Legal Consulting Firm

  A flourishing legal industry is growing in lockstep with one of the world’s most dynamic and fastest-growing economies, creating extraordinary opportunities for lawyers and law firms. Here’s everything you need to know about the remarkable growth and incredible future of the Indian legal market. Myths and misinformation about India’s legal industry continue to hold surprising sway among lawyers and clients both inside and outside the country. Therefore, it seems appropriate to begin this overview of the Indian legal market with some hard facts that establish the enormous promise of this burgeoning sector.  India’s legal profession is the world’s secondlargest, with more than 600,000 lawyers in more than 500 legal practices nationwide. In 2010, the total value of the Indian legal market was estimated to be approximately US$1.25 billion. Expertise is flourishing in such practice areas as arbitration and ADR, competition law, environmental law, international...

 For most businesses in India as elsewhere, acquisitions are seen as a tool to further growth and diversification. For law firms as well, acquisitions are often seen as a method by which the acquiring firm is able to venture into new practice areas while achieving cost synergies brought on by the increased scale of operation. However, recently businesses in India have begun to look at acquisitions as a form of ‘exit strategy,’ or a method by which entrepreneurs are able to sell off their investment in a business that they founded. Thus, acquisitions have also begun to function as a form of exit planning for founders who are looking to retire in the near future. This type of strategic acquisition becomes especially relevant in the context of law firms which have been started and managed by an individual or a group of individuals who would like to see that the firm continues to flourish even after their exit. For such founders, passing on the ownership to a suitable acquire...

Individual brilliance may define a successful lawyer; however collective brilliance is the cornerstone for a successful law firm. As a lawyer with strong core competencies, unless you are able to work in a team and harness your colleagues’ skills, your firm will always perform below par. Improved client deliveries, enhanced quality and increased office morale are undoubtedly some of the more talked about advantages of effective teamwork. However teamwork also has a great role to play for retaining clients and talent as well as for creating leaders. In this age where clients require comprehensive advice across practice areas, team support is indispensable to deliver innovative, all-encompassing and responsive advice. Team support is also critical for recovering from a demoralizing result in court or in a transaction. It is also a great boost at the time of celebrating success. Beyond the above points of view, there are also other lesser talked about aspects which make it crucial to prom...

 Every  law firm  has its share of rainmakers, intellectuals, enforcers and senior partners. In many mid-sized and smaller law firms, the managing partner is chosen from one of these groups, based on one specific role and the importance the firm gives to that role. I often ask my clients whether their firm has defined criteria for the appointment of a managing partner. Has it taken the time and effort to lay down guidelines with respect to the selection process, delegation of authority and power, role, responsibilities, duties, tenure and other relevant issues? In most cases firms claim to have answers to all my questions in their minds. However, when they consider the actual decisions they have made in the past, they see that rarely have these points been covered. The appointment of the managing partner is on many occasions a matter of convenience or a continuation of a pre-established practice. The founder, senior-most partner, or the partner who brings in ...

 This article showcases the top 5 trends that can be observed at a nascent stage today in Indian Law Firms and will become increasingly apparent in the future. What India’s top law firms are doing to stay ahead of the curve.  The Indian legal industry has been expanding rapidly over the years in spite of global recession. With growth comes increased competition and India’s top law firms are looking at innovative ways to stay ahead of the curve. This article showcases the top 5 trends that can be observed at a nascent stage today in Indian Law Firms and will become increasingly apparent in the future. Download PDF 1. Mergers & Acquisitions and Breakaways The competitive nature of the  Law Firm Industry in India  has created a situation where Firms are looking to merge and acquire in order to strengthen and consolidate their position in the Industry, while Lawyers are looking to break away in order to create their own identity. Top tier fir...

  India’s prominence on the global stage continues to grow. Its economy is ranked third in the world on the basis of purchasing power parity and is growing at the fourth-fastest rate, while eight Indian companies occupy slots on the Fortune 500 list and most Fortune 500 companies have a presence here. It is therefore surprising to the casual observer that a majority of the world’s most prominent law firms have no formal presence in India. Those who stay informed about the Indian legal marketplace, however, know that foreign law firms are banned from the practice of law in India. In the 2009 Lawyers Collective v. Indian Bar Council case, the Bombay High Court confirmed that foreign law firms are prohibited from practising either litigation or corporate advisory work in this country. These two factors are not only encouraging many Indian firms to look at innovative ways to associate with each other that can maximize their combined potential; they are also prompting many foreign ...

  As the Indian legal market matures, so do the requirements for the professional development of lawyers. Gone are the times when being a professionally qualified lawyer was good enough. With law being a highly competitive profession the need for training and skill development is all the more imperative. Why Training Many lawyers feel, even after the completion of their course work, that they know very little and lack skills that the changing time demands. With increasing attrition and the cost of hiring laterals, it makes a perfect case for upgrading the skills of an existing talent pool and placing them in a befitting position of the firm. One needs to understand that attending a single training program does not change people or a Firm’s culture overnight. Training should be an integral part of the  law firm . Legal and soft skills training will strengthen professionalism, improve the performance of legal professionals, enhance service quality and ...

 Successful lawyers are those who are trusted advisors for their clients, and not merely service providers. While the quality of deliveries impacts your retention as a service provider, in order to become a trusted aide to your client it is imperative to ensure that quality is delivered in a timely fashion, keeping in mind the client’s schedule and priorities. On time all the time Timeliness extends beyond work deliveries. It includes being on time for meetings, ensuring your phone is available and not occupied when a call has been scheduled, sending timely updates on the status of the work, ensuring no emails go unanswered, and other actions that convince the client that he or she is at the top of your mind. Follow strict timelines It is important to remember that it is not only you and your office that plan timelines for assignments; your client too has his or her own timeline, of which your delivery date is ...

 It is undeniable that running a law firm today involves both practicing the law and running a business. Thus, there is nothing wrong with employing practices that are successful for other businesses to your law firm. Practices like giving discounts in the form of credits and not cash discounts, creating reserves with mandatory monthly contributions, linking salary and retainer hikes directly to the firm’s performance, etc. are all practices that can be successfully implemented in a law firm. On a more macro level, given below are the four key factors for ensuring better cash flows for your firm. Stabilizing your cash flows need not be a complex task: sometimes implementing even the simplest of concepts can reap the greatest of rewards. Make Revenue Flow Projections  – It is important to prepare exact cash flow projections for at least 2 years, taking into account both your existing clients as well as prospective clients. Be conservative while putting down the numbers...

 he topic of liberalization of the Indian legal profession has once again gained steam to become a hot point of conversation, both in India and globally. The new Indian government has pro-liberalization lawyers at the helm of the ministries of Law and Finance. India has the third largest GDP as per the Purchasing Power Parity Index, and with the new government having a clear reformist approach across industry sectors, there has been a substantial and meaningful movement towards clarity in the legal sector as well. As a signatory to GATS, India has an obligation to open up the legal sector. After years of see-sawing, in 2014 the Ministry of Commerce began working on a cabinet paper through a 15- to 20-member inter-ministerial group with limited representation from non-government experts. The indications are that the proposal will contain a phased-entry strategy for f oreign law firms , which will begin with progressive reforms for strengthening  Indian law fir...