TV channels.

Recuperation: 2 months.

4. Prolonged exposure to landlines.    

Result: Inability to unstick neck from slightly tilted position

Recuperation: 6 months.

5. Lugging your work laptop around everywhere you go.                  

Result: Slipped disc, vertebral sprain

Recuperation: 1 year.

6. Using words like “prima facie” in normal conversation.

Result: Being dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend.

Recuperation: 3 years. 

7. Walking in on your happily married boss “taking something out of his secretary’s eye”.

Result: Mental scars, underserved promotion.

Recuperation: 5 years.

8. Telling people you enjoy your job.

Result: Sudden increase in workload (since the above translates as you need more to do.)

Recuperation: 7 years.

9. Spending all your waking hours at work with good-looking people.

Result: Career suicide, sexual harassment suits.

Recuperation: 10 years.

10. Zipping up too quickly because of the tight deadline set by demanding client. 

Result: Embarrassing visit to the hospital.

Recuperation: N/A

Hardly a safe workplace environment if you ask me- ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Are Private Deemed Universities within the purview of Right to Information Act, 2005?

Introduction

In India there are 130 deemed university, out of which a significant number of them are private.[1] Deemed University status was meant to be conferred to the institutions which have created an excellent work in a particular field, but cannot be granted University due to some reasons.[2] The “mushrooming” of the deemed universities has led to commercialisation of education and growth of below standard educational institutions. Deemed Universities in India has been in the recent controversy for various kinds of irregularities, which includes below standard education, facilities, lower faculty-student ratio, poor management and governance, irregular admission procedure, poor research quality.[3]

The University Grants Commission (UGC) Act 1956 (hereinafter UGC Act) provides for establishment of a deemed university status under Section 3 of the Act, which reads as follows: "The Central Government may, on the advice of the Commission, declare, by notification in the Official Gazette, that any institution of higher education, other than a University, shall be deemed recognized to be a University for the purpose of this Act, and on such a declaration being made, and all the provisions of this Act shall apply to such institution as if it were a University within the meaning of clause (f) of Section 2".

Taking into consideration the recent controversy, for transparency it is important to understand and find out whether Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter RTI Act) is applicable on the Private Deemed Universities.[4] The preamble to the Act states, “An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority...” The Right to Information has been guaranteed a fundamental right which arises from two fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution – the right to freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed by Article 19(1) and the right to life, guaranteed by Article 21.[5]  Justice K. K. Mathew of Supreme Court of India in his dissenting opinion said that ‘in a government.... where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people.... have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries.... The responsibility of officials to explain or to justify their acts is the chief safeguard against oppression and corruption.”[6]

A.    Private deemed Universities are within the purview of “public authority” under Section 3 (h) (d) of RTI Act.

To decide whether Private deemed Universities are within the purview of “public authority” under RTI Act it is necessary to analyse the relevant provisions of the Act. The Section 3 of the RTI Act is as under:

"public authority" means any authority or body or institution of self- government established or constituted–

1. by or under the Constitution;
2. by any other law made by Parliament;
3. by any other law made by State Legislature;
4. by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any–       i.        body owned, controlled or substantially financed;       ii.        non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government;

The deemed universities, whether private or public are established by a government notification as required under Section 3 of the UGC Act, which states, “The Central Government may, on the advice of the Commission, declare, by notification in the Official Gazette, that any institution of higher education, other than a University, shall be deemed recognized to be a University for the purpose of this Act,...”

Arguably, the private deemed universities are “public authorities” within the meaning of Section 3 (h) (d) of the RTI Act, which states that “public authority means any authority or body or institution of self- government established or constituted by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government”.

Further, the word “includes” means that the types of institutions constituted by a government notification “includes” but are not exhaustive in nature and has been provided as an example and better understanding of the scope of the Section and such institutions are not limited to the types of institutions as mentioned under sub- clause (i) and (ii).[7] Thus, even if the institution is not owned, controlled or substantially financed; it can still be brought under the purview of the section of the Act construing the exhaustive nature of the section.

 B.     Information about Private Deemed Universities can be obtained under RTI from UGC.

Certain information pertaining to a private deemed university can be obtained under RTI from UGC. Now, the question is how the same can be achieved. As, the universities, including private deemed university are required to file and return information to the UGC under Section 2 of UGC (Returns of Information by Universities) Rules, 1979, which is as follows:

2.     Returns and Information to be furnished:
Every university shall, on or before the date specified by the University Grants Commission every year in this behalf, furnish the following returns and information to the Commission,namely-

Explanations:For the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that for the purpose of this rule, the term university means a university as defined in clause (f) of Section 2 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956), and includes an institution deemed to be a University under Section 3 of the said Act.

Further, the deemed universities are also required to submit certain reports and is subjected to inspection by a committee which can be formed under UGC (Inspection of Universities) Rules, 2009. Deemed Universities are also subjected to inspection under S. 11 as described in Annexure – II , Section. 16, S. 17.1, S. 20 of UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2010. 

11.1 An institution Deemed to be University shall maintain standards, higher than the minimum, of instruction, academic and physical infrastructure, qualifications of teachers, etc. as prescribed for college level institutions by the Commission or by the Statutory Regulatory body concerned, such as All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India (DCI), National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE), Bar Council of India (BCI), Indian Nursing Council (INC), etc. and shall obtain their approval for running various programmes of study, wherever applicable. This shall be periodically monitored by the duly constituted Committee (s) of the Commission.

16.0 Review of the Academic Activities of the Institution Deemed to be University

The functions of the Institution Deemed to be University may be reviewed after a period of every 5 year or earlier, if necessary, by a Committee appointed by the Commission.

