Law firms gear up for global competition
Indian companies are busy ramping up partners, adding newer verticals to take on overseas peers.
NEW DELHI: In this year���s Oscar winner Michael Clayton, the eponymous protagonist takes on the gargantuan U-North, courtesy the size of his firm and its networks the world over.
If Clayton were to fight the case from India, he would have thought twice. One, Indian law firms don���t possess the scale to battle it out with multinationals. Two, regulations, such as restricted bench strength of 20 partners and the inability of law firms to solicit business online, would bung additional spanners.
However, law firms in India are getting their act together by ramping up partners and romping into newer verticals, or practices, in legal parlance. In the process, they are hiring specialists to prepare for the inevitable entry of foreign law firms in the country.
Traditionally, law firms in India have provided services such as M&A, labour law, project finance, general corporate advisory, anti-dumping, intellectual property (IP) and insurance. But all that is changing fast. Already a full service law firm with the strength of almost 160 lawyers, Luthra & Luthra, which had been voted the ���Most Dynamic Law Firm for the Year��� by Asia Legal Business, expanded its practice in taxation (direct and indirect), specialised in real estate and intellectual property practices. ���We look to grow both organically and strategically,��� says Rajiv Luthra, managing partner and founder, Luthra & Luthra.
If Clayton were to fight the case from India, he would have thought twice. One, Indian law firms don���t possess the scale to battle it out with multinationals. Two, regulations, such as restricted bench strength of 20 partners and the inability of law firms to solicit business online, would bung additional spanners.
However, law firms in India are getting their act together by ramping up partners and romping into newer verticals, or practices, in legal parlance. In the process, they are hiring specialists to prepare for the inevitable entry of foreign law firms in the country.
Traditionally, law firms in India have provided services such as M&A, labour law, project finance, general corporate advisory, anti-dumping, intellectual property (IP) and insurance. But all that is changing fast. Already a full service law firm with the strength of almost 160 lawyers, Luthra & Luthra, which had been voted the ���Most Dynamic Law Firm for the Year��� by Asia Legal Business, expanded its practice in taxation (direct and indirect), specialised in real estate and intellectual property practices. ���We look to grow both organically and strategically,��� says Rajiv Luthra, managing partner and founder, Luthra & Luthra.
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For solicitors and advocates of FoxMandal Little, ���it is a mental block with the clients if we outsource expertise,��� says Som Mandal, managing partner of the firm. He claims that since competition law is a new area, his firm is getting acclimatised to it. ���Apart from competition law, we���re looking at WTO-related trade, projects, funds and media & entertainment,��� points out Pallavi Shroff, partner at Amarchand Mangaldas, a law firm.
Hiring specialists is another step that the law firms are taking. Recently, Luthra & Luthra hired a former commissioner of customs & excise to leverage his 26 years of experience in excise law. FoxMandal has taken Proshanto Banerjee, former chairman of GAIL and executive director of IOC, on board. ���Oil & gas is a new practice area for us and if we get Mr Banerjee���s expertise in oil & gas arbitration, it bodes well for us,��� claims Mr Mandal. The firm has also recently recruited former DRI honcho Jagvir Singh since ���he���s good with anti-dumping and revenue-related matters���.
With newer practice areas coming in, talent shortage is showing up. ���We need people who are specialists in sports and entertainment law as these verticals are getting corporatised and the industry is looking at hiring organised lawyers,��� says Mr Mandal. Similarly, Mr Shroff���s firm, besides lawyers, is also looking at economists and chartered accountants to decode competition law.
Luthra & Luthra has recently inducted 12 new partners. Such initiatives have primarily been taken in the light of the current debate on the opening up of the Indian legal sector to foreign firms. Mr Luthra is of the opinion that expansion of practice areas and wider participation in the management are positive steps to meet the requirements of a growing market.
However, how does a legal firm here compete with a foreign law firm with 200 partners? Mr Shroff says, ���We are open to foreign firms coming to India, but the industry should first be opened up domestically in 3-4 years. Also, foreign firms should be allowed to enter only through joint ventures.���
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Mr Mandal, however, feels that foreign firms should not be allowed to practice Indian law, citing global examples wherein international law firms are not allowed to tinker with domestic law.Download
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