This edition features a handful of India's Outstanding Lawyers, 2022 that are leading us into a better future
Read More: https://www.insightssuccess.in/indias-outstanding-lawyers-2022-january2022/
4. Editor’s Note
s with everything else legal profession in India has
Aevolved with globalization, rapid industrialization,
and liberalization of the economy. Similarly, the
future world of the Indian Legal sector will be divided into
two halves: Pre-pandemic and post-pandemic.
In the pre-pandemic times, the Indian judiciary and the
legal system were conservative in adopting novel
technologies like digitalization. They were hesitant to go for
virtual courts, which many had never even heard of.
However, in the post-pandemic times, the Indian legal
system has shown praiseworthy transformation in digital
technologies and virtual hearings almost overnight. These
were the trying times for the legal profession in general and
for many secondary and tertiary level advocates and
lawyers in particular.
INDIA’S
REVOLUTIONARY
ADVOCATES
5. There were some amongst them who not only convinced
the courts to go virtual but also helped their peers in facing
such unprecedented challenging times. Thus, they emerged
from the pandemic because of their patience, perseverance,
compassion, and never-dying attitude. They used their
humane approach and tech-savvy attitude to smoothly gel
with the online courts and virtual hearings.
Today, due to the efforts of these exceptional advocates, the
legal profession in India is at the intersection of an
innovative outlook and an adept technological mindset.
Changing norms will be the future of this post-crisis era.
These ever-innovative players are gaining an advantage
over their situations as they comprehend the acumen to face
unexpected scenarios.
These outstanding lawyers are from the different paths of
society and distinct stratum of the legal field. Yet one thing
they share in common is their optimism, enthusiasm, and
wisdom combined personality.
In order to celebrate their extraordinary success stories,
Insights Success’s brand-new edition of ‘India’s
Outstanding Lawyers -2022’ has brought for you their awe-
inspiring journeys. Added into the edition are two novel
articles crafted by our in-house editorial team to give you a
modern legal perspective.
Flip through the following pages and be a part of India’s
transforming legal profession along with India’s
Revolutionary Advocates. Read on to keep learning!
Abhishek Joshi
Deputy Editor
abhishek.joshi@insightssuccess.com
7. C
O
N
T
E
N
T
Adv Mahesh Shanbag
Serving the Indian
Legal Paradigm Dynamically
16
20
26
38
Adv Mrunal
Bharat Pandya
An Efficient Lawyer
who is Serving his
Clients with Utmost
Dedication
Adv Pakhi Garg
A Dedicated Lawyer Who
Upholds the Law and Embraces
Innovation and Excellence
Adv Svetlana
Khiyungdzuzu Domino
Leveraging the Power of Redemption
A r t i c l e s
30
Adv Ripple Hamza
An Expert in Cross
Border Litigation
40
Adv Vidya Adsule
A Legal Veteran Donning
the Black Coat
22 34
Legal Start-up
Easy Steps to establidh/open
a legal firm in India
Legal-Quest
The Future of
Legal Space in India
9. Management Brief
Company Name
Kaden Boriss
Adv. Ripple Hamza is a corporate lawyer with more than three decades
of experience in multiple jurisdictions around the world, especially in
India, Iran, Russia, Thailand, Eastern Europe and Arab countries.
Adv Ripple Hamza,
Senior Partner and
Senior Legal Advisor
Practising Lawyer,
District Court
Advocate Mahesh Shanbag is a practising lawyer in the district court
of Sangli, Maharashtra and is involved with different NGOs, namely –
Consumer Forum Sangli.
Adv Mahesh Shanbag
Practising Lawyer,
District Court
Advocate Mrunal Bharat Pandya is among the top lawyers in Nashik
with over 10 years of experience in Divorce, GST, law cases.
Adv Mrunal
Bharat Pandya
World Cyber Security
Forum (WCSF), Delhi
Adv Pakhi Garg is an experienced In-house counsel working with
Gartner (India).
Adv Pakhi Garg,
Advisor and IPR Head
Elohim and Associates
Ms Svetlana is an Advocate, Legal Advisor, Ambassador and
Social activist.
Adv Svetlana Khiyungdzuzu
Domino,
Criminal Defense Counsel,
Founder and Managing Partner
Versatile Law Partners
Banthia and
Co. Advocates
Advocate Vidya Adsule is the founder of Versatile Law Partners, and
she has more than 30 years of experience in law.
Banthia and Co. Advocates focuses on property law and land
matters across the country and majorly serves
archdioceses/dioceses and non-secular congregations of the
Roman Catholic Church spread across the world.
Adv Vidya Adsule
Neelesh Banthia,
Owner
10.
11.
12. O
ver the years, individuals
have taken note of the fact
that leadership has enhanced,
modified, shaped, and redefined
inspirational personalities. These are
the people who transform other
entities’ lives by striving to make a
difference with their mentorship traits.
Such few people have the zeal and
perseverance to make a difference in
the world. One such individual who is
looked upon as a torchbearer of
excellence is Mr. Neelesh Banthia,
Owner of the prestigious law firm in
India, Banthia and Co. Advocates.
Being the owner of one of the leading
law firms in India, he acquires position
amongst the youngest firm owners in
India and his consistent perseverance,
persistence, commitment, and vision
has assisted Banthia and Co. Advocates
to emerge as a multifaceted law firm in
the nation and the world at large.
At present, Mr. Neelesh Banthia and
his father, Mr. B.S. Banthia (Supreme
Court Advocate) are running the firm
with utmost dedication and
strengthened adherence throughout the
country. The consistency in regard with
bringing in the best legal minds under
one roof is showcased through the
efforts put in by Mr. Neelesh and his
father. A firm that ventured out in
1953, with merely 10 advocates and 3
offices, that very same firm in today’s
13. paradigm has more than 400 legal
practitioners working under its banner
in 23 offices spread globally.
The Inception Story
Legal transcendence has been an
integral part of the Banthia family for
decades. Late Shri Mishrilal Ji Sb.
Banthia, great grandfather of the
Owner, Mr. Neelesh Banthia, began his
career in 1927 at Baran, Rajasthan
where he exercised his judicial powers
during the British period. This legacy
was taken over and continued by his
grandfather late Shri Nihal Singh ji Sb.
Banthia, who established Banthia and
Co. Advocates in 1953 with the offices
headquartered at Bhopal (Madhya
Pradesh) India.
Mr. Neelesh started his career as a Pilot
and then worked in various countries at
dynamic legal positions. In the
succeeding years, he realised that he
could provide a new direction and a
strategized work environment to the
firm and make it reach greater heights.
After gaining work experience in
various countries beyond the borders
of India, he mastered the traits of
professionalism and started displaying
this through his work in India.
Furthermore, he chose this profession
to carry on the familial legacy and
bringing a necessary change in this
profession with a dynamic approach
and by opting means to reorient the
conventional ways of legal practice. He
started the journey with commitment,
honesty, obedience, and the ability to
deliver the work in the least possible
time.
Professional Services
The firm focuses on property law and
land matters across the country and
majorly serves archdioceses/dioceses
and non-secular congregations of the
Roman Catholic Church spread across
the world. Thanks to the presence of
the firm in nearly all the states in India,
expertise in local laws has become its
forte, thus ensuring utmost competency
in availability of legal solutions within
every being’s proximity.
The firm’s passion towards serving the
legal profession has stimulated its
activities even internationally,
currently having six international
offices in Dubai, Japan, Singapore,
Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S.
Aside from this, the firm also operates
two Delegate International Offices in
New York and Chicago. The
cumulation of all these establishments
affirms that Banthia and Co. Advocates
provides a multitude of services
concerning legal outsourcing,
paralegal, and secretarial services with
a team of over 400+ advocates working
under the firm’s banner.
Mr. Neelesh Banthia believes in
maintaining friendly and cordial long-
term relationship with his clients,
which is a skillset that majority of the
lawyers lack in today’s legal milieu.
This definitely provides him with an
edge over other people who are putting
in their efforts in the field.
14.
15. The Inspirational Saga
Mr. Neelesh Banthia being a seasoned
lawyer and bearing experience in
handling legal matters across the
world, has more than 20 years of legal
wisdom and professionalism to his
name and is currently managing a team
of around 350+ lawyers. He is
specialized in handling variety of legal
works from different jurisdictions
across all continents.
