You just cannot stop the entry of foreign law firms

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: which is keen to come to India, if it is interested in practicing law in an Indian court. It will not agree even if you insist. Accountability of our profession is held in a much higher esteem in their country than in ours. According to statistics, very few countries allow foreign lawyers to practice domestic law in their country.

On or about 1991, when India started to liberalise its economy, law firms like Ashurst Morris Crisp (now Ashurst), White and Case and Chadbourne Parke set up liaison offices by taking permission from the Reserve Bank of India. Some foreign law firms set up temporary liaison offices in the country to provide service to their clients and hired some Indian lawyers to assist in drafting the contracts and advising their clients on Indian law.

In 1996, a group of Indian lawyers filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against these firms, especially when the Advocates Act clearly does not allow it. The court passed interim orders, staying the permission of the foreign law firm operating through liaison offices. As a result, most of the firms that opened offices departed.

The foreign law firms, thereafter, started lobbying hard for a legal presence in India. Some of the Indian law firms who had considerable work, started getting worried about competition if the foreign law firms are allowed in the country. They had two alternatives, either to compete or tie up with some foreign firms. While some are certain that they cannot compete, the others were not confident that any good foreign law firms would tie up with them.

If we do not take steps to ensure the entry of foreign law firms, we will have no one, but ourselves, to blame, since some foreign law firms will still find loopholes to enter this lucrative Indian market and they would do so “unregulated”. There are few foreign law firms who have already made strategic tie-ups with Indian firms, and even claim outside India that they have Indian affiliates.

The other question that bogs Indian Bar leaders is the question of Indian lawyers practicing in other countries. There is a misconception amongst the Indian Bar leaders who run the