17.0 Inspection of the institution deemed to be university by the Commission

i) The Commission may cause an inspection, to be made by such person or persons as it may direct, of the institution deemed to be university, its buildings, fixtures and fittings, laboratories and equipment as also examinations, teaching and other work carried on or done and, if necessary, to cause an inquiry to be made ill respect of any matter connected with the administration or finances of the institution deemed to be university.

ii) The Commission shall, in every case, give notice to the institution deemed to be university of its intension to cause an inspection or inquiry to be made and on receipt of such a notice, the institution deemed to be university shall have the right to make such representations to the Commission as it may consider necessary.

iii) Where an inspection or inquiry has been caused to be made by the Commission, the institution deemed to be university shall be entitled to UGC [Institutions Deemed to be Universities] Regulations, 2010 appoint a representative who shall have the right to be present and to be heard at such inspection or inquiry.

iv) The Commission may communicate the result of such inspection or inquiry together with such advice as it may be pleased to offer as to the action to be taken by the institution deemed to be university to the

Vice-Chancellor who shall communicate the same to the Board of Management.

v) The Board of Management shall give proper consideration to the said communication regarding the result of inspection or inquiry and the proposals for action by the institution deemed to be university and communicate to the Commission the action, if any, which it proposes to take or has taken upon the result of such inspection or inquiry.

vi) Mere the Board of Management does not, within a reasonable time, take any action to the satisfaction of the Commission, the Commission may, after giving due consideration to the explanation furnished or representation made by the Board of Management to it, issue such directions as it may think fit and the Board of Management shall comply with such directions.

20.0 Funds, Accounts. Audits and Annual Report

i) The accounts of the institution deemed to be university shall be maintained in the name of the Institution Deemed to be University and not in the name of the particular Society or Trust,, whether financing or sponsoring the Institute or not. The accounts of the institution deemed to be university shall be kept in such forms as may be laid down by the Board of Management and shall conform to the rules, if any, prescribed by the Commission. The account of the institution deemed to be university shall be open for examination by the Controller and Auditor General of India.

(ii) The annual financial statements and accounts shall be audited by the Chartered Accountant of the institution deemed to be university.

iii) Annual Reports and the Audit Reports shall be submitted by the institution deemed to be university to the Commission within nine months of the closure of the accounting year.

It is clear that huge information regarding a private deemed university is already available with public authorities. `Information’ thus means any material in any form including records etc and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force. Thus, this information can be obtained from UGC under Section 2(j) of the RTI Act which is as under:

Section 2(j): "Right to information" means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to—

(i) inspection of work, documents, records;

(ii) taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;

(iii) taking certified samples of material;

(iv) obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device;

The information that can be obtained from private deemed universities includes admission procedure, faculty, courses, financial accounts, results of students, etc.

The Supreme Court in Khanapuram Gandaiah v. Administrative Officer[8] has held that under Section 6 of the RTI Act, an applicant is entitled to get only such information which can be accessed by the Public Authority under any other law for the time being in force. In a recent judgment by the full bench of Central Information Commission make the law in this regard more clear. In the case of Bindu Khanna v. Directorate of Education, Govt. of  NCT of Delhi [9] it has been observed that, " The issues relating to management and regulation of schools responsible for promotion of education are so important for development that it cannot be left at whims and caprices of private bodies, whether funded or not by the Government.” The Commission ordered the Directorate of Education to provide information to the appellant about the private school.  

Conclusion

Though apparently, private deemed universities seems to be outside the purview of RTI Act, but a close observation of the law and the recent judgments, it is clearly arguable that private deemed universities come under the RTI Act. Not only information about the deemed universities can be obtained from the UGC, but the deemed universities are “public authority” within the meaning of RTI Act. It is high time, that the deemed universities should appoint information officer as required under RTI Act.

[1] Report Of The Committee For Review Of Existing Institutions Deemed To Be Universities (2009). Available at http://education.nic.in/HigherEdu/RepoRevCom-DmdUniv.pdf .  Accessed on 02-09-2010.        

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Note: Public Deemed Universities are no doubt “public authorities” under ambit of RTI Act. So, the scope of the article has been limited to private deemed university.

[5] S.P. Gupta v. Union of India 1982 AIR (SC) 149; .Bennett Coleman & Co. v Union of India, AIR 1973 SC 783; State of UP vs Raj Narain AIR 1975 SC 865;

[6] State of UP vs Raj Narain AIR 1975 SC 865.

[7] In, Bharat Co-operative Bank (Mumbai) Ltd. v. Co-operative Bank Employees Union 2007(5) SCALE 57, the Supreme Court has held that when the word 'includes' is used in the definition, as is the case under Section 2(g) of the 1994 Act, the legislature does not intend to restrict the definition; it makes the definition enumerative and not exhaustive, that is to say, the term defined will retain its ordinary meaning but its scope would be extended to bring within the term certain matters which in its ordinary meaning may or may not comprise.;  Donald James Gifford, John R. Salter (1996) How to understand an act of Parliament, Routledge. P. 52

[8] AIR 2010 SC 615

[9] Appeal No.CIC//MA/A/2008/01117 Decision No.5607/IC(A)/2010. Available at http://www.rti.india.gov.in/cic_decisions/5607_IC_A__2010_M_38229.pdf

1st September, 2010

A total of 83 unique public votes are in. Most of them are Legal Poet's friends. Napster didn't join the PARTY so the votes are less. 

But for the bloggers the PARTY is about to begin because Legally Bindia doles the moolah to the blogger with the funniest post, the most helpful post and the best written post under his/her BELT.

Well, it seems that as we speak only Nandii Reywal is wearing a BELT, sitting somewhere in his ergonomically designed chair. Folly Nariman is 'not male' and belts are a bit too uncool for her. Legal Poet is out, playing a day-night cricket match in pyjamas. No belts for him either. SSS (with trishul as his symbol) is a worshipper of lord Shiva and prefers a leopard skin around his waist, specially during this time of day.

Congratulations to the clear run-away winner in each of the categories.

Judges ignored reader comments and the popular vote. A special technology was used where just as a judge was about to sneek into the comments or the votes section his computer would shut down. It was hard work (and annoying too). But an LPO owner and a law firm partner should be used to it by now.

