A sleeping giant

Catering to the IT needs of lawyers and law firms across India presents both a challenge and opportunity

Mark Bergen reports from Bangalore

Four years ago when Vyapak Desai, a senior associate at Nishith Desai Associates in Mumbai, wanted to perform a conflict check on a client while travelling, his prospects were bleak. He had to place a call to his firm, then take multiple additional steps to ensure minimal liabilities. Often it would be hours, sometimes days, before the process was finalized.

“By that time, the client may have floated three other law firms—and he may have gone with another,” says Desai. Now, he completes a check in a matter of minutes. When he is in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata or even abroad, he can access conflict information, file time sheets, and interact directly with clients. And with a simple click Desai can tap into data and knowledge management systems once only accessible in his office.

For the past two years, Nishith Desai Associates has been using integrated software packages from Cisco Systems and Thomson Reuters. This has, by Desai’s account, improved his work immensely.