India Business Law Journal – June 2015

Familiar stories are sparking change

There is little novelty in a tale about fraternal rivalry, especially in India

While many a Bollywood blockbuster has focused on this theme, stories of disputes between siblings – be it in the political sphere or within powerful family owned businesses in India – have frequently bubbled over into the public domain. But a lot depends on the clout that the family in question commands, and more importantly on how the dispute ends.

Seen in this light, the dispute that led to the demise of Amarchand Mangaldas may not have been particularly remarkable, or entirely unexpected. Yet few could have foreseen the volume of movement triggered by the creation of the two legal powerhouses that it has spawned.

This month’s Cover story focuses on the unprecedented recruitment spree being undertaken by both Shroff brothers as they vie to strengthen their individual firms. With few barriers preventing the poaching of lawyers, several high-profile professionals have been lured away from their previous positions to join one or other of the new Shroff firms. Among the frenzy, attributes such as loyalty to a firm appear to have fallen by the wayside. According to Berjis Desai, the managing partner of J Sagar Associates, which itself suffered a significant loss of talent, this is a sign of a maturing legal market. More importantly, he says, the “churning will bring change and change, in the long term, is good”.

Shardul and Cyril Shroff have both been battling to regain the dominant position, but there is no indication as yet which brother will come out on top. An informal and unscientific straw poll of lawyers conducted recently by India Business Law Journal found opinion on which of the new firms would edge ahead of the other split down the middle. But what is abundantly clear is that the rivalry between the powerful brothers has reshaped the face of India’s legal market.

Another familiar story that is sparking change in India is renewed talk of allowing the entry of foreign law firms. And with the first foreign arrivals expected in just a few years’ time, their Indian counterparts are embarking on a process of soul-searching as they weigh up the strategies for remaining independent and retaining quality clients in the face of international competition. Writing in this month’s Vantage point Dennis Unkovic, the chairman of Meritas, a global alliance of law firms, discusses how this may play out. Unkovic is of the view that there will always be room for domestic law firms, which he says have a better understanding of the local culture.

In Processing improvements we consider another development that can potentially change India’s legal market: legal process outsourcing (LPO). Despite India being a major provider of LPO services, Indian companies have been slow to discover its benefits. Yet with Indian companies increasingly on the lookout for efficiencies and process improvements, some observers foresee the domestic market beginning to embrace the solutions that legal process outsourcers have to offer. Our coverage asks when this might happen and how in-house teams should set about assessing LPOs. It includes insights from LPO providers and clients that will prove useful to any would-be outsourcing client before they take the plunge.

In Riding the boom we turn the spotlight on the lawyers and law firms that serve the needs of clients in Bangalore, India’s technology capital. The city is home to some of the country’s fastest growing technology companies and this is mirrored in the interests and expertise of the city’s lawyers. As such, while Sajai Singh, a partner at J Sagar Associates, says the focus of his Bangalore office “is on technology, be it with regards to M&A, employment law, real estate, or anything else”, senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, who founded Poovayya & Co, does “a lot of technology-related litigation”. Yet there is more to lawyers in Bangalore than meets the eye. Aside from technology, they have built up expertise in a host of other practice areas and now serve a wide range of clients, including private equity and venture capital funds and large real estate players.

This month’s What’s the deal? examines the recent mudslinging at a company with a Bangalore pedigree: United Spirits (USL), which is now part of the Diageo stable. A dispute following the recent discovery of skeletons in the USL closet has once again highlighted the need for clarity on what the seller is putting on the block, and what the buyer is seeking to acquire. A robust due diligence exercise may be sufficient to provide such clarity, but as our coverage finds, the due diligence process is often not taken seriously in India.

In this month’s Intelligence report India Business Law Journal presents its ninth annual survey of the top international law firms for India-related work. Our coverage reveals the top 10 foreign firms, as well as 10 key players and 18 significant players. We also highlight 15 regional and specialist law firms, and 47 “firms to watch”, which we believe in-house counsel should keep well within their sights. With India once again firmly in the gaze of foreign firms following renewed talk of opening the legal market, this year’s survey is particularly poignant.

This issue of India Business Law Journal marks the start of our ninth year of publication. As we mark the moment, we express our gratitude to our readers, our contributors, our advertisers, our correspondent law firms and our editorial board members. We look forward to continuing on this journey with you in the years that lie ahead.