Here are the results:

The Funniest Post Weekly Round-up: BARELYLEGALINDIA. COM/ ISSUE 1 Nandii Reywal.

Most Helpful Post Puppy Training: The ABCs Of a National Law University: Part I- Adjusting Legal Poet.

Best Written Post Positive Interaction and my Observations Folly Nariman.

I have always been thrilled by entrepreneurs. The first entrepreneur I came in ‘virtual’ contact with was Sachin Malhan who was our legal aptitude mentor at LST and used to teach through VSAT sessions. Seeing him in real life always evaded me. Thankfully, he once came to NUJS for a talk on his entrepreneurial journey which I attended. I loved the talk. I also love to track the growth of his ventures: LST, Rainmaker and now Inclusive Planet.

Prof. Shamnad Basheer of NUJS again is an entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur. His two initiatives ClaM (Collaborative Law Making) and IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education) are especially brilliant. I have been fortunate enough to get to see him at work and work under him, at times.

Kian Ganz’s LegallyIndia.com (where we all are now) has been a fabulous success too. He, in his own words is letting it develop like ‘an organism’ and believes that it is just a beginning of a revolution.

Ashish Arun, a student at NUJS starts his own LPO. Ramanuj Mukherjee, another student of NUJS starts an online CLAT preparation platform. A student at NLSIU becomes an author. A few more armed with law degrees from Harvard and the like start Moolis, a restaurant in UK. GoSports is yet another interesting venture of Mr. Nandan Kamath, again from NLS.

I too am a wannabe entrepreneur and love reading about the whos, hows and whys of this field. Here is a little piece for your consideration.

A request: First, please read the poem in its entirety.

Then come back to the tips in bold and read the paras which follow.

It will make for a better reading.

Tip 1: Think over it. Think big. And while thinking, haste while you wait.

When thinking what to think,

The hollow éclair that your soul is,

Yes it drinks,

A glassful of ecstasy, so vivid,

That for ‘that thing’, so unique,

A recipe is laid.

Tip 2: You are informed. Now take the plunge. Go with the pulse. Don’t wait for things to be perfect.

The heart is not here, not there

Of mind and kind, you aren’t able to find

And then slowly, but suddenly

A sensation, so unearthly,

Guides your pulse, to ‘that thing’.

Tip 3: Books are good. Your mind is better. Be your own chef. Make something different.

The recipe isn’t fixed, sorry chef.

You can pamper it, to pamper yourself.

For ‘that thing’ is for you

Not for them

For them it’s just another read

For you it’s your soul’s creed.

Tip 4: Don’t worry too much. If you have the beat, the song will play on.

Worrying about rhyme? That’s not her need

For this little wonder

Compliments to your feel, your beat

And as the rivers, rhyme with the hills

Playing your game, to the team’s win

So does ‘that thing’, with your being.

Tip 5: Don’t be too proud of success. Keep up the passion. When the passion ends, the entrepreneur will die.

Till the thirst, the drink remains.

And as the last draught, dies inside

A drought sprouts; a cacophonous chime.

You lose your vain, she retains her pride.

And then Alas! The lines they end with that sip

After you recover yourself and lose the zing.

5 Good Websites

www.nenonline.org (National Entrepreneurship Network)
www.headstart.in (They have ‘Startup Saturdays’ in many a places)

www.legalrebels.com (Legal Rebels who think very very differently)

www.dare.co.in (An Indian magazine on entrepreneurship)

www.entrepreneur.co.in (A foreign magazine on entrepreneurship)

(Please add if you have some others in mind).

New Delhi

In a recent study conducted by KuttaLaw Group, the researches have found that 98% of dogs owned by law firm partners are overweight and underworked. 

“For example Mr. Ahuja who is a partner at Ahuja & Sons law firm owns Mutt, an English Mastiff, a breed which normally weighs at 80-120 kilograms. But Mutt weighs at an astonishing 150 kilograms”, said Billi Gupta, lead researcher at the KuttaLaw Group.

“I believe since 98% of law firm partners are themselves overweight and underworked and they treat their dogs in a similar manner leading to the dogs being overweight”, Billi added.

Mr. X, the law firm partner himself weighs 135 kilograms, as per our last measurement.

Prem Chand Premi a dog lover said, “I think dogs have feelings of empathy and are trying to remain in the overweight and unhealthy state that their owners possess. They are loyal animals”.

We contacted Kutta Kennel’s trainer Mr. Sher Khan, “I have had many law firm partners as client for pedigree, exotic breeds. Interacting with them I have found that they hardly work themselves and dump all their work to the associates”.
“I feel a similar treatment is being meted to the dogs who get less exercise and are thus bulky”, he adds.

Our animal conversation specialist spoke to Gruffy, a 75 kg Alsation owned by Mr. Y, a partner at Y and family law firm, “Wuf. Wuf. It is LegallyIndia’s recent associate survey to be blamed. We saw the pics and that how fat the law firm partners were; how greatly they earned and how successful they looked”.

“The dog community too wanted to show off and thus decided to look and eat like them and grow fat”, added Gruffy wagging its tail.

Gruffy refused to be weighed and growled threatingly at our reporters when goaded to do so. Gruffy is a huge animal and our reporter a slight man, so he decided not to take measurement.
Mr. Y, Gruffy’s owner refused to step on the weighing machine which according to his maid broke the last time he stood upon it.

PETO- animals ko mat peeto, an animal rights activist organisation informed us that they are actively pursuing this matter.

“The partners can destroy their lives by being overweight; we are more concerned about the dogs. Dogs can’t be allowed to go to the dogs”, said a PETO volunteer.

Bike Rider, a serial legal entrepreneur informed us that he is soon planning to launch a range of services including dog food, books and exercising mats for dogs in the legal community. This is his 137^th entrepreneurial venture.

The title of this blog has been taken from a blog by GABE ACEVEDO published on an American legal tabloid, Above the Law. In the blog, the columnist talks about how Indian LPOs have been marketing the growth and benefits of outsourcing in American media and “trampling all over the US legal system”. Acevedo argues that the current tide in favor of Legal Process Outsourcing can be turned in two ways – by using social media and by offering a legitimate alternative.