Rewards and Awards
Following are the rewards of the
company:
• Banthia and Co. Advocates has
been recognized among the TOP
10 PROMISING LEGAL
CONSULTANTS IN INDIA by
Legal Consultants Magazine,
September 2017.
• Reviewed as one of the 50 MOST
PROMINENT CONSULTING
COMPANIES in 2018, January
edition.
• Reviewed as the CONSULTANT
OF THE YEAR in 2018 by the
CEO MAGAZINE 2018.
• Reviewed as the CONSULTANT
OF THE YEAR in 2018 by
SILICON INDIA 2018.
• Acknowledged as the BRAND OF
THE YEAR in 2018 by
BUSINESS CONNECT.
• Reviewed as MOST
ADMIRABLE COMPANIES to
watch in 2018 by PRIME VIEW
MAGAZINE.
• The firm has started its new office
recently in Tokyo, Japan as an
Associate Office with
HARAGUCHI Law of Nations
OFFICE.
• Banthia and Co. Advocates has
recently carried out a tie-up with a
Mexico based Company
MAKILATE GLOBAL
BUSINESS.
• Achievements
• Banthia and Co. Advocates has
successfully completed 64 years in
the legal profession.
• Banthia and Co. Advocates is the
first firm in India having
established a tie-up office in
Turkey and Japan.
• The firm has made a mark by
opening eight international offices
across the globe and serving
clients across the world.
• The firm is serving around 20
archdiocese/diocese and 80
religious congregations globally,
in the current scenario.
• The firm has started a UK based
KPO company within the name
and elegance of Banthia Legal
Services UK Ltd.
• Mr. Neelesh Banthia was awarded
with the membership of the
prestigious International Council
of Jurists.
Hurdles in the Expedition
The journey from 3 to 24 offices wasn't
easy to accomplish and certain trials
and challenges faced by the
establishment and Mr. Neelesh Banthia
were:
• Mr. Neelesh Banthia was getting
into a distinct segment field within
the catholic system, which proved
to be a massive obstacle since he
is a non-Catholic individual and
had to beat unidentified barriers of
competition.
• Mr. Neelesh Banthia took the
decision to continue the top office
in Bhopal (M.P.) where his
grandfather practiced, rather than
shifting his office to a metro city.
At that point albeit and even today
it is a standard perception within
the business and legal field that
there aren't many opportunities if
operations are from a non-metro
city. However, his zeal,
commitment and the consistent
trait of positive thinking converted
this deed to be his best decision.
He contemplated and realised that
the expenses in Bhopal are quite
minimal and travelling consumes
low amount of time as compared
to metro cities. He took onboard a
number of professionals with him
from across the world who possess
expertise in a variety of fields.
They provided world class
services to his clients while being
based in Bhopal, which is
definitely worth the praise.
• One of the major hurdles for Mr.
Neelesh Banthia was to alter the
conventional and conformist
approach pertaining in regard with
practice in the legal field. He faced
the challenge of turning the
direction of the firm towards being
formulated into a legal
consultancy firm instead of a
litigation firm. Since the time he
joined the firm, the inclination of
majority of the lawyers was
towards practicing litigation, and
16.
17. • not many understood the
importance of consultancy and out
of the court settlement. The culture
of looking beyond a certain pigeon
hole with a broad perspective was
instilled by him into the
individuals of Banthia and Co.
family and hence the series of
transitions and plans that have
been executed by him have
cumulated into the excellence
possessed by the firm.
Journey towards Success
Equipped with state-of-the-art
professional services and
communication facilities, the firm
pinpoints ‘expertise in local laws’ as its
forte. Ensuring maximum competency,
in addition to the multitude benefits
that propagate a simpler access to local
resources, an in-depth research and
investigation mechanism opted by the
firm curates a knowledge bank that
assists in the understanding and
implementation of local laws. Spotting
‘Regularization of Properties’ as firm’s
flagship offering, Banthia and Co.
Advocates also deals in international
investment and property matters.
As per Mr. Neelesh Banthia, the credit
for the success of the firm goes to the
whole team who has worked with him
day and night for the rising of this firm
not only domestically but
internationally as well. The
establishment has diversified the legal
profession by imparting discipline,
commitment and honesty and has
instilled the ability to deliver work as
fast as possible.
Creativity and Innovation
Banthia and Co. as a law firm does not
believe in designations or labels and
always tries to bridge the gap between
senior and junior advocates. They
recently took note of the fact that
though senior lawyers have the
required necessary work experience,
junior lawyers have a very promising
command over technology. The
establishment tries to bring together
and fuse these two together in order to
provide the best possible results to
clients in a variety of sectors.
Within the periphery our workspace,
we encourage the development and
visualization of new business ideas for
the expansion of the firm in different
fields and places and also the growth of
all associated individuals, whilst
maintaining a pressure-free
environment to enable everyone to
work and deliver to the optimum level
of their productivity.
Strategies to Follow
Driven by the motto to ensure the
availability of prompt legal services
wherever and whenever needed,
Banthia and Co. Advocates believes in
the adoption of dynamic alterations
brought forward by the
transformations, instead of following
the traditional and conventional
methods of advocacy.
It fosters to maintain a long-term,
comprehensive relationship with its
esteemed clients. They believe in the
commitment and energy of the youth,
as to how they draw inspiration from
their surroundings and how they
channelize their thought process and
for that very reason, most of the
advocates in the establishment are
below the age of 50 years.
Opportunities Ahead
At present, maximum advocates across
the nation are bound to the archaic
methods of practice. They're unable to
adapt to the dynamic environment and
accept the technological advancements
that have popped up within the
profession.
In Mr. Neelesh’s opinion, the Indian
paradigm lacks the prowess of
professionalism, organization, and
management techniques and for that
very reason, most of the time, the
clients are unsatisfied and international
community look down upon us
Indians.
By changing the scenario in the firm,
Mr. Neelesh is trying to include a little
initiative by providing a far better,
healthier and trustworthy environment
to his client. Alongside this, a growth
oriented and a friendly and responsive
atmosphere to young advocates and
budding lawyers of the country ensures
that the firm and all individuals
working under its name attain growth
mutually.
As of now, the firm is planning on
expanding globally in more countries.
Apart from that it has already entered
into other ventures like knowledge
process outsourcing through its
registered company in UK with the
name of Banthia Legal Services UK
Ltd. The team has also started
enhancing on the due diligence and
compliance in reference to property
and investment matters.
Future developments may be inclusive
of starting an office in Canada,
Australia, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, France,
and venturing into more legal fields.
With the opening of top notch law
schools in India, which deliver the
humblest possible education to youth
alongside building their other skills.
The team surely can foresee a bright
future in this field. The field, as a
fraternity have to understand its
responsibility in imparting the best
training to its future generations in
order to ensure that the upcoming
advocates are much more competent,
knowledgeable, and professional.
People need to understand that
advocacy is a service-oriented field and
with the evolving dynamic
environment, it needs to accept the
changes in the legal field as well.
18. he legal space in India is evolving at a
Tdynamic pace. The industry has seen a lot of
transformations over the years in terms of
trials at the court to fast-tracking the judgement
process, everything has changed with the changing
times. Seldom people find that there are some
challenges while appealing to the court, though there
are struggles but they are not so prominent like they
used to in earlier times. Technological developments
have enabled legal professionals and the judiciary to
act in accordance with the dynamics if digitization and
provide solutions that are up to the trending market
requirements.
With all the changes happening in the Indian legal
sector, the legal professionals, consultants, and
lawyers need to stay abridged with the latest trends.
They have to provide their clients with exceptional
services and solutions so as to get justice for them in a
right way. Their efforts in providing the clients with
the right kind of service is the key to acquire more
Mahesh
Shanbag
Serving the Indian Legal
Paradigm Dynamically
India's Outstanding Lawyers-2022
clients and recognition. That is why, it has become
paramount that every legal professional must
understand the client’s core concern and address the
issue properly.
This is crucial mainly in the criminal cases. Criminal
law is the body of the law that describes criminal
offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging, and
trials for the suspected individuals. It decides penalties
and medium of treatment levied for convicted
offenders. “Criminal law is only one of the mediums
through which, organized societies safeguard the
security of individual interests and ensure the survival
of the group or a community,” says Advocate
Mahesh Shanbag, a practicing lawyer in the district
court of Sangli, Maharashtra.
