Bar & Bench speaks to Shaun Star, editor of “Australia and India: A Comparative Overview of the Law and Legal Practice” and founder of the Australia India Youth Dialogue..Last week Australian High Commissioner’s residence saw legal eagles from India and Australia attend the book launch of “Australia and India: A Comparative Overview of the Law and Legal Practice”. The book was launched by Australia’s Attorney General George Brandis QC, and ex Attorney General Soli Sorabjee..This book, edited by Shaun Star, is a comparative study of the Indian and Australian legal systems. Each chapter has has been co-authored by some of Australia’s and India’s top legal luminaries including the likes of Haigreve Khaitan, Cyril Shroff, Pallavi Shroff, Shardul Shroff, Sumanto Basu, Madhurima Mukherjee, Nisha Kaur Uberoi, Gopal Subramanium, Anand Grover, and V Umakanth..At the launch, the Australian Attorney General made an interesting observation on India-Australia ties..“Australia loves Indian lawyers more than Indian cricketers considering Sorabjee was the first to be made made an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and Sachin Tendulkar was only the second. It is significant that the first was to a lawyer and the second to a cricketer.”.Shaun Star, the man behind the book, speaks to Bar & Bench about liberalisation of legal market, Indian law firms and much more..Bar & Bench: How did the idea come about? How did you select the authors for each of the practice areas?.Shaun Star: I was fortunate to have been selected by the Australian Government to receive an Endeavour Award Scholarship, which entitled me to study and work in India. I thoroughly enjoyed my time studying at the National Law School of Indian University in Bangalore, where I had the opportunity to learn different aspects of Indian law..It occurred to me, however, that while the Indian and the Australian legal systems share many similarities, there are still many differences between our jurisdictions. Yet, there was very little information available for Australian and Indian lawyers to learn about the other’s systems. A volume comparing the two legal systems would be valuable to lawyers from both sides..I have been privileged to work with some of India’s and Australia’s best and brightest legal minds while putting this volume together. It is surprising the number of senior advocates, corporate law partners and judges who are supportive of stronger Australia-India legal ties..This book is important not only because it provides a resource for those interested to learn about how these different regulatory regimes work but because it also promotes collaboration..Through this publication, I have been able to introduce many of the authors to each other for the first time – many of whom have starting working on other projects together..B&B: How do you view India – Australia relations? .SS: They are stronger and deeper than they have ever been before. In 2014, we witnessed back-to-back visits by our respective Prime Ministers. These visits marked a number of significant milestones in the relationship, reflecting the commitment on both sides to deepen engagement with the one another in a number of important issue areas..The forthcoming closer economic cooperation agreement and the civil nuclear cooperation agreement reflect the fact that our relationship is strengthening..B&B: What are your views on liberalisation of Indian legal market?.SS: I believe that any policy that encourages greater collaboration between Australian and Indian businesses and lawyers is healthy. Liberalisation of commercial legal advisory services can be mutually beneficial. I have been fortunate enough to work alongside world-class corporate lawyers in both India and Australia, and would welcome greater access for foreign lawyers to have similar opportunities in India..As trade and investment into India continues to increase, nowadays many Indian lawyers interact regularly with their foreign qualified counterparts on complex transactions. The liberalisation of the Indian legal market is likely to give even more exposure to locally trained lawyers to international practices – this can only be beneficial for the growth of the commercial legal advisory services industry..B&B: How do you compare working of an Indian law firm versus Australian firm?.SS: The skill-sets acquired in working as a transactional lawyer are transferrable across different common law jurisdictions. Of course there are different nuances in the legal systems, which I had to learn when moving to India. Interestingly, I started working at Amarchand at a time when the new Companies Act was coming into force – so I was not the only one who had to learn how the new machinery of India’s corporate law regime functioned..It was also interesting adjusting to daily life in the context of an Indian law firm. In Australia, lawyers arrive at work by 8:30am and aim to leave the office at a reasonable time (although that is often not possible in the context of some transactions). In India, I was not expected to arrive at work until much later – although I would often find myself having dinner at the office with my colleagues..This was also due to the fact that the deal-flow in India is consistent and I have had the opportunity to work on numerous large and interesting transactions – there seems to never be a dull moment practicing corporate law in India in recent times. That being said, I always found time to catch-up with my colleagues at the local chai-wallah, a practice that I was not accustomed to in Australia..B&B: Thoughts on the Indian legal education system? Is an Australian legal education as expensive as an American or UK-based one?.SS: While both systems produce quality graduates, there are a number of stark differences that come to mind when comparing the legal education systems..In Australia, there are a set number of compulsory subjects (11 law subjects) that need to be completed for a law graduate to be admitted into practice in Australia. Accordingly, most universities allow plenty of scope for students to choose electives throughout their degree. The way most national law schools structure their degrees are such that students have a heavy workload which is often dominated by core subjects until much later in their degree when they may choose some seminar courses..In addition, many students in Australia work alongside their studies – this allows students to gain experience in law firms or other businesses (as a paralegal for instance) while still at university..Law schools in Australia are world class. I know that many Indian graduates look only to the USA and UK for postgraduate studies (I studied alongside numerous Indian students at Oxford during the BCL) – however, very few even consider Australian universities as an option. I would recommend that graduates of LLBs in India consider Australia as an option for completing their postgraduate studies..In addition, the depreciating Australian dollar in recent times has probably made studying in Australia cheaper for Indian students (relative to USA and UK).
