Flawed advice

Dear Editor,

I have been a frequent reader of your journal. I find the articles in your journal well developed, thoroughly researched and abreast with recent developments and initiatives under Indian law and the Indian legal profession. I compliment you on your publication.

I read with interest the Vantage point article titled Corporate counsel checklist in the July/August edition of India Business Law Journal. While the stated objective of the article was to provide critical tips for lawyers on striking successful partnerships with in-house counsel, I unfortunately found that the content of the article did not serve its desired purpose. Instead, to my mind, the article was – in general – highly critical of Indian law firms, without offering any definitive tips or advice on the steps Indian law firms could take to reduce their deficiencies.

I also felt that the article was perhaps based on the misunderstanding of the practise of the profession of law, and the culture of the Indian legal profession. For example, while I agree that it is important for lawyers to respond to a client request, I feel it would be challenging for most law firms to “draw up a long-term revenue plan (usually three years)” for long-standing clients and more so for new clients. The author also fails to appreciate that a lawyer’s practice is not straight-jacketed and the volume of a lawyer’s work is driven by contingencies that are frequently within the realm of the unknown.