In India's dynamic legal landscape, focusing on client needs has never been more important. In this roundtable discussion, leading lawyers talk about blending legal expertise with the specific and varied requirements of clients.
ALB: In a diverse legal landscape, how do you ensure that your client-centric approach remains consistent, regardless of the practice area or type of case you handle?
Anu Monga, partner, Anant Law: It is about basic training as a legal practitioner. Once you realise your purpose of being a "lawyer" and know the goal, the approach of handling any matter, regardless of practice area, becomes consistent. Legal profession requires an eye for detail and identifying the differentiator that we will help the cause of our client. I was once asked to assist on a tax matter emerging from advance ruling; the matter was complex as it involved sale of intellectual property assets for India region of a beer company based in Australia to another company. The entire transaction took place outside of India, and the parties had claimed that no capital gains tax is to be paid to Indian authorities. The limited aspect that was placed before me for advice/assistance was on the issue of "intellectual property". I examined the fundamentals of trademark laws, situs of trademark, goodwill with respect to the trademark and product. The client got a favourable judgment from Hon'ble High Court of Delhi on the basis of submissions made around the situs of trademark and goodwill associated with the mark.
Xerxes Antia, partner, BTG Legal Services: As a firm, BTG has set in place various internal processes to ensure clients face a consistent experience regardless of the practice area in question. These range from having a single point of contact at the partner level to having regular touchpoints with our client's teams to ensure that the client is receiving a consistent level of support. Our partners, as well as our principal and senior associates, also have periodic catch-up sessions with the firm's clients to understand how their businesses are operating as well as any proposed development plans or future operations, which information can then be used to alert other practise areas in the firm of any future requirements. In addition, as a firm, BTG is working on developing standard form drafts or formats for various practice areas, which could then be customised based on specific requirements and can be accessed on a firm-wide basis.
Sanket Jain, partner, Pioneer Legal: Integral to our services is the development of strategies. Our legal landscape is intricate and ever-evolving, placing considerable demands on organisations to adhere to these regulations.
Within our firm, everyone is consistently exposed to novel experiences. For instance, in mergers and acquisitions, our approaches may shift depending on the objective of the parties and the deal dynamics, but internally, we regularly exchange insights on the unique elements of each case. This collective discussion benefits the entire team.
We frequently encounter scenarios where senior members provide guidance on which battles to prioritise and which must be tactfully navigated. We continuously seek pathways to fulfil our clients' objectives while keeping them informed about associated risks. Our responsibility is to draw our client's attention to these potential pitfalls. Oftentimes, clients may lack clarity regarding their goals, turning to us for direction.
In other instances, they rely on our expertise when faced with unfamiliar situations. These considerations are critical in making informed decisions. At the end of the day, our endeavour is to ensure constant learning for the team, honing their ability as lawyers who can provide commercially viable solutions to clients.
ALB: When dealing with complex legal matters, how do you strike a balance between offering sound legal advice and ensuring your clients understand the implications and options available to them?
Monga: One of the important aspects of being a legal practitioner is to 'save the client from him-own-self'. It is a huge challenge to handle a client when the client thinks that his research on "Google" has given him a result - that squarely covers his case, and therefore, not much is required to be done in his case. However, nothing works better than being patient and listening to the client and his views in detail. It is only after hearing the client in detail that I either adopt the views of the client or suggest to the client the pitfalls in his arguments and practical aspects of his case. In most cases, clients understand the complexities involved in their cases and appreciate the suggested nuanced approach curated to redress the client's problem(s).
Antia: Once the firm has an understanding of a client's requirements, it then becomes possible to determine the best way to provide the advice/other deliverables to a client. The majority of the firm's clients are based out of India, and therefore, a significant part of an assignment would involve taking Indian legal concepts and making them understandable as well as relevant to a client. This is facilitated by understanding that BTG gets through constant communication with its clients. In addition, most of our partners have substantial and relevant in-house experience in their chosen fields. This all enables BTG to provide a more commercial and 360 approach to client assignments as well as help our clients navigate complex business and operational issues.
Jain: It is a fine balancing act, to keep the law, its implementation and our clients' goals in mind. Ultimately, the goal is to empower clients to make informed decisions. This requires a combination of effective communication, asking the right questions, educating clients, and transparency to ensure that clients not only receive sound legal advice but also have a clear understanding of their options and the potential consequences of their choices.
ALB: Can you provide examples of how you've effectively worked with clients to co-create solutions that reflect their goals and priorities?
Monga: No case can be won or transaction closed without having the backing and support of the client. Any strategy on the matter has to be adopted and implemented with cooperation with the client. We indeed work on the instructions of our clients. Meanwhile, we explain to clients during the onboarding stage itself that unless complete and true facts are disclosed; the strategy suggested will not be able to achieve the full-and-desired effect. Clients play a pivotal role in supplying any lawyer with clear facts and documents - without which nothing can be achieved. Also, while working on the strategy for litigation or corporate transactions, the ethos of clients and its board are significant and are required to be aligned.
