[Srinivasan Sankaraguruswamy is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore and Umakanth Varottil is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore] A significant challenge confronts legal departments of companies. On the one hand, the demand for legal services from external counsel continues to skyrocket given...
Certification Courses in Corporate Law
[Student readers may be interested in the following certification courses in corporate law offered by Rainmaker] The Advanced Professional Certification in Corporate Law Practice is designed specifically for senior law students (4th or 5th year students in 5-year LL.B. courses, or final year students in 3-year LL.B. courses) and junior associates in law firms (with less then 2 years’ experience)...
The Influence of Corporate Law Firms in Policy & Regulatory Change
The Harvard Law School Program for the Legal Profession has posted a new paper titled Notes from the Field: How India’s Corporate Law Firms are Influencing Her Legal, Policy and Regulatory Frameworks by Bhargavi Zaveri. The abstract of the paper is as follows: While the Indian legal profession has been widely acclaimed for leading socio-political movements during the country’s independence...
Globalization and the Indian Legal Profession
The Harvard Law School Program on the Legal Profession has been conducting an extensive study called Globalization, Lawyers, and Emerging Economies (GLEE), which examines the changes occasioned to the legal profession in various countries such as China, India and Brazil due to the effects of globalization. As part of this effort, a team of researchers undertook studies on the Indian legal...
Delaware Ruling on Indian In-house Counsel and Legal Privilege
A couple of years ago, we had discussed the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision in the Akzo Nobel and Ackros Chemicals case where in-house legal counsel was denied legal professional privilege even though such counsel was enrolled as an advocate in the relevant bar at the time. Although that case involved European companies, we had made some guesses as to what might be the position in India...
Contract Drafting: Indian Style
Ken Adams at the Koncision Blog provides a commentary about the continued use of the somewhat archaic language in contracts involving Indian parties. The examples he cites include “unless repugnant to the context or meaning thereof” and “NOW THIS MEMORANDUM WITNESSETH AND IT IS HEREBY AGREED BY AND BETWEEN THE PARTIES HERETO AS FOLLOWS:” The simple question being posed is whether this usage aids...
Paper on “Peel-Off” Law Firms in India
Professor Jayanth Krishnan at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law has posted a paper titled Peel-Off Lawyers: Legal Professionals in India’s Corporate Law Firm Sector, which studies the phenomenon of lawyers leaving big law firms to set up their own practices. The paper is available on SSRN. The abstract of the paper is as follows: This study is about hierarchy within the legal...
Erroneous Legal Opinions and Criminal Liability
The Supreme Court has recently decided on the nature and extent of criminal liability that may be imposed on a lawyer who issues a legal opinion that is found to be erroneous. In what might be a matter of some relief to the legal fraternity, the court has set very high standards to be satisfied by the prosecution to charge a lawyer for the crime of conspiracy in defrauding a bank. In Central...
The Use of “and/or” in Legal Documents
Many of us have been dissuaded at one time or the other from using the expression “and/or” in legal documentation. Despite inherent ambiguities, its use continues to be quite extensive. I came across this interesting piece containing detailed research on the topic, with the unequivocal conclusion: desist from using it.
UK Court of Appeal holds that legal professional privilege reserved for lawyers
In the matter of Prudential PLC and Prudential (Gibraltar) Limited v Special Commissioner of Income Tax and Philip Pandolfo (HM Inspector of Taxes), the UK Court of Appeal has unanimously confirmed that legal professional privilege (LPP) does not apply to any other professional except qualified lawyers – solicitors, barristers and “appropriately qualified” foreign lawyers...
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