Pulse Tracker | Liberalization of Indian Legal Space
- May 15, 2025 - Vahura's View on the key takeaway, changes and highlights (with downloadable pdf)
- May 14, 2025 - BCI notifies amended rules allowing entry of foreign lawyers and law firms
- May 14, 2025 - BCI Amends Rules Allowing Foreign Law Firms & Lawyers To Practice Non-Litigious Matters In India
- Feb 14, 2025 - Key Highlights & Recommendations: Centre Proposes Amendments to Advocates Act to Allow Foreign Law Firms
- July 29, 2024 - Global law firms' India entry plans hit regulatory hurdle - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
- July 15, 2024 - Entry of foreign lawyers and firms will help Indian lawyers too: BCI tells Delhi High Court (barandbench.com)
- July 08, 2024 - Tax Issues for Foreign Law Firms Entering India (bloomberglaw.com)
- July 02, 2024 - Entry of foreign lawyers: SILF requests BCI to discuss amended rules before notifying them (barandbench.com)
- June 28, 2024 - [Exclusive] India to open up legal market to UK lawyers and firms; BCI to notify amended rules by end of July (barandbench.com)
‘Will they, won’t they?’ It’s been a talking point for several years now, but finally it looks like they will. On 15 March 2023, the Bar Council of India announced that international law firms (ILFs) will be permitted to set up shop in India. Some in the industry saw it as a bolt from the blue while others breathed out and began preparing for big changes.
Our view is that the BCI Rules were the first step towards liberalisation. The rules are in force but will be operational only when the registration process is initiated. It may be a while before the clouds part for good: we expect to see further clarifications, procedures and legal challenges. We’re giving it around 12 months for the dust to settle.
In this series, we’ve attempted to distil insights from our research to arrive at a forecast about what the future could look like for different segments of the ecosystem.
The Vahura View: Impact Series
Lawyers with cross-border deal experience and international arbitration expertise will be in high demand. There will be a premium on dual-qualified lawyers (DQLs), especially those with ILF experience. We will see movement of DQLs to ILFs looking to strengthen their…
We expect to see groups of partners and teams from large law firms break away to set up on their own. The goal will be to establish a reputed, high-quality law firm that is well suited to partnering with international law firms.
We are already seeing increased recruitment activity around India-oriented practices. These are primarily in the areas of M&A, Disputes and Banking & Finance, out of the UK or Asia. The demand is primarily for lateral lawyers in other international firms, who also have…
We conducted a survey with our client community for an understanding of how the entry of foreign law firms into the Indian market would affect their engagement with external legal counsel. The survey was attempted by 78 professionals, including General Counsel, Head-Legal, CFOs,…
One of the stated objectives of liberalisation is to make India a preferred destination for international commercial arbitration. International lawyers are being encouraged to represent their clients in international arbitration being held in India. But the BCI Rules and…
India’s demographic dividend is expected to pay out over the next couple of decades, with the country expected to host the world’s largest working population by 2030. The entry of international firms will create increased demand for talent in Indian law firms, in-house legal teams, chambers and in Legal Tech.
This is a shorter version of a much longer forecast, reach out to our team to learn more about the current landscape. We’ve left out sections that examine the impact on Law Schools, ADR Institutions, Legal Tech & ALSPs, Impact Organisations and citizens. The legal industry will no doubt be heavily influenced by the way global economic winds are blowing. And no analysis in 2023 is complete without a hat-tip to Artificial Intelligence and acknowledging the seismic impact it can have on the future of legal work.
It’s likely that our forecast overestimates the short-term impacts of liberalisation and underestimates the long-term ones. But we’ll keep updating you as we talk to people, carry out research and decode developments. If the proposed liberalisation eventually proves to be a false start, as it has before, some of this analysis may be inapplicable for the time being. But then we can remember the words of speculative fiction writer William Gibson: “The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed.”
- The View from the House: Market Research Report on Legal Liberalisation
- How foreign law firms are reacting to the opening up of the Indian legal market - Bar and Bench
- How Indian law firms are reacting to the opening up of the Indian legal market - Bar and Bench
- Top India Lawyer Sees More Fees, Deals From Foreign Firms’ Entry - Bloomberg
- Entry of foreign law firms in India to at least double legal fees in 2-3 years
- BCI Rules long overdue; mindset shift in Indian corporate community pivotal: Laurence Lieberman - Bar and Bench
- Entry of foreign law firms: Indian firms flag concerns on reciprocity, level-playing field; SILF to send representation to BCI - Bar and Bench
The Gazette of India - Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022
Bar Council of India - True Facts about BCI's Rules regarding Entry, Rules and Regulations of Foreign Lawyers and Law Firms in India - Dated 19.03.2023
Planning Your Talent Budgets in India
The Evolution of Indian Legal Talent
Key Expectations from Indian Law Firm Professionals
Stay tuned and keep visiting this space as we continue to bring you the latest updates and resources needed to capitalize this opportunity.
