Not quite a hung election in the fight in important legal elections. While counting is for the Mumbai Bar Councli is expected to conclude later tonight, while literally just in, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has officially elected Ram Jethmalani as its new president.
Meanwhile, India's eyes - even those of non-lawyers - were firmly fixed on two of the most important court decisions of this year.
The only remaining Mumbai terror attacker was sentenced to death by hanging this week. Although ironically India's only professional executioner died last year this is not the biggest problem.
Our bloggers were not short of views. One argues that rehabilitation rather than capital punishment might be a better way to fight terrorism, a court reporter finds themselves in the midst of the stampeding media circus and one asks whether the death penalty is too soft an option in light of India's protracted legal system.
Used to long court battles without resolution are the Ambani siblings. The Supreme Court ruled on the biggest corporate legal dispute in India's history and decided in favour of Mukesh's RIL. However, while the legal grounds of the judgment are sound maybe even the apex court does not have the power to stop the Reliance brothers feuding.
Remarkably less progress in the Balaji writ petition in Chennai against foreign firms, as Madras High Court holidays have put the case on hold for another month.
Most final year law students thought they would have seen a conclusion of sorts after sitting their last exam this summer. Instead, the Law Ministry and Bar Council of India threw a spanner in the works with bold plans to introduce a compulsory bar exam by this September. Some finalists are up in arms (see this open letter by a student) and it will be reasonable to ask whether building a credible pan-India bar exam in six months
On the other hand, a nice conclusion could be on for Indian arbitration. The Government decided earlier this month to take the first steps towards curing the embarrassments that are the infamous Venture Global v Satyam and ONGC v Saw Pipes cases, by curtailing the judiciaries enthusiasm for interfering in arbitrations.
On a similar note, five mobile "green tribunals" will be created to deal with the backlog in environmental law cases.
A great conclusion too for former Amarchand partner Sumesh Sawhney whose 2006 lateral move to Clifford Chance has paid off four years later with magic circle firm partnership.
Economic Laws Practice (ELP) too has given shape to the next generation's ambitions and promoted five new partners, as well as introduced a new career step borrowed from accountancy firm practices.
A report has predicted that the Indian legal process outsourcing (LPO) industry is expected to triple in size in the next five years. A new beginning, rather than conclusion also for NLIU Bhopal, which has launched its first law journal after two months of hard work.
Deals concluded this week: KKR with AZB, Amarchand and Simpson Thacher in a $166m cement investment, plus Luthra & Luthra's $50m Jharkhand coal mine project and LexCounsel focusing further on the education space.
Blogs this week:
Bihari Babuu in a legal fable on the boy who cried wolf and case backlogs;
nandiireywal gets lost in British translation. Innit;
allym writes about a provocative damsel in legal distress;
legalpanand asks what makes lawyers ethical;
One blogger cries for help and hates law college, while another loves law school completely - both attract considerable reader attention;
and finally a new cartoon by Legally Drawn.
Forum post of the week:
Legal Dodo attacks the "'entitlement culture' [that] is typical of Douglas McGregor's Theory X employees who want more of everything, irrespective of whether they are entitled to it or not. More perks, more incentives, more salary, more holidays, more benefits, more raises... the list goes on."
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