A Criminal Law Expert
Mahesh spent his entire childhood in Vitha from
where he hails. He has completed his LLB from ILS
College Pune in 1997. He graduated from Willingdon
16 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
19. College, Sangli and started independent practice there
only. He has completed his LLB from ILS College
Pune in 1997. Mahesh’s professional tenure includes
serving in the criminal law domain largely. He has
been in practicing 1998. Mahesh is one of the
renowned crime legal specialists in Sangli.
Talking about the challenges in practicing in the
criminal law domain, he mentions that there are bulky
and lengthy cases in terms of documentation and lack
of physical evidence becomes a major hindrance while
handling the cases. “Hence, probing the case becomes
a challenge,” states Mahesh.
He has done some pro-bono cases for the people from
unprivileged section of the society and has contributed
to their upliftment in a dynamic way. Especially, he
has helped a woman in rehabilitating her life from
scratch when she was on the verge of getting a divorce
from her husband. That case was very emotional and
very close to his heart at the time.
He feels great satisfaction in achieving this feat. The
fact that he can effectively contribute towards an ex-
felon’s life in a productive manner puts him at peace.
He has been involved with different NGOs, namely –
Consumer Forum Sangli. Mahesh has also contributed
towards Lion’s Club’s activities.
After browsing through various career opportunities,
Mahesh decided to opt for becoming a lawyer as he
felt that it was the most suitable way for public
service. He wanted to pursue public service
examinations like UPSC/MPSC.
But after thorough contemplation, he fixated on
becoming a lawyer. “It became evident that if I work
diligently in the court, I can produce better results and
help people efficiently,” concludes Mahesh.
‘‘
My ambition was
to help people by
giving competitive
exams and becoming
an officer and get
myself involved in
public service.
But as I graduated,
I came to know
that there are
a lot of limitations
in this field.
I realized that
there are still
other areas through
which, I can help
the society in a
positive way or in a
contributing manner.
Being a lawyer made
that possible for me
‘
‘
17 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
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21.
22. however, as a lawyer he has always intended to become
master of facts. This is because although, there are many
study materials available, but facts have to be thoroughly
and carefully studied along with chronological happening
of events.
Guided by Erudite Mentors
Mr. Mrunal was initially motivated by his father to study
law and become a lawyer. Thereafter, he started practicing
as a lawyer and initially worked with Adv Vaibhav N
Jadhav and thereafter with Adv Ajay M Toshiniwal. Under
their astute guidance, Mr. Mrunal embarked on the path of
how to become a good lawyer. "Adv. Ajay M Toshiniwal is
a senior lawyer from Nashik who also has a rich heritage of
legal knowledge and is a second-generation lawyer like me.
Under his guidance, I got to learn immense and received
mastery over several types of cases", states Mr. Mrunal. He
was also guided immensely by Adv. Sandeep Shinde
(Mumbai High Court), the founder of Ergo Juris.
A Masterful Specialist
Mr. Mrunal provides excellent services in all kinds of
Outstanding lawyers are driven by the passion to
deliver justice to their clients. They uphold the law
and treat all their clients with equal respect. These
lawyers believe in completing every case as fast as possible,
while reaping the best outcome for their clients.
One such dedicated lawyer in India is none other than Mr.
Mrunal Pandya. Mr. Mrunal was born in a family of
advocates and has been acquainted with this profession
since childhood. Although initially he had very less interest
of becoming an advocate, but gradually after completing his
tenth grade, he started gaining interest in the said field of
advocacy because of the sole reason that each case is
different. He believes that this makes the profession
different from others because he must face new challenges
every day. Moreover, this profession also challenges him to
use his wit and common sense. Mr. Mrunal also leverages
his knowledge coupled up with skills that help his clients to
conquer their legal challenges and complications.
Mr. Mrunal states that the legal paradigm or pattern of
advocacy is just mastering the facts to a great extent;
Mrunal Pandya
An Efficient Lawyer who is Serving his Clients with Utmost Dedica on
Pa ence is
the key
to success
“
“
20 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
23. daily roznama, judges of leave, and all such crucial data in
just a click of the mouse.
Opinions about the Changing Paradigm
Speaking about the changing legal industry, Mr. Mrunal
states that nothing remains the same forever and everything
evolves in small bits every day. He states that the legal
profession is no exception. The industry is slowly
witnessing significant changes and is marching towards
achieving further greatness. Mr. Mrunal adds, "For instance,
few decades back, certain cases like cases of rent control
were flooded in court halls which today have almost gone,
similarly e-contract dispute cases, cyber complaints, etc.,
which were not seen at that time are growing today.”
Words of Encouragement
Addressing the up-and-coming lawyers, Mr. Mrunal states
that the legal profession is very promising and has
tremendous opportunities for the individuals interested in
giving their best and bringing change. However,
continuous, and repetitive study about the laws and
awareness of latest judgments of the Hon'ble Higher Courts
along with witty common sense is very important for
lawyers to succeed in the profession. Further, patience is the
key and till a certain age, one has to work hard with utmost
dedication on whatever cases they get and deliver the
results to their client. This will gradually help them to get
crucial, important, and high-profile cases/matters.
Thoughts on the Legal Scenario
Mr. Mrunal opines that the current Indian legal scenario is
changing. The Ministry of Law, Law Commission, and the
Bar Council of India are taking effective steps in delivering
speedy justice to litigants and the judges are also working
hard for the same. He believes that criminal trials are now
taking lesser duration to be concluded, and civil cases still
take some time, however the number of adjournments at
each stage have now been capped and that is helpful. Mr.
Mrunal further expresses that the pandemic has made it
clear that there is a huge requirement of online hearings in
the legal system. Additionally, the Nashik Court had started
its first pilot project for e-filing and the said project was
inaugurated by Supreme Court Judge Hon'ble Justice
Chandrachud.
Future Foresight
Speaking about the future, Mr. Mrunal believes that he is
still learning and has a lot to learn about this noble
profession. He is also of the opinion that if he keeps
working with constant dedication and hard work, the future
will be rewarding.
labour, industrial, civil, consumer, matrimonial, debts
recovery tribunal as well as documentation services to his
several clients. Furthermore, he specializes in criminal
matters not concerned with bodily offences such as matters
concerned with Negotiable Instruments Act, offences other
than bodily offences under Indian Penal code 1860 such as
cheating, Breach of Trust, etc. Mr. Mrunal is mostly
associated with more than 50 corporate companies, where
he looks after all the end-to-end legal services of the
companies on all legal frontiers. He has gained tremendous
experience by working for different types of companies
ranging from manufacturing companies to hospitals to big
hotels.
Views on the Pandemic Situation
Mr. Mrunal believes that Covid-19 has been a challenging
time and one of its kind about which nobody had any sort of
idea or preparation, and hence, it has been challenging. The
main difficulty faced during this time is that due to the
entire pandemic situation, the hearings of the cases have
been slowed to a great extent, which is beyond anyone's
control. He further states that it is tough to make clients
understand as to why the expected relief as sorted by them
from court is tough to be delivered now due to improper
functioning of the court.
Mr. Mrunal expresses that post the pandemic, many
traditional legal practices and procedures will start
changing and will be altered. Firstly, the e-hearings and e-
filings will have lot of importance. The matters posted for
final arguments will be heard by the judges online. He also
opines that the court halls are very small in trial courts and
social distancing is not possible. The same court file is
being seen by several people and this increases the chances
of possible coronavirus infection. To avoid this, the
paradigm of the legal profession needs to be shifted
wherein the filings of cases must be online and supporting
documents have to be uploaded online and the hearing of
the same have to be online. This will decrease the crowd in
court hall, both of paper and public. It will also protect
spreading of the coronavirus infection amongst judges,
stenographers, and other court staff.
Words on Technological Advancement
Mr. Mrunal believes that technological advancement is the
need to the hour. He is of the opinion that the legal field is
the one which has seen the least of the same. However,
slowly but gradually transition is happening. The e-courts
program of the Hon'ble Apex Court has helped to bring a lot
of transparency for the litigants. Further, artificial
intelligence is one such area that still can introduce further
developments in the legal field. Mr. Mrunal opines that
technological advancement has been a game changer as a
lawyer can now a days search for citations of Supreme
Court and High Courts on the internet. They can get
information regarding the date of any case, case status,
India's Outstanding Lawyers-2022
21 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
25. Legal-Quest
There are hardly any legal systems as diverse yet
sophisticated as the legal system in India. The court
proceedings and the legal space that Indian law
offers are simply incredible. However, if we look back at
history then the lawyers have to struggle to make a living
by practicing law.
