In a move aimed at talent upskilling to meet the challenges of rapid expansion of the legal industry, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), the country’s largest full-services law firm has entered into a partnership with internationally renowned legal education provider Barbri to provide its lawyers with an opportunity to dual qualify in the US or England and Wales.
Speaking to FE, Paridhi Adani, daughter of Cyril Shroff , Managing Partner of CAM, who heads the Gujarat operations for the firm, said the tie-up was in sync with the firm’s strategy to position itself as a global player which could take on the challenge provided by global law firms as and when they enter the Indian market. “Our plan is to stand out as a firm which can provide clients an equal or better choice in terms of our talent pool which would be as qualified as their foreign counterparts from a foreign law perspective,” she said. She, however, hastens to add that the intent is “not about others being less qualified but to add value snd edge that we can bring to our wide and global clients.”
As per the CAM-Barbri agreement, Barbri would support the lawyers of CAM’s dual qualification training programme with preparations for clearing the US Bar and Soliciters Qualifying Exam of England and Wales. This would not only enhance their lawyering in terms of practising in these geographies but would also enhance their understanding of laws of these countries better.
Said Ritwik Lukose, co-founder of Vahura, the country’s largest specialist legal placement and consulting firm, “ It is definitely a very interesting development for the Indian domestic legal landscape. My sense is that it may partly be driven by the fact that Indian law firms are wanting to set up offices abroad and hence may want to upskill their lawyers. And secondly, it will definitely serve as a talent differentiator.”
Interestingly, CAM is among the clutch of renowned law firms which have a presence in the other countries. While CAM has a full-fledged office in Singapore and has recently opened one in Abu Dhabi, another biggie Khaitan & Co also has a branch in Singapore. Said Bharat Anand, senior Partner with Khaitan, “Scalability of these offices will be driven by Indian business needs and their quality to break away from Indian business dependence to generate business locally.” Other firms with branches abroad include Nishith Desai Associates and Kochhar & Co.
The CAM move to help their lawyers acquire dual qualifications is also driven by the fact that there is a real dearth of lawyers with such qualifications. Says Adani, In our ecosystem, the lawyers with dual qualifications are still a rarity. I’d hazard a guess that such lawyers must not be more than 1-5 % of the total lawyers in the country.”
She adds that the pace at which the Indian economy is growing and the rapid changes taking place at the geo-political level globally, there is a need for lawyers trained to understand the finer nuances of cross-border transactions. “We have been working over the years to invest in the personal growth of lawyers and put a lot of thought and investment in the development upskilling of our talent pool in response to the needs of the lawyers and our clients,” she surmises adding that “after a certain level of seniority we customise development plans of each lawyer.”
Asked if the CAM-Barbri initiative was also a move to to stem the possible exodus of lawyers to greener pastures with foreign law firms all set to enter the Indian legal space, Adani quipped, “It may be an outcome but its not the main motive.”
CAM has chosen six lawyers from different levels from junior associate to principal associate to undergo the first training project under the CAM-Barbri tie-up. The lawyers are being prepped for the US Bar and SQE exams which are scheduled to take place in July this year. “We will evaluate the project to prepare a blue print for the future of the initiative,” Adani states.