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From today Indian law firms will have to get used to AZB being officially single again, Legally India can reveal.
Clifford Chance and AZB broke off their best friendship late last night, which means that global CC rivals will again be more comfortable approaching AZB with referrals.
“I don’t think there is any single international firm out there which has the ability to sustain any firm like ours [in terms of referrals],” one AZB lawyer summed up eloquently last week.
Most lawyers were hoping for things to slow down by year-end but for many it’s been more a case of pre-year closings and petitions.
The Competition Commission (CCI) is tip-toeing ahead rather carefully and prudently it appears. Rather than swinging its cartel-sundering axe too readily, the CCI’s first ever decision this week went in favour of the alleged cartel, clearing 16 banks from having fixed home loan-related penalty rates.
This week the Delhi bar council settled what sounded like quite a violent fist and pistol fight between two elected members, allegedly.
After a long slumber, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fired its first warning shot across the bow of corporate India this week, allegedly slapping Kingfisher Airlines with a maximum fine of Rs 1 crore for not having played along with investigations.
At least two bombshells dropped both sides of this week.
Diwali is usually a quieter time in India, as lawyers spend time at home with their families basking in the warm glow of candles and rainbow fairy lights.
Not so for the Veerappa Moily, apparently, whose ministry unveiled an ambitious proposal that could signal the end of an era of Bar Council of India (BCI) dominance (or irrelevance as some might say).
Hastened by the impending Diwali court holidays and the 31 October deadline to apply for the bar exam, the petitions against the exam in the Supreme Court momentarily picked up speed this week.
Khaitan & Co celebrated a major win this week in its campaign of growth when AZB & Partners rising star Vaishali Sharma decided to join the firm. For AZB, however, it marked the culmination of several months of somewhat troubling associate attrition.
No one enjoys waiting in immigration these days, least of all when trying to get into the US of A.
The sole proprietorship law firm model has certain advantages. Depending on the proprietor such firms may have stronger strategic direction and decisions can be made quickly, for example.
All is calm and kites flew high over the Colaba slums this evening. In the absence of riots and overt discontent on either side, it is fair to say that the Allahabad High Court ruling in the Ayodyah case yesterday was diplomatically just, in deciding to partition the site of the demolished Babri mosque and the (now legal) birthplace of the god-king Ram into three parts.
This controversy-packed week all of India lived in fear of Friday, awaiting the verdict in the 60-year-old Ayodhya land title dispute.
Indian lawyers planning to qualify as English solicitors were thrown into temporary tizzy this week, as the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) came into effect. Under the new rules Indian lawyers will not be allowed to apply to practise in the UK, as India is not included in the list of jurisdictions to benefit from the QLTS.
Few were surprised when the Bar Council of India (BCI) had too much to do and too little time last weekend, and worked its way through only a few points on its long list.
For once it seems the American law firms rather than the Brits publicly took the lead in India.
Lawyering is beginning younger and younger these days as a number of 2010 graduates won the first court victories of their careers in a controversial high-profile case.
For now they are only skirmishes but these are also early hints of future salary wars brewing.
It appears there is just no winning in India for foreign law firms.
As though the opposition to them practising law here is not enough, the Indian Revenue Services (IRS) too are making their life hard.