Dear Sir,
The Intelligence report published in the October 2008 issue of your esteemed journal covering the survey of the billing rates of Indian law firms has come at a most appropriate time.
The slowdown in the economies of the US and most European countries is likely to make foreign law firms consider the option of outsourcing more of their legal work to Indian law firms.
The transparency of the fee structure of Indian firms gives a greater level of confidence to clients and foreign law firms and assists them in making the right choice.
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In my view, what is important to the clients is to have the fee structures of different Indian law firms available to them at a glance.
This important step has well been taken care of by your report. The comfort of having a clear picture of the cost of intended litigation or other legal work enables clients to take a conscious decision as per their needs and to their complete satisfaction.
Your survey also gives an insight to the size of different Indian law firms active in general or specialized practice. The strength of the firm needs to be judged from the experience and competency of the people associated with the firm to whom the matter is intended to be assigned by the clients rather on the basis of the number of people employed by a particular law firm or the cheaper fee structure offered.
The growing trend of transparency in the legal field is a very healthy trend and I am sure that this would make the Indian legal system more respectable.
The author of your article has conducted in-depth research on the average hourly charges for a junior associate, senior associate and partners of the law firms. There is not any significant increase in the average hourly charges as compared to that of last year despite there being a high rate of inflation in India.
Hourly rates of experienced lawyers in India may be considered in some quarters as being high, but the complex issues requiring expert handling make it imperative for the clients to pay higher hourly rates to experienced lawyers rather than to compromise on quality and the ultimate outcome of the litigation or the consequence of the legal advice.
The large number of Indian law firms that were willing to participate in India Business Law Journal’s billing rates survey is a reflection of changes in the attitude of Indian lawyers and law firms to be more open and transparent.
The Bar Council rules need to be further amended to provide a level playing field to Indian law firms to compete globally in a more aggressive manner.
Amarjit Singh
Managing Partner
Amarjit & Associates
New Delhi
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