Unfortunately, Acevedo doesn’t really see the real picture of Indian Legal Process Outsourcing companies that have been thriving and making news in the United States. Most of the leading LPOs, who are attracting serious business from the US are owned/ managed by Americans in India.

Pangea3 is one of the most talked about LPOs in India and abroad. The Chairman and Director of Pangea3 is Larry Graev who has served as Of Counsel to King & Spalding, LLP, a global law firm with approximately 800 lawyers across offices in Atlanta, London, New York, Washington, D.C. and Houston, representing a significant portion of Fortune 500 companies and was also a partner of O’Sullivan Graev & Karabell, LLP, a national law firm specializing in venture capital, private equity, strategic M&A and corporate finance. He led the firm’s growth from five attorneys to approximately 130 attorneys, becoming one of the leading law firms in these practice areas. He also served as Managing Partner and Chairman of the firm from 1977 to 1999. Out of the 6 people on the Board of Directors, only 2 are Indians.

Similarly, SDD Global is an LPO that’s run by Russell Smith who is also the founder of SmithDehn LLP, a law firm based in New York. In this firm also, the management is controlled by American lawyers. Mindcrest, India’s best LPO as per the Black Book of Outsourcing 2009 rankings, also has only 2 Indians in their 5-member board of directors.

The point I am trying to make is most of the LPOs who are doing considerable business in India are being managed by US attorneys and businessmen and the profits are staying in the U.S. economy. And the balance of convenience is in favor of outsourcing can be understood in terms of the simplest principle of economics – demand and supply. In this era of globalization and technology, the supply of lawyers has increased manifold and firms now have access to the global talent pool. Outsourcing comes as a natural choice in these circumstances. Clifford Chance has set up its knowledge center in India and the center is doing so well that attorneys have been promoted to the London Office.

Contract Attorneys

In his article, Acevedo talks about Wilmer Hale opening a facility in Ohio for contract lawyer services. This is again based on the simple demand-supply principle where Hale is trying to offer cheaper services. Outsourcing is not a question of principles or ethics but is a pure business decision. It has allowed many firms to retain clients at lower costs during the recession and more jobs would have been lost without outsourcing due to clients not being able/ willing to pay $250 an hour and above in legal fees. Contract attorneys will be able to replace outsourcing only if they’re willing to compete with the present rates at which LPOs are working. And it’s not that the alleged fears of outsourcing are not attached with contract attorneys. In an earlier article written by Acevedo, he spoke about firms already finding themselves in situations of crisis due to outsourcing work. However, when you click on the link to the story Acevedo is talking about, you see that the mistake in the trial of McAfee’s former General Counsel was made by contract lawyers at Howrey who had marked two critical emails as “not relevant”.

I am not arguing that lawyers from one country are better than others. This mistake could have been made by any regular associate and pin-pointing that outsourcing could lead to a higher chance of such errors would be wrong. As long as law firms are not just sending their work to any random LPO without knowing the credentials of the lawyers who would be actually working on their assignments, the risks of outsourcing is the same as giving the work to another associate at the law firm and not supervising it yourself.

Use of Technology

I am not arguing that there should be no protest in the US against outsourcing and this is a malicious agenda that certain lawyers are propagating. But the arguments against outsourcing somehow do not convince me. One such argument taken by Acevedo is the use of technology to curb outsourcing where he used the example of Fulbright transforming its document review system. Let’s break down the facts of this example. Fulbright came across a document review project for which using American lawyers in the traditional way would have been very expensive. They came across a technology that helped them reduce the cost and they did not end up outsourcing the project to India or any other offshore location. Instead of outsourcing, this technology helped them to do the work within their budget – in-house. How did this set up generate a single job opportunity in the US? The man hours were less – approximately the same or a little more than what US attorneys would spend supervising when the project would have been sent offshore.

Today, the argument against outsourcing is that it is taking away jobs such as document review; and other assignments that were usually done by first year associates is now being sent to India. Tomorrow, when technology improves and the same work is automated, it will be sent to machines instead of India! Will it be prudent to campaign against technology then? How many people with a good business sense would agree to that? That would be saying e-mail killed the post card, so let’s campaign against the use of email. During the industrial revolution, a lot of workers protested against the use of machines, as they feared job losses. Did machines not make the world a better place?

Even Indian LPOs are in favor of improved technology and cutting down man hours. Integreon recently announced the availability of its Seek & Collect™ service, which quickly and efficiently captures electronically stored information (ESI) in a forensically sound manner without the need for physical collection by forensic experts. Does that mean Integreon is against outsourcing by using technology and reducing man hours? This is again just a simple demand-supply business decision that they have made.

Competition is healthy so is technology and outsourcing. LPOs are not stealing jobs but ensuring that those paying legal fees have better options to manage their money in the market. If legal spending in the US can be reduced due to outsourcing, it will do more good than harm. The economy will get a boost with better savings for the litigants and overall, more jobs will be created than lost.

Written by Ashish Arun, Managing Partner at Offshore Research Partners | Ashish can be reached at 

“Next time, the eleven of us are on a corporate deal, or fighting it out in the court; we’ll know that you don’t win till the scoreboard says so”.

Cricket in my college is a lesser religion. People worship soccer more fastidiously. Nonetheless, cricket is a religion. Interbatch tournaments, inter-college tournaments, a league tournament etc.; cricket has a good share of worshippers. So, here you go; presenting before you: a cricket match.

A.      Our Team

We have the best of teams. We have the worst of teams. Out fast bowlers are the best. Every fast bowler of our 2^nd year team has represented the university. Our fast bowlers: Shah, Talwar, Kalia (thats me) and Sihag are all fearsome (even our names instil fear).