In the 1980s to practice law in India, you either had to have
a family background of lawyers or had to do a side business
that could support your living expense. Those were hard
times for the young and budding lawyers in those times.
However, times have changed since then. The arrival of
private institutes also added more value, and more law firms
came into existence. With this, it became much easier for
the new passing-out lawyers to find a job that really paid
them well.
The Sacred Law
The history of India, its culture, diversity is amongst the
many things on which the law has been made and brought
into practice. What remained sacred in the Indian legal
space is that the law applies equally to everyone, and the
justice done will be blind.
The Future
of Legal
Space in
India
Legal
23 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
26. A bright future for women in legal space in India
Indian Legal system is quite old and is majorly dominated
by men from the beginning. However, with the number of
law firms coming increasing in a developing country like
India, there has been a significant increase in the number of
women practicing law. The Supreme Court of India has a
very long and rich history.
In the last 71 years, only 11 women justices have made
their way to the Apex court of India. Whereas, in some parts
of the world the percentile of women judges delivering
justice was in double digits, compared to India which
happens to have a very poor record.
But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, The
National Law Schools came into existence and many law
firms that believe in woman empowerment are expected to
change the numbers soon. The number of women entering
the legal space through corporate law firms is
spontaneously increasing, promising women a wonderful
career in the legal space.
Law and Technology: the next big thing in the legal
space
Technology has brought significant development across
many sectors varying from transportation, education,
healthcare, even finance, and the list goes on. Technology in
law is expected to bring a huge change in the way law is
currently practiced and in legal proceedings.
Technological advancements can bring in a huge difference
in the process of identification of the laws which are being
broken, collection, preservation, and presentation of
evidence in a legal case. This will not only effectively lower
the burden on lawyers, but it can revolutionize the legal
space. The influence of technology on the law in the current
pandemic has been remarkable.
Currently, the world is information-centric, and law that is
based on evidence can make the procedure very easy and
accessible for lawyers even with no experience in the legal
space. Information processing and speech synthesis are a
few of the many areas where technology especially AI can
help.
The future that demands quality along with quantity
The Bar Council of India has recognized over 1400 colleges
or institutes in India. Despite having a huge number of
colleges, there is only a handful of full colleges that are
considered elite. It was these elite colleges that youngsters
who loved law fancies.
It is also because of the corporate firms that offer huge
payments for the pass-outs that more students focused on
practicing law. It is due to this that the future of legal space
in India, demands quality as well quantity from the young
and budding lawyers.
A completely different future lies ahead
Earlier, the scenario was quite different, when only people
having a recognizable background had a good and stable
environment while practicing law. Now, the scenario is
completely different, as the legal sector needs manpower
and it is the knowledge that really makes the difference. The
internships and other programs that allow others to learn
law while practicing it can be a game-changer for the youth.
The future of the legal space in India is expanding in every
direction possible. The introduction of technology and other
things can help in expanding the space in the legal sector.
24 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
27.
28. 26 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
he outstanding lawyers of India uphold the law and
Tfocus on providing justice to the needy. They treat
every client with equal respect and consider each
case equally important. These lawyers hold the entire court
in awe with their fabulous argument skills. They are
responsible towards delivering timely and quality justice.
One such dedicated lawyer who never gives up and fights
each case with zeal and dedication is none other than Pakhi
Garg. She serves as the Advisor and IPR Chief of World
Cyber Security Forum (WCSF), Delhi.
In an interview with Insights Success, Ms. Pakhi shares
about her journey, her motivation, the various challenges
that she has faced throughout her career, and her future
plans. To know more about Ms Pakhi, read the following
interview:
Enlighten us with your professional journey into the
legal paradigm.
After my graduation from Nainital (Kumaun University) in
2015 I did my PG in Cyber Laws from Indian Law Institute
(ILI) in 2016 and then I completed my LLB (H) from
Amity Law School, Noida in 2019.
My professional journey started in July 2019 (just after my
LLB) and I was placed as a legal consultant in PwC India in
Gurgoan. In the same year, I also joined my friends’ techno
legal consultancy named, World Cyber Security Forum as
an “Advisor and IPR chief” which is a NPO and we are still
running our organization that aims in creating cyber
awareness to the netizens.
Then, after approx. eight months of my service with PwC, I
switched to Singh and Associates in Gurgoan till 2021.
Then, I received a job offer from Gartner India in Gurgaon
and I am currently working there as an in-house counsel.
What motivated or inspired you to be in the legal space?
Since my childhood, I was fascinated with the way lawyers
and advocates dress and argue in the court of law. Then
when I grew up I wanted to opt for criminal litigation as
that was the only thing I know till the time I get myself
admitted in the law school. But, there I got a lot of new
prospective and during the law school I participated under
many activities like: mock trials, moots were the reasons
that enhanced my skills and made me love law even more.
Another credit goes to my law school professors like:
Mrunal D.
Buva ma’am (Practicing Advocate, Supreme Court of India)
as she was the first person who introduced the segment of
law to me during my PG Program. Then other professors of
mine like: Dr. BhavnaBatra, Ms. Palka Rishi, Ms Swati
Kaushal, Ms. KalpanaJayas, Mr. Vibhor Gupta etc.
encouraged me to do better and better. And even my learned
friends like: Dr. Nachiketa Mittal andMs Megha Ahuja are
also the people who helped me out in every sphere of not
just professional but personal life. Their teachings were a
lifetime lessons for me and whatever small I have done so
far is because of all these people.
Kindly talk about the various or specialized legal
offerings, solutions, or services that you provide to your
clientele.
World Cyber Security Forum is a techno legal consultancy
that aims in creating cyber awareness for netizens. As
WCSF is a NPO, hence we offer services like: Cyber
Counselling, Techno Legal Consultancy, Contract
Administration, Workshops, Trainings, Courses, Webinars
29. 27 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
with subject matter experts to encourage people to join us
and make this digital place a better and safe world. Our
team possess highly experienced and learned academicians,
professors, practicing advocates, cyber security analysts etc.
As a lawyer, what challenges have you faced in this
ongoing Covid-19 pandemic?
During pandemic, the major challenge was working
remotely and on the initial stage it was absolutely hectic
and chaotic. Clients were also facing the issue in getting
connected with us as not everyone is tech friendly. But now,
it has become a trend and part of the life. So, still copping
up with this work style. Financial aid was another major
challenge but slowly and gradually everything is shaping up
on its own.
How technological advancements in the legal space has
helped you in overcoming those challenges?
Thanks to all the video conferencing apps and other apps
that has actually helped us in working remotely. Because
before covid era, we hardly use apps for video calls but now
your work is based on them, and the growing tech has really
made it swift as for every purpose we have various apps
and that’s the amazing part of the technology. Like: If
someone wants to fix an appointment with me, I use
“Calendly” app for it as it is very reliable and easy to go
app. The user will also get the notification of the
appointment fixed by the client and the client is also free to
take the appointment as per his own availability and
convenience. Besides that other apps are also playing major
role in easing my work life.
How legal practice has evolved over the period of time?
Are there any significant changes?
The court is working hard to deliver the justice in a time
bound manner. Previously, there were a fixed working hours
for the court but now they have worked harder even whole
nights and gave some landmark judgements. The
competition is high and growing day by day which is also
encouraging judicial officers, advocates and other staff
members to update and upgrade themselves. The corporates
are actually investing their resources in training their
employees which is a biggest effort from their side. They
are giving them the opportunity to prove themselves in the
work place and many are still working hard to prove their
worth. These are some significant changes. The law schools
and colleges are also understanding the worth of practical
knowledge hence they are also calling some eminent
spokesperson to share their knowledge with their students.
30. 28 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
What advice would you give to the aspiring legal
enthusiasts who are willing to become lawyers and step
into the legal space today?
I really wish to share these points:
• Focus on the societal issues and try to take relevant
action.
• Read a lot and learn as much as you can.
• Have confidence and patience.
• Work on the basics of law.
• Start researching through validated sources.
• Be punctual and ready to take and face challenges.
• Open yourself to explore this field.
Where does your endeavors lead you to in the coming
years? Kindly talk about your future scenario.
We are rigorously working hard to create the cyber
awareness amongst netizens and hence we are coming up
with various workshops, training that focuses on the
practical aspect that needs to be taken care. We also
emphasis on the corporate trainings. In near future, our
trainings will be focused on the teenagers and women to
make them understand the correct usage of the internet.
