liberalisation

General Counsel (GC) from 87 Indian companies would mostly like foreign law firms (FLFs) to come into India, but fewer than half of them would prefer giving their business to the FLFs, even though a majority of them find that the FLFs are generally more competent than Indian law firms.

When we interviewed former J Sagar Associates (JSA) senior partner Berjis Desai last month about his new post-retirement life as a private lawyer, he said that one of the advantages with not being inside a law firm anymore, was that “one is freed from the world of conflict of interest - one is free to say what he wants, and speak what one wants.”

General counsel (GCs) from at least 15 big Indian companies welcomed liberalisation in Indian legal services, and said that the Bar Council of India (BCI) was currently the “biggest bottleneck” to law firm liberalisation.

The Society of Indian Law Firms (Silf) reportedly passed a resolution yesterday opposing the government’s notification that might have been intended to pave the way for foreign law firms to operate in special economic zones (SEZs).

The Society of Indian Law Firms (Silf) is not yet sure how to deal with the government’s surprise rule change that might see foreign law firms open up in special economic zones (SEZs) such as the Gujarat International Financial Tec-City (GIFT).

As first reported by Live Law this week, the ministry of commerce and industry, which has been spearheading the government’s efforts to liberalise the legal market, alongside the law ministry, has revoked a ban on the practice of law from special economic zones (SEZs), by issuing a notification in the Gazette of India amending the Special Economic Rules governing Special Economic Zones on 3 January 2017.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) cannot be relied upon to take the legal services liberalisation process forward, said NLU Delhi vice chancellor (VC) Ranbir Singh on Saturday.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) talks to come up with a new proposal to reform its regulation of the legal profession, have been shrouded in secrecy due to a media gag order since October.

NLU Delhi vice chancellor (VC) Prof Ranbir Singh, who on Friday joined the board of the 300-plus member International Association of Universities (IAU), said that the “timing is proper” for liberalisation in Indian legal services.

Senior counsel and Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has sent a letter to prime minister Narendra Modi, copying in the finance, law and commerce ministers, pleading with Modi to not challenge the BCI’s role in regulating the legal profession and the entry of foreign law firms and to bring the BCI back to the negotiating table about the future of the profession.

Opening up of professional services appeared to have been discussed by the delegation headed by UK prime minister Theresa May with the Indian government today, with British justice secretary Elizabeth Truss having said that May would “pave the way for UK lawyers to practise there” after she was asked about the progress of liberalisation in the UK parliament.

The Indian Corporate Counsels Association (ICCA) has proposed eight weekly meetings between various stakeholders in the legal services liberalisation discussion, in order to prepare a status report on the points of consensus and disagreement between them.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has proposed to tighten its control over the legal profession by assuming more than a dozen new functions, statutorily recognising bar associations, formulating new governing rules for law firms and foreign lawyers, and enacting more stringent standards of professional qualification and conduct.

Liberalisation of legal services directly upholds citizens’ constitutional right to the choice of lawyers they want to engage, in Prof NR Madhava Menon’s view.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has backtracked on its earlier full-throated support of liberalisation of the legal market in a six-page letter, saying that it had encountered “strong opposition” from state bar councils and was therefore withdrawing its earlier draft rules to allow foreign lawyers.

The Indian Corporate Counsel Association (ICCA) has produced draft of a Foreign Legal Practitioners (Regulation of Practice) Bill 2016, which it will present at today’s meeting with ministries and stakeholders at 17:30 in Delhi.

The Indian National Bar Association (INBA), which released a report last week calling for the entry of foreign law firms this year, has now also been invited to also meet the Government in tomorrow’s talks on legal market liberalisation.

The Indian National Bar Association (INBA) has weighed into the legal market liberalisation debate, coming up with a proposal that would see foreign law firms entering by the end of this year, with “complete liberalisation” proposed to happen by the end of 2019.

The Society of Indian Law Firms (Silf) has sent its notes to the commerce ministry in the latest stage of the liberalisation talks.