Shah is short, lean and as strong a steel; Talwar is an inch and a half taller and muscular courtesy the gym. I am as short as Shah, stockier and owe my strength to my Punjabi origins. Then we have Sihag, a Haryanvi Jaat, six feet three and built like an Ox. He bowls at a slow medium pace but swings the ball like a pendulum. 

Our batsmen are the worst. Our hopeless batsman can’t hit fours, can’t take singles and they can’t even bat the full 30 overs.

B.      The match

We won our first match and drank on the road hiding beer bottles in newspapers, which do a bad job at hiding. The semi final match was against the first years and we know what first years do: there would be serious politics being played within the team; the captain would be the most hated guy; and the most talented guy wouldn’t be in the team. We knew it through experience.

And some news: Talwar was off to Kerela for a moot and wasn’t playing the match.

C.      Well done batsmen

Our batsman did surprisingly good with 190 on board in 30 overs.

Sihag opened the bowling and began as usual, the ball coming in from a 10 foot height, moving and swirling in the air, making bee like noises. He hit the wood thrice.

We sledged the shit out of their batsman. I am a poor fielder but still was fielding in the inner circle for my sledging abilities. A batsman complained to the umpire; we laughed, the umpire laughed too and next ball the batsman was out. In about 10 overs, they were 60 for 5. We were celebrating and talking about whom we will play next. We just needed 5 wickets and we would be in the finals!

Shah was breathing fire, the ball making Bazooka like noises. Whoom! Wham! It was either the body of the batsman or his pads, but never the wicket. Alas! The captain of the first years, who is a real good batsman, was smashing Shah. So most of the Whooms and Whams were from the batsman’s blade. Things were changing like Calcutta’s weather.

D.      The shoulders dropped

I was given the ball, still newish and instead of the inward movement I get, the ball was out-swinging. I knew this tendency and was worried. A partnership happened, a long one. Choudhary, the first year hit me like anything. He hit any bowler like anything. Sihag was ineffective, as he is with the old ball. Pandeyji, the leggie tried but wasn’t good enough. We were losing.

Our shoulders dropped. Sihag’s Ox like shoulders dropped, my proud Punjabi shoulders dropped. Wasim, who was playing with an injured leg, told us from the bench to buck up.

We were losing. I was bowling too full. I changed ends but nothing happened.  “Come on Kalia! Use the shoulder”. But the shoulder had dropped. And then an edge of their wicket keeper batsman was dropped. The shoulders dropped more.

E.       A ray of hope

Some overs later, a wicket! Pandeyji got Chaudhary out!

Now the team’s blood flowed better, the mouths talked more and the raised up sleeves showed lots of aggression (and some biceps). Shah bowled over number 29 and the first years needed 10 runs to win with two wickets remaining.

Last over-4 runs-2 wickets. I got the ball. It was all on me. The score keeper shouted “Kalia! You don’t have overs left”. What! WTG?! We told him to check, the whole team, all eleven of us.  He checked and confirmed that he was right.

Pandeyji took the ball and in the first ball, a nicely tossed up leg spinner, a wicket fell! We all fell over each other. A ray of hope! A visible, clear ray of hope! We needed one wicket, they need four runs. Next ball, Tilli, who is in the first year team for nothing, edged the ball for a four.

The sun was burning down. The ray of hope had become too concentrated and it charred our hearts. The first years came running onto the field. We were devastated. Holding our hair, banging our heads on the ground. Handshakes followed. Nobody blamed anyone on the field. It was a hard fought game.

F.       After taste

In the library, in the mess and near Biju Da’s shack we looked at each other, nodded in exasperation and smiled. ‘That wicket’, ‘that ball’, ‘that 1st year’; the images flashed continuously. And then we forgot. A lesson, however, stuck on.

We learnt more about law than the ‘off to Kerela for a moot’ Talwar. Next time, the eleven of us are on a deal, or fighting it out in the court; we’ll know that you don’t win till the scoreboard says so.

PS- Dear recruiters, we all are team players and can ‘take on a job individually and work efficiently in a group’. (words straight from my cover letter).

PS 2- @ Recruiters again: That we lost the match makes us better team players.

PS 3- I am not regionalist and I don’t drink.

Hmmm. The million dollar question. What is an LPO exactly?!!!!. No one know that, some tell that its an outsourcing of legal work from western countries, some call it as global law firm which does paralegal work apart from the litigation... Folks i will tell u what it is :-). Its nothing but a center of over ambitious people trying to show that they have a niche hand over the laws of all countries and over all areas of trade which even the business tycoons might be scared to try out. They themselves are struggling to gain profits but they claim clients to get a million dollars in a short span of time. But the whites.."word used for the clients when they don't clear the bill on the time" show that they are far more advanced, not only in terms of development but also in terms of thinking process. They use all these LPO'S like their clerks which are paid minimal. The big LPO's are doing well because they are the part of US or UK law firms or else they are owned by corporate giants who don't have liquidity crunch. But the real sufferers are the small players who dream of going big. Even if the Legal Outsourcing market is blooming, most of the small LPO's are struggling to sustain.... What is the reason?????. Recession... na.....Less litigation abroad.. na... Its nothing but recognizing the type of work they have to do, which is not so niche but will fetch u million dollars. Thats why the companies doing Document Review projects are not suffering as compared to small companies giving Legal support to the big clients(whites:-)). A fresh law graduate joins a company thinking that he will make big but ends up managing the life with delayed salaries and mental trauma. But still they want to work hard because they have to meet their ends and support their families. So big players KOUDOS... and small fish just get out of the ocean , there are ponds for u... NO OFFENCE

Scene: A hard-fought, electrifying, marathon litigation bout with drummers playing to the full volume to add to the drama.  The drummers stop when mediation begins. The litigators too are disappointed.

And well, a request: When ‘tak da gidh da, tak da gidh da’ comes in the poem, please don’t skip it; sing it.

The drums are beating aloud

Oh! See them pronounce:

That the two litigators are about

To argue a much awaited bout.

Tak da Gidh da Tak da Gidh da (2).

(The drums’ sound).