Along with that, we will be coming up with the journal
publication where all the cyber enthusiasts will be able to
read and share their blogs and research work with us.
What is the current scenario of the Indian Legal Space
according to you?
The coronavirus pandemic has caused lockdowns in various
countries around the world, disrupting all aspects of life
including India's legal landscape for an uncertain time. It
has shed a harsh light on the outdated way of administering
justice, teaching law, and providing legal services. In 2016,
in the memorable judgment of Anita Kushwaha v Pushap
Sudan, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of
India ruled that access to justice is a fundamental right
guaranteed by article 14 of the Indian Constitution. I
steadfastly accept that even in a state of flux caused by the
lockdown, access to justice has not been impeded, and the
swift response by embracing technology and formulating
electronic courts and video conferencing is a step forward
and much more positive than no access to justice amidst
coronavirus pandemic.
The Indian legal system is no stranger to technology and
has constantly kept abreast of the latest technological
developments. For example, the advent of the Internet and
information technology resulted in the enactment of a new
statute, namely the Information Technology Act, 2000, and
the amendments to the centuries-old Indian Evidence Act,
1872. Recent steps towards the digitization of justice and
court administration are establishing virtual courts and
electronic filings.
Electronic courts were launched as part of the National P e-
Governance Plan (NeGP) in 2006. However, the sudden
and surprising arrival of the COVID-19 emergency has
given a more prominent fillip in achieving a quick change
in the mode of administration of the courts in the country.
We have also seen the rise of alternative dispute resolution
mechanisms in India during the pandemic.
Not all are familiar with these advances, yet the current
conditions demand that we become, or at least that we make
efforts because the near future will be the time of
technology. The administration of courts in India after the
advent of the COVID-19 crisis has certainly accelerated the
shift to e-justice even though many challenges are being
faced.
31.
32. Ripple Hamza
An Expert in Cross Border Litigation
The legal veterans in black coats are the ones, who
dedicate their lives in studying law and building a
healthy society. Lawyers are the hard-working and
confident leaders of our nation. But the struggle behind
being such an amazingly talented personality with a soaring
spirit is immeasurable. There are many things, which
smooths this struggling journey and one of them is
supportive family culture. A supportive family can make
one’s life wonderful.
The critical art of being ‘successful’ in life can be achieved
with family being the backbone during your struggle. It
develops a foundation for the most powerful personalities,
who further builds a healthy society.
While searching for such powerful personalities for the
edition, India's Outstanding Lawyers-2021, we came across
a wonderful and talented person, Mr. Ripple Hamza. He is
a sincere and inspiring advocate, a motivating individual,
who the youth aspire to be one day. Mr. Hamza believes
that his family’s support has played the most vital role in
his personal, as well as professional life.
In the following interview, Mr. Hamza will brief us about
his journey of being one of the most inspiring advocates.
He will also share his views on how the legal space can be
improved and what challenges he faced during the Covid-
19 pandemic. He will also discuss how he managed to
overcome the challenges and advice the legal enthusiasts,
who wish to enter the legal space.
Following are the highlights of interview:
Enlighten us with your professional journey into the
legal paradigm.
I have always wanted to pursue a career that promoted a
knowledge of being able to socialise and interact. I was
very clear to opt law for higher studies since schooling. My
parents were highly supportive in that regard. I graduated in
Law from University of Calicut and landed a job as a
corporate lawyer. Inspired to make the legal practice more
efficient, I preferred a career gap and did a specialisation in
I.P. from the W.I.P.O. academy, Geneva, and followed as a
legal researcher at Gulf Institute for International Law,
Dubai. In the dynamic global economy, cross-border
litigation has witnessed a rapid increase. International
arbitration has significantly aided the process.
Cross-border litigation is prone to challenges that do not
arise to the same extent, as in domestic disputes. My course
of employment with multiple legal systems around the
world especially in India, Iran, Russia, Thailand, Eastern
Europe, and Arab countries in matters relating to Govern-
ment Liaisoning, Maritime law and other corporate legal
affairs has helped in managing the legal risks, business
priorities and regulatory requirements across wide-ranging
cultures. I have also been a part of the very well acclaimed
legal enterprises like Gammon Group GCC, Singhania and
Co. LLP, and Slash Secure Europe.
During the initial stage of Georgia’s economic develop-
ment, a partnership law firm named Malatsidze and Ripple
Consulting Ltd., was also established in the country. There
upon, many foreign companies set their foot in. Today,
Georgia has fully grown to be a tourism-based economy.
Ship arrest releases in world’s toughest jurisdictions like
Iran that do not comply with many international rules and
practices were also facilitated and negotiated. As a Senior
THE LEGAL FIELD Has
A Lot To Offer For Anyone,
From CORPORATE LAWYERS
To HUMAN RIGHTS
Activists And Everything
In Between
“
“
30 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
33. Legal Advisor at Kaden Boriss, a global alliance of
independent and autonomous full-service law offices, my
career has witnessed a remarkable trajectory. Some
milestones in life includes being enlisted as one among the
top 50 lawyers in cross-border practice at Sentosa, Singa-
pore, in 2019.
It also gave me immense pleasure in having delivered
various lectures and being an invited speaker in seminars
and workshops based on International Law and Cross-
Border litigation, conducted worldwide. Owing to my
interests, apart from the legal profession, I am a visiting
faculty in International Law at Alliance University,
Bengaluru, and have also served as a visiting faculty in
International Business Relations at Indira Gandhi Open
University, Kerala. Services as a legal commentator and
consultant are also delivered.
What motivated or inspired you to be in the legal space?
My entry into the legal paradigm was not-so-mere-
coincidence. Since childhood, the ambient environment
comprised of some maritime lawyers. My father worked in
a shipping company and as a child, I was intrigued
watching the lawyers guiding and advising him in his work
and talking about various countries and rules across the
ocean. Some inspiration was drawn from them, to look into
the details of international facets of the field of law. As the
time passed, insights of international law and practices
developed, and the field of view got more serious. My
father was keen and my unwavering pool of support and
inspiration in the journey of becoming an internationally
acclaimed lawyer.
Kindly talk about the various or specialized legal
offerings, solutions, or services that you provide to your
clientele.
Having worked as a Senior legal advisor at Kaden Boriss, a
global alliance of full-service law firms and legal enter-
prises specialized in law practice and rendering legal advice
to clients, the focus was more in Commercial and Corpo-
rate, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, and Cross-border
disputes, in addition to other prominent areas of law. Also,
being a recognized Mediator, Arbitrator, Negotiator, and
Ombudsman by the Federation of Integrated Conflict
Management and International Commercial Disputes
Tribunal, my services are offered in the ADR domain as
well. I have also been an advisor, mentor, business strate-
gist, and investor in many aspiring start-ups and industries
in India and around the globe, in addition to serving as a
Pro-Bono Counsel on IBA Roaster at International Bar
Association.
My areas of expertise include Maritime Law, Interpol,
Cross-border disputes, Policy Making, Acquisitions,
Corporate compliance, Regulatory work, Legal Auditing
and Corporate Governance.
As a lawyer, what challenges have you faced in this
ongoing Covid-19 pandemic?
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the legal fraternity
drastically. A sudden resort from physical to complete
digital means, was quite strenuous at the beginning.
Voluminous conversion of data into digital means, was also
time consuming and hectic. The slowing down of entire
legal process meant less billings and in turn less pay. The
outbreak of Coronavirus is having a significant impact on
the maritime industry, as the demand for transportation of
goods in and out of countries fell, ships and their crews are
stuck at sea, ports may be closed, and vessels delayed by
being quarantined.
How technological advancements in the legal space has
helped you in overcoming those challenges?
The extent of the pandemic has confronted us with new
avenues to carry along. As it is said that, when the going
gets tough, tough gets going.
Online hearings, virtual meetings, and remote working has
helped to keep things intact to some extent. To work from
home in pyjamas, instead of lawyer suits, and in one’s
comfort zone is appreciated by a vast number of young
lawyers.
Mr. Ripple Hamza
India's Outstanding Lawyers-2021
31 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
34. How legal practice has evolved over the period of time?
Are there any significant changes?
Some significant changes have swept through this
traditional profession. Rapid digital adoption is the
foremost of all. Content marketing growth by means of
social media can easily help to engage with potential
clients. Lawyers are leaving the safe and well playing world
of conventional practices to build their own niches.