Bar & Bench speaks to Shaun Star, editor of “Australia and India: A Comparative Overview of the Law and Legal Practice” and founder of the Australia India Youth Dialogue..Last week Australian High Commissioner’s residence saw legal eagles from India and Australia attend the book launch of “Australia and India: A Comparative Overview of the Law and Legal Practice”. The book was launched by Australia’s Attorney General George Brandis QC, and ex Attorney General Soli Sorabjee..This book, edited by Shaun Star, is a comparative study of the Indian and Australian legal systems. Each chapter has has been co-authored by some of Australia’s and India’s top legal luminaries including the likes of Haigreve Khaitan, Cyril Shroff, Pallavi Shroff, Shardul Shroff, Sumanto Basu, Madhurima Mukherjee, Nisha Kaur Uberoi, Gopal Subramanium, Anand Grover, and V Umakanth..At the launch, the Australian Attorney General made an interesting observation on India-Australia ties..“Australia loves Indian lawyers more than Indian cricketers considering Sorabjee was the first to be made made an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and Sachin Tendulkar was only the second. It is significant that the first was to a lawyer and the second to a cricketer.”.Shaun Star, the man behind the book, speaks to Bar & Bench about liberalisation of legal market, Indian law firms and much more..Bar & Bench: How did the idea come about? How did you select the authors for each of the practice areas?.Shaun Star: I was fortunate to have been selected by the Australian Government to receive an Endeavour Award Scholarship, which entitled me to study and work in India. I thoroughly enjoyed my time studying at the National Law School of Indian University in Bangalore, where I had the opportunity to learn different aspects of Indian law..It occurred to me, however, that while the Indian and the Australian legal systems share many similarities, there are still many differences between our jurisdictions. Yet, there was very little information available for Australian and Indian lawyers to learn about the other’s systems. A volume comparing the two legal systems would be valuable to lawyers from both sides..I have been privileged to work with some of India’s and Australia’s best and brightest legal minds while putting this volume together. It is surprising the number of senior advocates, corporate law partners and judges who are supportive of stronger Australia-India legal ties..This book is important not only because it provides a resource for those interested to learn about how these different regulatory regimes work but because it also promotes collaboration..Through this publication, I have been able to introduce many of the authors to each other for the first time – many of whom have starting working on other projects together..B&B: How do you view India – Australia relations? .SS: They are stronger and deeper than they have ever been before. In 2014, we witnessed back-to-back visits by our respective Prime Ministers. These visits marked a number of significant milestones in the relationship, reflecting the commitment on both sides to deepen engagement with the one another in a number of important issue areas..The forthcoming closer economic cooperation agreement and the civil nuclear cooperation agreement reflect the fact that our relationship is strengthening..B&B: What are your views on liberalisation of Indian legal market?.SS: I believe that any policy that encourages greater collaboration between Australian and Indian businesses and lawyers is healthy. Liberalisation of commercial legal advisory services can be mutually beneficial. I have been fortunate enough to work alongside world-class corporate lawyers in both India and Australia, and would welcome greater access for foreign lawyers to have similar opportunities in India..As trade and investment into India continues to increase, nowadays many Indian lawyers interact regularly with their foreign qualified counterparts on complex transactions. The liberalisation of the Indian legal market is likely to give even more exposure to locally trained lawyers to international practices – this can only be beneficial for the growth of the commercial legal advisory services industry..B&B: How do you compare working of an Indian law firm versus Australian firm?.SS: The skill-sets acquired in working as a transactional lawyer are transferrable across different common law jurisdictions. Of course there are different nuances in the legal systems, which I had to learn when moving to India. Interestingly, I started working at Amarchand at a time when the new Companies Act was coming into force – so I was not the only one who had to learn how the new machinery of India’s corporate law regime functioned..It was also interesting adjusting to daily life in the context of an Indian law firm. In Australia, lawyers arrive at work by 8:30am and aim to leave the office at a reasonable time (although that is often not possible in the context of some transactions). In India, I was not expected to arrive at work until much later – although I would often find myself having dinner at the office with my colleagues..This was also due to the fact that the deal-flow in India is consistent and I have had the opportunity to work on numerous large and interesting transactions – there seems to never be a dull moment practicing corporate law in India in recent times. That being said, I always found time to catch-up with my colleagues at the local chai-wallah, a practice that I was not accustomed to in Australia..B&B: Thoughts on the Indian legal education system? Is an Australian legal education as expensive as an American or UK-based one?.SS: While both systems produce quality graduates, there are a number of stark differences that come to mind when comparing the legal education systems..In Australia, there are a set number of compulsory subjects (11 law subjects) that need to be completed for a law graduate to be admitted into practice in Australia. Accordingly, most universities allow plenty of scope for students to choose electives throughout their degree. The way most national law schools structure their degrees are such that students have a heavy workload which is often dominated by core subjects until much later in their degree when they may choose some seminar courses..In addition, many students in Australia work alongside their studies – this allows students to gain experience in law firms or other businesses (as a paralegal for instance) while still at university..Law schools in Australia are world class. I know that many Indian graduates look only to the USA and UK for postgraduate studies (I studied alongside numerous Indian students at Oxford during the BCL) – however, very few even consider Australian universities as an option. I would recommend that graduates of LLBs in India consider Australia as an option for completing their postgraduate studies..In addition, the depreciating Australian dollar in recent times has probably made studying in Australia cheaper for Indian students (relative to USA and UK).