The two shake hands and smile a lot.

Like two pehelwans testing the

Strength of the arms and the jaws

Of the nervous compatriot.

Tak da gidh dha tak da gid dha (2).

The argument begins

The judge signals- his gavel smacks!

Another smile- Ah! The tension

Of the lips about to attack.

Tak da gidh dha tak da gid dha (2).

Ah! It is a great sight-

Alpha males- their horns strike.

Sparks. Harks. Darts. And Marks.

Like a river the words flow, flow

The words of spite, of might.

Words mean, very mean.

A counsel is wounded

And with envy green.

Tak da gid dha, tak da gid dha (2).

He groans! He gets up

Charges and hits (with words)

Arggh! The other budges, badly struck.

Oh! No! Cries the judge.

Tak da gid dha tak da gid dha (2).

People are watching, eyes wide,

Mouths open, awed and surprised.

Their heads move like in a tennis match,

Following arguments like tennis balls

Being ferociously dispatched

Tak da gid dha tak da gid dha (2).

Judging is difficult, the battle is gory,

The two rams, fighting for victory,

Forgetting the law, they hurl abuses.

The fight goes on for decades,

Newspapers cover it now and again,

The ink won’t dry, the words won’t stop.

Gains. Disdain. Pain. And Vain.

(What a taint that brothers are slayed).

Tak da gid dha tak da gid dha (2).

[Change of music]

The two Rams have fought for victory

Fought hard, and then a sorry.

“Let us mediate over chai and kachori”

(Though its boring, tastes bad and is staid)

(Litigation is red Mirchi, Teekhi and well paid).

Tak da gid...doom. doom. doom.

The drum membrane isn’t tight

A non playing drum, it ends the fight,

It doesn’t make a sound (somebody will mend),

By then the spectacle comes to an end.

And till the drums can become alive again

Alas! The rams don’t get their prize

Mark the disdain, in that voice.

------------------------------end---------------------------------

[Mediation Begins]

No one to see the mediation match.

Its a lonely affair, so sad.

Not exciting as tennis, but still clad

In a short skirt and t-shirt which reads

“Dispose the case. Do hell with justice”.

PS- I was recently researching on Lok Adalat. The finding was this: while Lok Adalats lead to quick disposal of cases, they hardly do justice. With rigorous fact finding etc missing, Lok Adalats are incapable of justice and run on a judge’s whims and fancies.

And hence this last para.

Mumbai

Two associates of Indi Law Firm, Karan Johari and Yogesh Yadav  have entered the Guiness book of world records. Karan now holds the record for drinking the largest number of coffee cups in one day, while Yogesh has himself in the record books for maintaining a position of yogic trance for the longest time.

“I have at least 120-150 cups of coffee on an average day at my law firm. When on a deal the number may rise to 200 too. So I decided to give it a shot”.

Karan drank 450 cups of coffee for his record. On being asked how he managed a substantial rise in the number he said, “I think the excitement of doing something novel other than the boring drafting and document review got me going”.

“Also the coffee machine at our firm is obsolete, dysfunctional, pretty much like the firm. I guess the machine puts twice the amount of coffee than a functional machine would put. So the firm’s coffee is twice as strong too”, he adds.

Yogesh maintained the yogic trance for 72 hours. “I do this day in and day out”, explained Yogesh “pretending to sit before the computer, back straight, eyes glued to the screen and open despite the sleep, absolutely lost, appearance attentive and doing nothing”.

“To lose the human body and soul into nothingness is yoga”, said Baba Ramadeva in an interview with some other newspaper. Yogesh, thus claims to be practicing Yoga in its perfect form.

“I have no formal Yoga training”, told Yogesh “but am grateful to my firm for inculcating this mindless meditation or is it mindful, whatever; for inculcating this meditation habit, willingly or unwillingly, I don’t know”, said Yogesh looking utterly lost, as if still in Yogic trance.

“This is a perfect example how amidst all the hard work and long hours, people at our law firms have the freedom to take their hobbies forward”, said a visibly proud gentleman, claiming to be the partner. We did a name check and it appears by his sur-name that he could be a partner.

Karan Johar and Baba Ramadeva have flown in to congratulate the two lawyers.

I started this blogging competition with a philosophical (attempted) post on law and life. I am ending the competition with some more on the same lines (just to make the exit a bit dramatic).

Note- Had three more posts lined up. But chicken pox got me and I took the two week 'bed rest' diligently.

Me and my three friends

Me and my three friends-

Mind, Body and Soul

Live in unison

To maintain the cobwebs

Of autonomous threads.  

Each on is difference.

Body is the beast-

Playful and powerful,

Ventures into alleys dark.

The mind mindful, flogs hard.

And when, the then watch glass,

Turns into an imprisoned,

Subdued heap of sand;

The soul discards his disguised,

Self-ostracized self.

Unchained he scours

The gory great grave

Which was dug by the beast

And leveled hurriedly by the mind.

The body is the criminal,

The mind, his lawyer.

Soul is the judge and I,

I am the witness-

A witness to the unending trial.

Ah! Alas! Mind, body and I die.

The soul sits on the pyre and bids goodbye.

PS- Had three more posts lined up. But chicken pox got me and I took the 'bed rest' diligently.

Experiments with truth, falsehood, greed, jealousy etc.

1.) For the first few posts I commented on my own blog posts. Its not difficult. You can hop among computers at the library and chuck some anonymous comments. Even if you do it through the same computer, with the same IP address...Kian can't do much. :)

2.) If that was not enough my comments on my own posts were egotistic. Many of them read 'great post'; 'wonderful writing' etc. Some comments also posed questions (anonymously) so that Legal poet could reply to them and carry on the discussion forward.

I did this for hits. I loved 'hits'. More the merrier. With a comment posted your blog title gets showed up in the 'recent comments' listing and makes for say half a dozen extra hits.

3.) But yes...I rarely, if ever criticized a co-blogger anonymously.