Growing legal-tech market offers the lawyers simplified
case management procedure, streamlined communication
and handy access for reference. E-filing of complaints,
virtual modes of hearing are all precursors of a fully digital
and automated legal sphere.
What advice would you give to the aspiring legal
enthusiasts who are willing to become lawyers and step
into the legal space today?
The legal field has a lot to offer for anyone, from corporate
lawyers to human rights activists and everything in
between. There are no hard and fast rules. For instance, as a
solo practitioner you have to wear a multitude of hats and
carry out many roles. The legal fraternity has grown into a
volatile, highly competitive, technologically advanced,
digitised, and dynamic realm. Hence, constant upskilling
and updating is mandatory.
Lawyers are detail oriented, use that to your advantage.
Standing out from competitors, while vying for the same
job opportunities is very much dependent on individual
skills, strength, experience, and expertise.
Where does your endeavours lead you to in the coming
years? Kindly talk about your future scenario.
There are plans to have a career-switch. In more than three
decades of this journey, I have envisioned some short-term
as well as long term plans. To enlist a few; a career break
from Kaden Boriss tops the list, followed by setting up a
new law firm to be named CGL, encompassing a competent
team consisting of young generation lawyers. For a lawyer,
every risk is mitigated. The process of leaving a job to
establish a new enterprise may be daunting, but if you can
break the goals into tiny steps, the endeavour becomes far
more manageable.
My background, interest, and expertise in Maritime law
across the globe has furnished ample information and
insights as to the contrasting public international, private
regulations, and practices actually in place. Relatively
straightforward procedures can become complicated, where
they span borders, and it is important to be aware of these
additional hurdles and how best to navigate them in the
practical sense. I intend to make it accessible to the public
at large, compiling the data into a book. It is in the initial
stage of its inception.
What is the current scenario of the Indian Legal Space
according to you?
A major drawback of the Indian judiciary since decades, has
been the huge backlog of cases. Unfortunately, the pan-
demic has made it worse. Yet, the courts have adopted to
restrict online hearings and tribunal hearings, using Zoom
and Polycom conferencing devices. In the long run, this is a
blessing in disguise to rule out the causes of piled up cases.
Technology can be used as a tool, to monitor the long
pending cases. For instance, making use of AI can lighten
the research works that a judge has to do to review cases.
Also, making use of secured encrypted data transfer, makes
the flow of communication easier and credible.
How the legal paradigm looks like post-pandemic
globally?
The pandemic and resulting shutdowns have adversely
affected all walks of life, and the legal sphere is no
exception. The entire system has witnessed a profound
disruption and thanks to technology, the system didn’t
collapse completely. It is inevitable that the pandemic will
leave an imprint on the functioning of judiciary, as com-
pared to the pendency of cases, but it has also paved way to
newer avenues for serving justice, other than the conven-
tional means. The major takeaway is that we have adopted
electronic filing, remote working, video conferences, and
other options for holding virtual hearings. If taken along
further, this can lead to more organised schedules, lesser
wastage of time, and time bound disposal of cases.
As the current situation demands, nearly three-fourth of the
entire judicial proceedings to be virtual, by means of
technological assistance, it is of utmost importance that
legal professionals upskill themselves to the latest techno-
logical advancements. The post-pandemic era is going to
revolutionise the industry by incorporation of Artificial
Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, and Privacy,
etc., to the legal fraternity. Virtual offices and legal research
databases have also occupied their slots. This boom is
expected to create a slew of new companies and platforms.
Embracing the new transformation requires the right
technological foundation, to have access to the tools the
organisation or the circumstance demands. Personal
branding by using social media marketing is also an
alternative for those interested in carving a niche of their
own.
32 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
35.
36.
37. Many advocates and lawyers are looking to open small
independent law firms in the post-pandemic new normal.
The trend is rising because of the many attractive benefits it
offers, including self-employment, client-centricity, and setting one’s
own rules, standards, practice policies, and norms. Also, whatever the
monetary compensation acquired comes directly to the firm’s owner
and not to some third-party business owner.
Although the benefits look very alluring, establishing, growing, and
running a law firm successfully is an arduous task. Add a contingency
plan for the unprecedented and unavoidable circumstances like the
pandemic, and the prospectus looks much trickier, if not impossible.
However, suppose one wishes to open and run a successful legal firm.
In that case, they should not be worried, as we, after conducting
secondary research, have brought for them some easy tips that, if they
implemented in their approach, will help them immensely.
Who is Eligible to Open a Law Firm:
An Indian individual residing and who is a citizen of India, having
completed 21 years of age, holding a law degree from a Bar Council of
India recognised University, and who is registered with any of the
Legal Startup
Easy Steps to
Establish/Open
in India
a
35 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
38. Indian State Bar Council, is eligible to establish or open a
law firm anywhere in India.
Other Requirements:
There are some other requirements which are mandatory
and must be followed.
When you say a firm, it needs office space, be it your home.
But the property must be registered in the name of the
applicant. Similarly, as the proprietor, one has to consider
registering their legal trademark to give an identity and
protect it legally.
Furthermore, the number of lawyers the firm wishes to hire
or partner with must be specified to the Bar Council of
India, their roles, financing, liability, management, record
keeping, taxes, and specialisation.
Also, funding or legitimate sources of finance must be
secured from savings, loans, or earnings so that the costs
must be set up to survive the initial commencement phase.
Although if the advocates or lawyers who are already
registered with the Bar Council of India need not have to
register their law firms; albeit they will promise to follow
certain compliances and requirements in case their firm
begins generating substantial profits.
Procedure for Registration of a Legal Firm in India:
Even before setting up a law firm, the applicant must be
sure about the type of Legal Entity they wish to set up and
is suits them the best. This type will then decide upon the
firm's structure and format of registration.
The primary compliance norm for any firm is that all its
members must be registered as practising lawyers with any
State Bar Council of India.
Further, there are three types of Legal Structures available
in India under which one can establish a law firm.
Ÿ Sole Proprietorship- A straightforward business format
under which one can open and run a business is a sole
proprietorship which is not a legal entity.
Instead, the sole proprietorship only mentions that a citizen
of India owns a particular business, and they will be solely
and personally responsible for its functioning, operations,
and debts.
There is no formal procedure in India for registering such
an entity called a sole proprietorship Law Firm.
Further, the Bar Council of India has certain restrictions for
such Sole Proprietorship Legal firms, and thus advocates
and lawyers who wish to establish a law firm do not go for
this option.
Ÿ Partnership Firms- One can also start a partnership law
firm in India. All such entities are directed, regulated,
and governed through the Indian Partnership Act 1932.
Since there are no fines or penalties for registering
partnership firms, their registration is not mandatory.
Ÿ limited liability partnership (LLP) is a type of
partnership firm where some or all partners hold limited
liabilities. It means the firm contains partnerships as
well as a corporation factor.
In an LLP, each of the partners is liable for only their
misconduct or negligence and not responsible for the other
partner’s business conduct or negligence. But to register a
law firm under LLP, the first thing required is the
Designated Partner Identification Number (DPIN), for
which one has to apply. One must also acquire a Digital
Signature Certificate (DSC) by applying for it too.
Once applied for the DSC, an LLP Firm’s unique name will
be asked. After the name’s registration, the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs (MCA) will be notified, and the name will
be filed for incorporation. The process ends with the
approval of the Certificate of Incorporation. After that, the
LLP name must be approved by the Ministry of Corporate.
Further, every LLP must get a registered Permanent
Account Number (PAN) and Tax Account Number (TAN).
Establishing the Future:
Though the registration of a law firm is neither necessary
nor mandatory, doing so makes certain kinds of legal rights
applicable on the firm and its members/partners.
All three legal structure has their different pros and cons,
benefits, drawbacks and procedures for registration. Before
registering a law firm, it is essential to consider various
factors like types, structures, size, management, finances,
tax, profits, loans, and other liabilities. It varies according to
the owner’s ownership structure best viable for them.
In today’s competitive environment and future’s
unpredictable scenarios, it will be a constant challenge for
even the most qualified advocates and lawyers in
maintaining and growing a successful law practice. Thus,
they can secure their future by taking their first step by
opening a law firm.
- Gaurav PR Wankhade
36 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
39.
