Senior Partner Sarosh Zaiwalla comments in The Law Society Gazette in relation to the liberalisation of the Indian legal market.
Sarosh's comments were published in The Law Society Gazette and can be found here.
In March, India’s Supreme Court gave a limited concession to foreign lawyers, formally allowing them to enter India on behalf of clients on a ‘fly in, fly out’ basis. However, a long heralded freeing up of the legal market – which would let firms open offices in the country – has yet to materialise. For that to happen, there would need to be a change to the Indian Advocates Act 1961.
At the moment, firms are restricted to entering into alliances with local law firms.
Sarosh Zaiwalla, partner at Zaiwalla & Co, described the situation regarding the legal market as a ‘stalemate’. ‘The Indian government is eager to open up the legal market, however there are some lawyers who are strenuously opposed to overseas law firms opening offices in India,’ he said.