4.) And yes...after those first few posts I stopped commenting on my own posts. LegallyIndia announced that hits don't matter and I too was bored with all this.

PS- This is not to garner votes from people who will say 'oh! he is so truthful' or to dissuade those presently cursing me. Read this and forget this, please.

My take on bloggers

Folly Nariman is the best (though I don't think she will be a part of this edition of the blogging competition), Nandii is a terribly close second. I am placed third. Danish is awesome. LegalDrift and John2010 are awesome too. I wish both of them take away the social blogging prizes. Napster looks good though I haven't read his recent posts.

Legal Popat was a legend.

I am not too big a fan of sss's writing. Anirban, I thought did a couple of genius posts but then many of his posts read like a law student's research project- unedited, un-formatted and unreadable.

ps- my personal take. Please don't take personally.

Thank you LegallyIndia for this wonderful platform. Truckloads of thanks too Mr. Kian Ganz and Legal Dodo for encouragement, support and guidance. Thank you everybody....the commenters, the critics, the personal messagers.

PS- the post was written in a hurry. Excuse me for the typos.

It’s been exactly a month since my last post. 

In the meantime, I have worked on and closed three multi-million pound deals, forgotten several important family birthdays, missed social events and temporarily lost the ability to tell which day of the week it is.

While in itself this is not particularly shocking, it inevitably leads me to the question- are corporate lawyers happy with the way their lives are turning out?

I asked around and while most of our ilk basks in the glorious sunshine of the corporate life, the few that are disgruntled have certain complaints.

*********************************************************************

1. Ticket to Ride (Year: 1965; Album: Help!; Authors: Lennon with McCartney)

 Any journey to Dante’s Fourth Circle of Hell (Avarice and Prodigality) starts in law school where (without the services of Chris Nolan’s dream-inducing protagonist) the idea is planted in young, impressionable minds that picking up a corporate job is the ultimate mark of success in law school. The brightest, i.e., who land a job with Ramachand & Saunf are regarded with the sort of awe that was previously reserved for the dashing opening bat that knocked off a century in the first ten overs of the final house match. The mental picture painted is one of a room full of geniuses pulling ideas out of the proverbial hat to solve complex legal problems that would boggle the ordinary mind. Inevitably, one aspires to be the object of such reverence.

In most cases, however, what follows is disappointingly anti-climactic. As Folly Nariman points out in her entry Due Diligence and Dreaming Beyond It., the work can be desperately mind-numbing and after a while even the most enthusiastic worker is aware that he/she has been lured into and trapped in an Indonesian sweatshop. Upon identification of this fact, some quit pretty quickly and take up the fine arts. Others switch firms every couple of years hoping that they come across something that excites them. The rest grumble a bit about being sold a dummy pass, but decide to take one on the chin and continue on with the ride.

2. I’ll Keep You Satisfied (Year: 1963, Single; Authors: McCartney with Lennon)

Corporate lawyers are in a service industry wherein the retention of clients is a significant aspect. Fulfilling every little client whim and fancy is the corporate lawyer’s avowed goal and mission. If the lawyer doesn’t deliver to their exacting expectations, clients will simply up and go someplace else humming the Rolling Stones signature anthem. To guard against this, the corporate lawyer sleeps with one eye on his/her blinking red BlackBerry and when he/she buys a suit, he/she buys two jackets to go with it- one to leave on his/her office chair in the rare instances he/she goes home, just to make sure everyone knows he/she remains at their beck and call at all times.

3. A Hard Days Night (Year: 1964; Album: A Hard Day’s Night; Author: Lennon)

As a direct offshoot of my point above, it is a well known fact hours can be pretty bad at law firms leaving lawyers little time for anything else. As a result, law firms see some of the highest attrition rates across the board. In India, it is rumoured that a huge factor contributing to this is the conscious understaffing of law offices to boost profitability, the operating logic being the abundance of eager law graduates waiting and willing to step into the shoes of those who refuse to bear the donkey-load any longer. Each time, however, the fact being conveniently ignored is that the investment made by the firm in training these people is lost when they leave, thus exacerbating the understaffing issue and a pretty vicious cycle ensues. While conditions in the UK are slightly better, the billable hour centric law firm model ensures that associates keep their nose to the grindstone. From bonuses to appraisals to redundancies, it all comes down to the number of hours recorded.

Since the corporate lawyer bathes, brushes, eats, sleeps, prays and parties at the office itself, I am severely tempted to ask the question why they end up working a job they abhor to pay the rent for that fancy apartment they don’t even get to live in.

4. With A Little Help From My Friends (Year: 1967; Album: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band; Authors: Lennon and McCartney)

Any law firm worth its salt has a highly charged, competitive atmosphere. It’s what you get when you put a set of very bright, ambitious and politically astute people in an enclosed environment. A law firm isn’t a place for the lily-livered. The soft underbellies are identified early and slaughtered mercilessly. While Darwin’s survival of the “fittest” theory doesn’t quite fit the bill here (See Volenti "Non Fit" Injuria), Mario Puzo’s advice on chilling more with your enemies than your friends is practised widely. For example, since being slightly paranoid makes better lawyers, newbies are advised to be wary of each other, as a verbal slip during a night out drinking could make all the difference at the next round of promotions. Often, it does and life lessons of distrust are learnt.

5. When I’m Sixty-Four (Year: 1967; Album: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band; Author: Lennon)

A lot of corporate lawyers are now concerned about how they will feel when they take a look back at their lives. Ironically, it’s this maniacal self-obsession that makes them such great lawyers in the first place. Their main worry, of course, is that they won’t have too much in their biographies which will be rated PG-13. Few corporate lawyers (for no fault of theirs I might add) have had time for things like justice, making a difference and helping the disadvantaged. Bill Gates (who ranked 8^th as a “Hero of our Times”) and his humanitarian philanthropy, therefore, is now turning out to be a dangerous influence on corporate lawyers. 

Also, there are only so many pages over which one can stretch hostile takeover negotiations, irrespective of how brilliantly they may have been carried on.