40. Svetlana Khiyungdzuzu
Leveraging the Power of Redemption
Acrime is considered a grave
offense against morality. An
offense so great that society
shuns the individuals committing
crimes and shows them of mercy or
redemption. However, these
individuals are still human beings and
deserve a chance to become better
people and contribute to society in a
positive form.
Imagine people making a mistake,
asking for help, begging for
forgiveness and no one’s listening to
their pleas. Unfortunately, this is true
for so many individuals from
unprecedented backgrounds having
psychological problems, wrongly
convicted people who don’t have
adequate knowledge about their
constitutional rights.
For these individuals with little to no
hope, someone advocating on their
behalf, believing in them, and simply
showing some humanity is a huge
blessing. Svetlana Khiyungdzuzu
Domino, the Managing Partner of
Elohim, New Delhi, is an extra-
ordinary practitioner of law, enabling
access to justice for the less fortunate.
Svetlana believes everyone deserves
justice and everyone deserves a second
chance, a chance at redemption. She’s
restoring one’s faith in humanity, a
case at a time.
Her Professional Journey
As a lawyer, Svetlana began her career
with a nominal start, facing many
challenges being a woman in early
days of her Advocacy practice.
As part of her criminal defense, her
major criminal defense cases have
been successfully handled by her and
she succeeded in a number of major
cases. She went on to work in the
criminal milieu. She went on to work
in the criminal milieu, where lawyers
play an important role to achieve
justice for a client and to contribute to
making the world a better place.
Aspiring Initiatives
Svetlana’s father inspired her to be in
the legal space. She has observed that
the role of a lawyer is paramount to do
with the criminal cases, contributing to
the society by helping criminals to
become a good human being.
Range of Specialties
Svetlana believes in providing
resolution oriented, pragmatic advice
and solution to the clients. Her team
exclusively handles litigation matters
in civil, criminal, and corporate
commercial. Courts with a heavy
emphasis on specialization in major
Criminal Défense, Drugs, Murder,
Bureau matters, Custom matters, and
CBI matters.
Her lead cases are Charlse Howell
2017 Intelligence Bureau, Ismail Barua
and Kyrian 2017 NCB, Paul Mueda
2018 NCB. Martin and Jan Herm
Herbest 2018 Intelligence Bureau,
Biggest drug recovery cases
Ehsanualla 2019 special cell, Ahmad
Shah 2019 Crime Branch, Kennedy,
Anayo 2018 Crime Branch, and Norist
intelligent bureau 2018.
Also, for Delhi police as a faculty
member, she emphasises lectures on
MCOCA, Terrorism, Drugs, Human
trafficking, NCB, and crime branch.
Pandemic Challenges
“There are significant changes to
business, economy, and market in
almost every country, including the
legal industry. After Covid’s
nomenclature, the courts are slow and
delaying the process of justice and
resolution. It has postponed oral
arguments and canceling hearings,
conferences that are not directly related
to pending cases,” says Svetlana.
“Although criminal courts, along with
legal services agencies, are delaying
closing or going completely remote
and cases are cropped up,” she adds.
Practice
oflawisagreat
professionin
whichevery
individualhas
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ability
“
“
“
“
38 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
41. Domino
Enhanced by Technology
During her time in the legal field, she
saw the rise in flexible working. Apace
technology allows lawyers to work
from their home or offices all while
serving their clients in the field.
This has removed a great deal of stress
from her day, allowing her more time
to think about her clients' problems and
how to solve them. She spends most of
her time in legal practice quietly
assessing, strategizing, and
hypothesizing. In this, technology has
helped her a lot by saving time of
travelling. It can be accessed from
anywhere and gives her more time and
energy to put on potential work to
solve cases.
Evolution in Law
Technology has helped a lot and
substantially impacted how
information is disseminated, as well as
how people interact with a wide range
of objects.
The process of discovery is now
streamlined, excess to resources and
legal research previously completed
over days can be wrapped up in hours.
Advice to the Novices
“It is about applying your own ideas
and method, so don't copy others, be
authentic. It should not be a business
endeavor, civility among lawyers
should not diminish,” Svetlana
concludes.
Advocate Svetlana Khiyungdzuzu Domino
Criminal Defense Counsel Founder and
Managing partner at Elohim
India's Outstanding Lawyers 2021
39 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
42. 40 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
s the Covid-19 has slowed down the hearing in
Acourts, it has become difficult to expect justice on
time. The courts have started online, which is not
possible for everyone to attend. The cases have been
postponed, canceled, or rescheduled due to the pandemic.
The lawyers too have faced crisis due to the closure of
courts. Many law firms are trying their best to serve the
public.
One such law firm is Versatile Law Partners that have
been facing challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic. But
the firm is trying its best to get justice for their clients. The
firm is founded and managed by Advocate Vidya Adsule.
Advocate Vidya has more than 30 years of experience in
law and has always given her best for the clients.
In the following interview, Vidya shared with us about her
entire journey and motivation to build Versatile Law
Partners. Vidya also shared how COVID-19 pandemic
impacted her firm and how she overcame the challenges.
She also briefed us about her future goals and a few tips on
how she aspires to be one of the legal enthusiasts.
Following are the highlights of the interview:
Enlighten us with your professional journey into the
legal paradigm.
Having completed my graduation in Commerce in 1985, I
had a job offer with Lady Ratan Tata Institute as Accounts
Clerk with a salary which was considered as ‘Abundant’ at
that point of time. However, that didn’t stop me from
pursuing law, and I completed my LLB degree in 1988 post
which I got the Sanad to practice from Bar Council of
Maharashtra and Goa in 1989. While pursuing LLB, I was
being criticized in my circle for not having taken the job at
LRTI. However, now that I look back upon my 32 years of
journey, it was one of the best career decisions I could ever
make.
While Pursuing LLB, I worked with Senior Lawyers such
as Solicitor Arvind Nagvekar and Co. and Govt. Pleader
Mahabaleshwar Morje. I gained considerable knowledge in
the field of operations of various Courts, respective
jurisdiction and applicable laws implementations for
enforcement of civil rights including the modalities and
various legal aspects of non-litigation practice like property
/real estate law and conveyancing, drafting commercial
documents, and conducting of due diligences.
After gaining preliminary and basic knowledge in the real
estate and property laws, I joined a Developer by the name
of ‘Our Town’ as Legal Advisor in 1990. Having a decade
of stint in land acquisition, I had a short stint of almost 1
year at ‘Ahuja Constructions,’ where I handled 25 +
redevelopment projects and handled legal aspects of
development on MHADA and CIDCO allotted plots to
Societies.
The first of my corporate break came in 2001 when I was
offered the role of Legal Manager at ICICI Bank. There, I
was primarily responsible for formulating legal policies and
procedures, drafting loan documentations for 20 + products
and due diligence to check compliances of policies rolled
out by business.
43. 41 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
Within six months of joining ICICI Home Finance, I was
diagnosed with esophagus cancer, however this did not
hamper my passion for work, and I continued working daily
while undergoing treatment for almost 6 months. Within a
span of two years, I got double promotion to Chief Manager
and was also awarded as the best performer in Legal Risk
and Policy Department.
Based on the above achievements, I was transferred to the
Corporate Legal department to handle legal aspect of the
entire Retail and Liability Business, where I got rolled out
standardization of the legal documents in the retail
mortgage finance business and created various legal process
manuals. For this, I received the Best legal deal of the year
award in 2005.
Having taken a good amount of experience in the mortgage
finance, banking, and corporate legal field, I joined Kotak
Mahindra Investments in a bid to gain exposure in the
Private Equity paradigm as Vice President Legal in 2005.
Later, I returned into ICICI fold (as VP Legal and
Compliance), although this time it was ICICI Venture, a
100% subsidiary of ICICI Bank.
In January 2012, I joined Wadia Group’s Entity Bombay
Dyeing and handled legal aspects of their 500 + acres FE
Dinshaw Lands at Thane. In 2014, I left Bombay Dyeing
and joined Hammurabi and Solomon a Delhi based law firm
to set up their Mumbai Office. I was with them till July
2015.
Thereafter in August 2015, I shifted to Pune and joined
Kolte Patil Group, a listed entity to Head the legal aspects
of Kolte Patil Group. I was with them till March 2016. In
April 2016, I joined JP Infra Group at Mumbai, handled
procuring 70 + acres of lands for them at Mitra Road. I
worked with them till December 2017.
In Jan 2018, I joined RNA Group as Sr. General Counsel
(Legal and Compliance). I was with them till 2019 January.
