Many Indian lawyers working in global law firms; distinction between Indian and foreign firms blurred: Karan Singh

For the past decade, Indian lawyers have consistently served as dealmakers on important deals, whether the client is international or Indian, Trilegal co-founder and Partner Karan Singh said on Saturday.

Many Indian lawyers now work at international firms, blurring the distinction between Indian and foreign law firms, he added.

"Whether the client is international or Indian, the dealmaker is an Indian lawyer. This has been the case for the last 10 years. There are many Indian lawyers working in international firms...the differences are not what they used to be," he opined on whether clients would opt for lawyers within their culture.

Singh was moderating today's session on Opening Legal Markets to Foreign Lawyers and Law Firms at the 38th Lawasia Conference being held at Bengaluru.

Lawyers from Germany, United States of America, Cambodia, Australia, USA and Japan were on the panel.

"We are no longer competing with foreign lawyers. We are competing with technology," emphasized Singh at the beginning of the session.

Interestingly, when Singh asked the panel if they would be interested in opening offices in India if the legal market were opened under ideal circumstances, all panelists agreed, except LY Chantola, who is law firm partner and President of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Chantola went on to say,

"A lot of foreign countries have tried to ask Cambodia to relax the reciprocity rule. I am not convinced that it should be deleted. Why can't a Cambodian lawyer practice in a foreign country? Reciprocity ensures equality and fairness."

Singh then asked the panelists what would be a good structure for the rules governing the liberalisation of the legal market.

Head of International at the Law Society of England and Wales Mickael Laurans replied,

"The issue is to what extent we can work together. Opening of the market doesn't mean you will have 100 firms opening overnight. Foreign law firms will lose money for the first five years."

Through the course of the session, the panelists described what the rules for foreign lawyers to practice in their respective jurisdictions were.

Founding Partner of RC Law LLP Xavier Ruiz, who is admitted to practice in the US and in Spain, said,

"Spain has been very open to foreign law firms. Locals are not always keen to pay higher costs (that international firms charge). Foreign firms don't do full service since that would not make them competitive."

Lawyers who have international arbitration experience are required by Japanese firms and lawyers, said Chisako Takaya, Partner at Mori Hamada and Matsumoto, Japan.

President of the Law Council of Australia Luke Murphy spoke on the benefits of the opening up of the Australian legal market, where there is no restriction on foreign lawyers advising on foreign law.

"The internationalisation of legal services in Australia has improved legal knowledge and processes. The fear (of foreign law firms coming in) has been removed," he added.

During the session, Singh inquired how the opening up of the legal market would benefit India. Laurans replied,

"We live in a globalised world, so local clients need foreign advisors. To take the example of India, a lot of Indian related legal work takes place in London, Dubai and Singapore. To what extent can local and foreign lawyers work in the same entity? The impact of opening up of legal market on young lawyers will depend on modalities of joint practice."

"How do you craft a set of sensible regulations for liberalisation to suit the market?" Singh asked next.

Among the requirements were reciprocity, willingness to open up and making the recognition of qualifications easier, Murphy said.

Towards the end of the discussion, Singh highlighted how the US opens its legal market to foreign lawyers through higher legal education

"The US market has always been difficult to conquer. Yet, a foreign lawyer can do an LLM, pass the bar and practice there," he said.

Ruiz agreed, adding,

"What has become a business for universities has also become a means for US law firms to recruit international lawyers."

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