Bar Council of India allows entry of foreign lawyers and law firms in India

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has allowed foreign lawyers and law firms to practice foreign law in India on a reciprocity basis.

This is a significant development since now foreign law firms will be able to establish their offices in India to advise clients on transactional and corporate work such as joint ventures (JV), mergers and acquisitions (M&A), intellectual property matters, drafting of contracts and other related matters.

However, the council has clarified that foreign lawyers and law firms will not be permitted to appear before any courts, tribunals or other statutory or regulatory authorities. Also, such foreign lawyers and firms shall not be involved or permitted to do any work pertaining to the conveyancing of property, Title investigation or other similar works.

“Entry of foreign law firms will change the landscape for the law firms in India. This would overall support in a big way the ambition of India to be more visible and valuable in a global context, especially in international trade and commerce,” said Rajesh Narain Gupta SNG & Partners. “This will be a game changer for mid-size firms and will also help the law firm in India to achieve more efficiency in talent management, AI, technology, domain knowledge in a global context and management,” adds Gupta.”

In its notification of March 10, the council has clarified that foreign lawyers and law firms are allowed to carry out transaction business, giving advice and opinion concerning the laws of the country of the primary qualifications.

According to Zameer Nathani, Group General Counsel at CarDekho Group, this is a great development from the perspective of overall practice standards and efficiencies in terms of synergies and provide foreign companies and investors also a jurisdictional comfort as India is now looked upon as a global leader with a great economic outlook for local and global businesses.