Antia: We do not see ourselves as mere legal service providers, but, in many instances as extension of the client's team. In addition to providing legal advice, we have increasingly been closely working with the clients in helping them reach key business decisions. For instance, one of our clients is a German multinational manufacturing group which has significant operations in India. The client wanted to unlock shareholder value but in a tax-efficient manner and with minimum disruption to the existing business and operations. For this purpose we first identified the most efficient way to unlock shareholder value (which was through a fast-track demerger process), provided legal advice as well as tax/accounting support and advice in identifying and creating the business undertakings as well as the relevant entities which would house the demerged businesses, supported the client and the Indian business entities through the entire demerger process from end to end. We also assist several offshore clients with compliance and other legal advisory services in relation to their wholly-owned Indian subsidiaries. In each case, it is necessary to first thoroughly understand the client's business and operations in India so that we are able to provide solutions that are tailored to each client's individual requirements, such as the level of oversight that is required or the development of 'four-eyes' governance provisions.
Jain: Two examples come to mind here where we collaborate to enhance client-centric strategies. On the client side, for direct impact, we offer workshops for the client's commercial and/or legal teams. It is the simple act of educating and empowering them with knowledge, in very easy to comprehend ways. For instance, we offer workshops, for a client's commercial and legal team where we make them aware of the dos and don'ts when they are entering into contracts with any third party. The most common mistake is when people overlook some basic legalities – and they may lose the battle before it begins.
To illustrate this, we may use the example of Purchase Invoices – where most don't read the fine print. If we overlook this, it can have greater ramifications, because they did agree to it, without agreeing to it! In MOUs and LOIs – People assume these are not binding documents, so they may over-commit or make representations about their product, which may not be true. The teams that receive this training often have "Aha!" moments, and they appreciate that we point these out in simple language and lay terms. These are enablers for them.
Other times, when there are multiple consultants, we have to effectively collaborate with them to meet client's objectives. In one of the cases handled by us, we were representing a foreign investor who was a majority shareholder was facing serious issues in dealing with minority shareholders. The majority shareholder was prevented from implementing its business decision of closing the business in a compliant and organised manner and was accused of reneging on its promises to fund the company. Minority shareholders held key managerial positions and used these positions to create serious nuisances for and multiple third-party claims against the majority shareholder. The foreign investor had to find a way to take over management, change directors, remove employees, terminate contracts, etc. We worked with the client teams and its business restructuring consultants, to provide solutions to achieve these goals. In the process, we had to team up with their other financial and accounting consultants effectively.
Working with other consultants on the project to bring together interdisciplinary expertise, project management, and problem-solving is a critical aspect to co-create solutions.
ALB: What role does ongoing education and staying up to date with industry trends play in your ability to provide the most relevant and tailored legal solutions to your clients?
Monga: Several specialist practice areas are heavily dependent on legal developments in other jurisdictions, and as a practitioner of some of these areas (including competition and international trade laws), it is absolutely necessary to be aware of legal developments and trends across different jurisdictions and also interact with practitioners from different jurisdictions to get practical insight. These aspects are used in almost all competition law and international trade law cases and advisories. While we keep ourselves abreast of developments in mature and similarly placed jurisdictions; we ensure to always read those developments from the microscope of law in effect in India (and accordingly look to adopt or differentiate the same).
Antia: As a firm, we are quite research-driven, and always stress upon the role of ongoing education and staying abreast of industry trends as essentials for being able to provide practical, legally sound and commercial advice to clients. The legal and regulatory landscape is constantly evolving, and companies are now being forced to increasingly comply with several international compliances to conduct business globally. Staying up-to-date also enables us to provide our clients with updates on such legal and regulatory changes that may impact their business, with a quick turnaround. This enables the clients to anticipate potential impacts and work with us on navigating such impacts. A live example that we are seeing right now as we speak, is that our data privacy team has been preparing themselves for the upcoming data privacy law for the past several years, by closely watching the several iterations of draft laws that have come and gone, and also studying global privacy regulations, and practical challenges faced by companies. This is enabling them to provide quick responses to clients and manage high-volume enquiries coming in now, due to the passing of the new law.
Jain: I can't emphasise enough on need for continuous education and staying abreast of latest trends and developments. There are various ways in which this is sought to be achieved, such as knowledge update sessions, external expert lectures/presentations, attending legal seminars and conferences, participating in continuing legal education (CLE) programs, subscribing to legal publications, and collaborating with colleagues. By investing in our own education and knowledge building, we can provide the most relevant and tailored legal solutions to the clients, ultimately enhancing effectiveness and value as legal advisors.
Sector-specific knowledge has enabled us to instil trust and confidence in a client about our abilities to provide sound and practical advice.
