Indian Law firms are ready to accept global challenge

MUMBAI: Indian companies are more confident and competitive then ever before and the law firms serving them needs to be equally well exposed to cater to India Inc. The only way to do is to liberalise the legal sector for foreign firms.

"Indian companies are expanding in mature markets, emerging countries and underdeveloped geographies as well. To cater to these new business opportunities they will also need law firms with multi jurisdiction bandwidth," said Jonathan Brayne, Partner and Chairman, India Group of UK based corporate law firm Allen & Overy told ET, "If legal sector liberalizes, the domestic firms will also get the exposure to international market."

Father of four children and alumni of Cambridge Law School, Jonathan (54) also said that, "If India wants to create an international financial centre like Singapore or Dubai, it has to open its entire ecosystem of services which includes sectors like financial, legal, accounting and advertising among others."

"Indian law firms are very sophisticated, confident and very competent when it comes to quality of delivering work," asserts Jonathan, who is frequent visitor to India since 1980s. "All they need is more exposure." Jonathan joined Allen & Overy in 1974.

A&O is an international legal practice firm with approximately 5,000 people, including some 512 partners, working in 40 offices worldwide.