BCI To Amend Rules To Open Legal Market For UK Law Firms (image-pixabay)
Opening up Indian markets to foreign lawyers and firms has been discussed for many years. After a long wait, in a meeting held on Friday, the Bar Council of India has decided to open the Indian legal markets to lawyers and law firms in the United Kingdom, reports Live Law.
The decision was taken in a meeting held with the Law Society and the Bar Council of England and Wales at the Law Society’s Hall in London.
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The long-awaited move to liberalise the Indian legal market gained impetus in March last year when the BCI notified the Bar Council of India Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India 2022.
In a press release dated March 19, 2023, issued by the BCI, it stated that foreign firms will be allowed to set up offices in India only to advise their foreign clients about foreign laws.
However, the delay in the decision came due to the objection raised by the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF). Similarly, the Law Society and Bar Council of England also wanted more clarification.
A petition was later filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the Rules.
The discussion with the Society included the rules surrounding ‘fly-in, fly-out’ work by international firms, advising Indian clients, which remained proscribed in the draft regulations, and permission for Indian advocates to partner with foreign lawyers or to work as part of an international firm partnership, and the extend of their practicing rights.
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Presently, the Indian lawyers are not allowed to join the international firms. As of now, the BCI has only opened the Indian market for British lawyers and firms and not for firms from other jurisdictions. However, other firms can operate on a ‘fly-in, fly-out’ basis.