Thereafter in January 2019, I joined Ashwin Sheth Group
for short period of time till May 2019 and in those 5 months
of period.
However, while doing each of assignment in various real
estate group, I was doing my independent practice and
realized my potential being not fully utilized in the job
assignment those came to me. Hence, I took a decision to
quit the assignments with parallel in-house job assignments
Developers and started focusing on my independent Firm
practice since 2019.
Awards and Recognitions:
I was selected as:
• Top 100 Powerful Women in Law in India in 2017-18
by Worldwide Intellectual Professional Forum
• ‘Star Women in Law’ by Legal Era in 2018-19
• Best Legal Head of the Year by Marketing Mavrick in
2019
• Listed in Top 100 Lawyers to be followed on LinkedIn
(Worldwide)
• h ps://blog.ipleaders.in/100-lawyers-one-
should-follow-on-linkedin/
What motivated or inspired you to be in the legal space?
As a young lady, I was highly ambitious and refused to
settle for less. Further, I loved challenges and the same
could not be offered by the monotonous job offering post
my commerce graduation. Over and above having stayed in
a chawl, I noticed that the common man was always
deprived of a lot of their legal rights and wanted to make a
difference by helping such strata of people in whatever way
possible.
Kindly talk about the various or specialized legal
offerings, solutions, or services that you provide to your
clientele.
My firm is Multi-Service Law Firm along with Pro Bono
Practice for the needy. Our areas of practice are:
• Banking and Finance,
• Real Estate
• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Securitization Law
• Private Equity, Corporate and Commercial
• Consumer and Media Laws
• Litigation and Dispute Resolution (Civil as well
Criminal)
• Giving solutions to day-to day legal functions of
Clients
44. 42 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
• End-to-end Contract management
• Servicing Individual clients including the Pro Bono
cases.
As a lawyer, what challenges have you faced in this
ongoing Covid-19 pandemic?
Although, the Work from Home Scenario has not affected
the non-Lit practice, it is pertinent to note that there has
been a substantial reduction in quantum of assignments as
the number of deals that are taken ahead for closure have
substantially reduced. Mainly, due to the general psyche
among the entrepreneurs/promoters’ businesses to save on
their reserves rather than investing or using it for capital
expenditure. This has been predominantly seen with the
MSME clients mainly on account of the operations and
functioning been affected due to Pandemic and at times
leading to reduction in the profits. Therefore, survival has
become the priority over, growth and expansion.
I have faced the challenges like administration of work and
litigations due to restrictions imposed the quantum of
deliverable have affected. However, I have coped up by
being on toes to take care of all urgent and important work
assignments of the clients. Furthermore, the quantum of
work has reduced though the efficiency of work and cost of
running firm has considerably reduced.
How technological advancements in the legal space has
helped you in overcoming those challenges?
Currently most of Courts continue online and it is a boon
for lawyers as there is cost reduction, increase in efficiency
and firm can handle multiple matters in multiple courts
sitting at Office. Thus, it has led to scaling of our firm
practice.
Due to everything moving to the online mode, the cost of
operations has substantially reduced as one can work
remotely and conduct meetings through Microsoft Teams,
Google Meet, etc. In today’s time, all you need is a good
internet connection, and you are good to go even work from
the remotest location. One of the major things that has been
positively benefited is, time management due to zero travel
time and all other unnecessary disturbances.
However, work life balance to an extent has affected, as at
times it becomes around the clock working expectations by
the Client and law firms.
In fact, this has promoted a lot of new legal business ideas
giving rise to a number of websites which help in the
execution of the documents in the online mode, however
the other challenge is, if too much of data is online, the
hackers at large will have the opportunity to adversely use
such data. So, its facilitation by technology use with
exposure to such risks.
How legal practice has evolved over the period of time?
Are there any significant changes?
Legal profession is an important pillar for administration of
justice and if it is not well-organized, court will not be to
administer and deliver justice effectively. Legal practice
from the time I started career in profession and as it is
today, have considerably changed and major changes are
seen in following aspects:
• Research was difficult earlier as it was more manual
and now multiple legal search engines which throw
cases in just a matter of seconds are available. This is a
big facilitator to know the precedents and rulings of
different courts.
• In earlier days, Steno with Typewriter was must.
However, since the use of Computers multiple
assignments of drafting can be parallel handled instead
of typing gestation period and the saving system has
facilitated the proof reading which was earlier by
generation of prints for proof reading and correction
and nowadays one can do on the computer itself.
• Access to Senior Counsel and to know their
whereabouts earlier was a big challenge as one
resource was tally required to follow them. Now due to
cell phones and messaging system at the spur of the
moment the co-ordination can happen.
• In litigation in almost all courts, the case status is
available online whereas, earlier it had to be done
manually by visiting respective court or its record
department. This allows the lawyers to save the wait
45. 43 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
period and efficiently use the same for other
assignments closure.
• Awareness amongst new breed of lawyers is more as
the Legal Media/ journalism has emerged as a big
facilitator.
• Introductions of various systems like Online
stamping/franking of documents and online registration
of documents, online searches of title, online
availability of revenue records, entity record online,
filing of compliances by various entities and online
application for registration system introduced, has
come in a big way to facilitate the efficient handling of
legal assignments.
What advice would you give to the aspiring legal
enthusiasts who are willing to become lawyers and step
into the legal space today?
My advice to aspiring legal enthusiasts would be to pursue
law ONLY if you have passion for it and do not take it for
the sake of no other alternative to them.
Secondly, being from eminent law schools along with good
grades in law school may be the basic requirement for the
entry in niche law firms or corporates.
However, the practical knowledge of operations of the
Court, lots of efforts are required to be put in analyzing the
cases and formulating the cause of action to know the best
available course of action permissible under applicable
laws. Trial Courts exposure is MUST both for civil and
criminal areas practice aspirants. Depth knowledge of the
core laws like Indian Constitution Corporate Laws,
Regulations governing different businesses and specific
field related laws expertise is required to be developed.
In practice, there is a bigger gestation period involved. So,
the success can be achieved only through perseverance,
hard work and full commitment. However, for In-house
Roles in the beginning is the learning period. Hence, though
the emoluments may be low but the aspirant needs to be
taking such assignment opportunity where there is lot of
technical legal work. More learning and growth come when
one puts full commitment. Also, In-house law aspirant
needs to learn to facilitate business and cannot merely flag
legal issues and sit quiet. They must learn skills to find a
way out by putting at work, the risk mitigation mechanism.
Initially, in both roles independent practice and in-house
assignment, one needs to have lots of patience, hunger for
knowledge and needs to be a voracious reader and needs to
keep themselves abreast of all amendments and updates in
legal field by which they will have edge. Such approach
will help in desired growth of the aspirant into an eligible
legal professional is my candid advice.
Where does your endeavors lead you to in the coming
years? Kindly talk about your future scenario.
Since I have set up an independent law firm, primary focus
will on the growth and expansion of the same, not just in
terms of clients but also in terms of practice areas and
geographies. Further, I am already doing a mentor role for
lots of junior legal professionals and have formulated
various social media knowledge sharing groups for guiding
them, wherever possible.
This is one of the aspects I will continuously be doing.
Further, I am also sharing common practices and job
assignments availability with various firms/ organizations
through formation of various social media groups which I
will continue to do to achieve: ‘Giving Back to Society.’
Further, I intend writing books in the legal domain specially
related to Drafting and Conveyancing, Corporate Laws and
Legal Fiction which is underway.
What is the current scenario of the Indian Legal Space
according to you?
Current scenario of Indian Legal Space looks very
promising. Various redundant laws have been scrapped,
while some laws have been consolidated into new code.
Additionally, many New Laws have been introduced due to
evolution of economy as well of businesses. Since the
businesses and economies are getting modernized with new
forms of risk coming into the play, the laws are also in
parallel evolving and changing to address such new
challenges.
The new generation of the populace in India are more aware
of the legal rights and hence, lawyers are consulted even for
the smallest of the issues, which has in turn helped the
growth of legal profession.
Since India is a Developing Country, the Legal System will
keep evolving to keep pace with the growth of the economy
and it will happen with time, as the current times are
unpredictable post covid, will see a lot of change in law
enforcement processes and justice delivery systems in India
provided there is a political will to pass some laws, which
will create lots of ruckus and unrest for e.g., Uniform Civil
Cod, etc.
