India’s Intention to Liberalise the Indian Legal Sector
The Chambers Asia-Pacific team discusses the announcement by the Indian government on its intention to liberalise the Indian legal sector.
A potential significant change to the Indian legal landscape
One legal market development this year generated a particular degree of international interest, and this of course was the announcement by the Indian government of its intention to liberalise the Indian legal sector, allowing access for foreign firms to open up offices on the ground. These regulatory changes are restricted to the practice of foreign law, with the exception of international arbitration work. Nevertheless, sources that we have spoken to acknowledge it represents a potentially significant change to the Indian legal landscape.
This long-awaited change prompted a lot of headlines back in March 2023, and anticipation as to how firms would react. Over the year, interviewees both within India and in other jurisdictions have shared their thoughts on the likely impact of the changes.
“Still early on the foreign lawyer announcement, most of the bigger firms are in a wait and watch position to see what happens with the regulations.”
“There has been a lot of noise about foreign firms operating in the market – but nothing has actually happened.”
“We've been thinking about the opening up of the market, the announcement took us a bit by surprise. Few firms have said out of the gate they're planning on setting up an India office.”
So, as these comments reflect, since the announcement foreign law firms have taken a “watch and wait” approach, keeping a close eye on other firms and awaiting greater clarity around the final shape of regulations governing this change before making a move. An exception to this would be Dentons who launched a tie-up with Indian law firm Link Legal in March 2023.
Some factors that may be delaying the pace of change include continued uncertainty regarding the regulatory framework and challenge to the new regulations in the Indian court. This included the lawsuit by SILF – the Society of Indian Law Firms- that argued that reforms domestically should be implemented before opening the market. Market participants also point out that change may be slowed by the upcoming Indian elections next year.
Overall, while this announcement may not yet have led to any abrupt changes, we watch with interest to see how this situation develops in the coming year.