6. Can’t Buy Me Love (Year: 1964; Album: A Hard Day’s Night; Author: McCartney)

The natural retort any semi-intelligent reader would have is why all the complaining when the corporate lawyer is paid so handsomely. Some would call it being hypocritical since the corporate lawyer was under no obligation to sell his/her soul. Undoubtedly, the argument has its merits, but as any self-respecting life guru will tell you a hefty bank balance will get you a titillating lap-dance but the nice lady won’t be waiting up to listen to you whine when you get home after a bad day.

******************************************************************* 

Admittedly, I probably fall on the more whiny side of things so my vision might be slightly skewed. But my limited survey tells me that I’m not alone.

Happiness, they sang, is a warm gun.

Justice is expensive and rightly for the rich. The modern Indian system with the high price of vegetables and poverty stretching, naxal clouds are spreading in the poorer parts of the nation.

The Red corridor, ie the term given to the so called roughly Red naxal territory now stretches in  patches from Tirupati to Pashupati. The fine line between a terrorist and freedom fighter is blurring even with enough media pressure and gag orders. A few thinking folk realize that when talking of terrorriom that it is a war of ideas.

The reason Neta ji or Bhagat Singh have not made it on our bank notes and only few years ago they decided that Bhagat Singh deserved a statue in the parliament is mainly because our nation’s reins were handed down into the hands of the then Moderates.

Leaving the past looking into the future we realize that corporate terrorism could be there next new weapon of choice. Nations live off Stock markets which feed the interests of millions of shareholder in large corporations.

Where advertisement industries play folly with the human mind and create need and want where there is none, war propaganda follows the same route to sell an Ideology over the other.

A nation being nothing more than the collective will of a few institutions which exist on the bases of mutual fear and personal interests. This makes patriotism a tool for propaganda while justice is served hot for only those who follow the ideology of the nation.

Looking from a distance these micro behavioral patterns point towards a clearly evolved animal and nothing more.Devil's Dictionary defines man as : An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is, as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. Where in the instance of things our need is always the call of the hour and our wants are our driving force.

Now looking at the evolution of governing systems which are forever changing,  the  evolutionary form of governments where we have moved from tribal chiefs to kings to emperors being the highest point and then the circle comes around again; this time it moves the power in the hands of the people and slowly but steadily the circle starts moving again and so does the flow of this power change hands.

We are fulfilling our role in the circle of events with our views, state or anti-state, both need to be  voiced to balance the yin and yang of modern governance and provide for longer periods of stability.

• When talking about the importance of anti-state element Benjamin Disraeli, 1st earl of Beaconsfield in Coningsby  stated "No government can long be secure without a formidable opposition"

• Thomas Jefferson in Vol.XIV of Writings says; "Where the press is free and every man able to read , all is safe."

The very origin of the universe lies in conflicts; explosions and combustions surround us today to make our world what it is, from the fuels for fires to rushing water against hydel generators, there must be a conflict. A silent class is a dead class; there must be discussion.

But at the same time this has to be carefully channelized through the mechanism of state and individual elements; more like a fixed dose of conflict is important for the betterment of our society.

• Thomas Paine also tries to  suggest a balance of elements, both state and anti- state when he said in his pamphlet Common Sense published in 1776  that ;"society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state , an intolerable one."

 But knowing these things can make one heavy burdened with unnecessary thought; to be a fair student of conflict is heavy on ones mind; to referee  any kind of match is tiresome more on the mind than it can ever take from the body, specially when both side are yelling.

 Those who have been students of the study of conflicts and its creation from the big bang to human conflicts from the violent French and American wars for independence to the more subservient Indian form of revolt, Or a match or long stretched arguments, we know it takes a toll. A toll on us as we try and search for the truth amidst all the ruckus.

There must always be something at war with the other to keep man going on, monotony is the death of us.

Conflict creates and fear preserves.

It is a understood thing that Shiva has more temple than Brahma, because the fear of the destroyer is far greater than that of the one who has created. 

Fear comes in with Vishnu too, the punisher of evil but Lord Shiva wins on the temple count.

Fear or mutual fear keeps peace and not love or any other kind of emotional candy.

• Equals rarely go into war. George Washington  said " There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy." Highlighting the importance of the need to maintain mutual fear among enemies for peace.

Poor judgment as to assessing the opponent is a totally different issue, even then the damage tends to be so great that enough lessons for the future are learnt . New things are learnt or in other words come into existence in our thoughts and way of life.

This author thinks the doctrine of fear and conflicts can virtually be applied to all aspects of our being, our relationships, law, religion etc.

Conflict creates and divides.

Fear maintains and combines.

 Fear and conflicts with our thoughts, with others and with Mother Nature has brought us to the evolved state we are in today and shall continue to evolve us.The kind of conflicts we indulge in defines us, let these conflicts be intellectual , armed, territorial, political, commercial or within us introspective. We become children of that kind of constant war that we indulge  in.

Fear on the other had is often the sole reason why laws are obeyed , fear of punishment, finical loss or loss in any form is a cause enough for fear thus this makes a man more cautious as he treads on conditions laid down with their effective grounds of exercise of power being  the power of  fear.

• Ambrose Bierce in The Devil’s Dictionary gave this meaning to Justice “ justice : a commodity which in a more or less adulterated condition the state sells to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance , taxes and personal service." Thus simply putting it justice too comes with the carrot stick game being played upon us. If you don’t follow you get the stick and if you do, there could be a carrot for you.

• Adding to the doctrine of conflict Samuel Gompers said in one of his speeches “Show me the country that has no strikes and I’ll show the country in which there is no liberty.” He could  be suggesting that certain conflicts with the elements of the system are important to create elbow space for liberal men.

The above content is an initial post on the said matter of the doctrine of conflict and fear, I will try putting in some more inputs and enlarging the umbrella of these thoughts.

PS: Mine is a  sad state of affairs when it comes to grammar and spellings , please forgive , excuse and politely correct where the need may arise.