India 2021|VOL - 09 | ISSUE - 05
Chalk-Talk BEST
LAW FIRMS OF INDIA IN 2021
Importance of Simple Language in Legal Drafting
Time-Frame Strategies for Lawyers to Improve Time Management Skills
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We believe that hands on training is a better bet than having students follow predetermined courses
Kirtikant S. Nanavati Founder
NANAVATI
ASSOCIATES Get Lawyered Up!
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EDITOR’S NOTE
LAW FIRMS – THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
L
egal assistance is one thing that will be needed as long as the human race exists. The legal history of India dates to the Vedic ages, and they say some form of civil and punitive laws existed even during the Indus Valley Civilization. The country has come a long way since then. The present constitutional and legal system underwent many amendments and additions over the decades. From individual practicing lawyers to law firms, the profession has transitioned remarkably well. Law firms in India are constantly growing, and the reasons are apparent. They provide a wide array of legal services under one roof and have experts dealing with various areas of law. The success of a law firm depends squarely upon the team of partners, and since it is a business entity, client satisfaction and meeting deadlines are their priorities. If the lawyer assigned for a case is not present or if the client is not satisfied, the lawyer can be replaced.
Interning at a law firm gives a fresher more scope to learn and gain knowledge in several domains of law. It exposes the intern to a professional way of handling a case. Interns or freshers do the research and documentation that the seniors scrutinize. They also do administrative work and help in drafting case files. These give them practical exposure in the field and prepare their careers. The pandemic only increased the demand for law firms. With many businesses changing their operations or shifting to allied fields or different sectors, legal advice became paramount. Thus, interning or working with a law firm provides the proper training and equips the interns with skills to confidently take on the legal profession. An internship also helps in increasing the intern’s network and is an add-on to the resume. We came across few legal firms in the country that provide valuable training to interns apart from working
on their cases. They help interns thoroughly understand the law by applying theoretical knowledge to the practical exposure that they get during the internship. Please read our latest edition of The Knowledge Review, Best Law Firms of India in 2021. These law firms are not only renowned for their work but also for the kind of internship they provide to groom future lawyers. Have an excellent read! T R
Sumita Sarkar sumita@theknowledgereview.com
Cover Story
NANAVATI
ASSOCIATES
08
Get Lawyered Up!
CXO 24
The Secret Ingredient LeadershipCommunication
Articles 20
32
Time-Frame Strategies for Lawyers to Improve Time Management Skills
Chalk-Talk Importance of Simple Language in Legal Drafting
16
28
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BEST
LAW FIRMS OF INDIA IN 2021 Name of the Institution
URL
Brief
Aggarwals and Associates
aggarwalassociates.com
Aggarwal Associates is a law rm based in New Delhi, India with global reach through network of associated law ofces
Bhasin Sethi & Associates
bsalaw.in
Bhasin Sethi & Associates is a boutique tax law rm with deep market knowledge, expertise, and understanding in the ne areas of indirect taxation laws, GST), central excise, customs, and so on
H K ACHARYA & COMPANY
hkindia.com
H K ACHARYA & COMPANY offers both the legal and technical insight needed for intellectual property to prosper and grow
International Law Afliates
ilaindia.com
International Law Afliates aims to appreciate the nuances of its clients’ businesses and their dayto-day problems
Kanth and Associates
kanthandassociates.com
Kanth and Associates is a full service law rm, based in India, offering cutting-edge blend of capabilities to corporations, individuals, and international entities across the globe
Kochhar & Co.
kochhar.com
Kochhar & Co. is one of the leading and largest corporate law rms in India
Krishnamurthy and Co.
klaw.in
Established in 1999, Krishnamurthy & Co. (K Law) is a full-service law rm with ofces in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Chennai
nanavatiassociates.com
Since 2003, Nanavati Associates has been providing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) legal services and networks with rms in US, Europe, Japan, and so on
pulastyalegal.com
Through customized legal services, Pulastya Legal strives to help you protect your legal and business rights, all the time
vidhivetta.com
Vidhivetta’s professional services are based upon more than 12 years of experience in providing clients with legal/management consulting assistance and services
Nanavati Associates
Pulastya Legal Services LLP
Vidhivetta Law Firm
C O V E R
S T O R Y
NANAVATI ASSOCIATES Get Lawyered Up!
BEST
LAW FIRMS OF INDIA IN 2021
Kirtikant S. Nanavati Founder
“In a changing world, it pays to be a generalist, not a specialist.”
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ecoming a law professional, that too a successful one, requires mastering a vast array of skills and competencies which include, but not limited to, analytical skills, reasoning ability, good communication skills, sound judgement, writing skills, leadership skills, listening, logical thinking, research proficiency, and decision making with gravitas. Undeniably, being a good lawyer is nothing short of being a polymath. Law is the foundation on which the constitution of the democratic society was constructed on. The professionals of this trade – lawyers, have the important responsibility of being the custodians of justice. Law is one of the oldest professions. This unrivalled profession has only grown in demand over the millennium and necessitates more skills and proficiency than ever before. Successful law firms must cultivate focus or raison d’etre, and each lawyer should develop specialized expertise consistent with the firm’s mission. Successful law firms recognise that ‘quality work” has a dual meaning: technical quality (how good the work is) and service quality (the client’s experience dealing with the firm). To be able to live up to such high standards and conduct is sure to be a tough job for any organisation, but those who are able to ride that wave are considered the masters of their game. Perhaps this is why the esteemed law firm – Nanavati Associates – has risen to the eminent position of respect and admiration of its clientele and the
country at large. This firm was established in 1996 when the Founder of the firm K. S. Nanavati was given the status of ‘Senior Advocate’ and consequently he decided to make the firm into a partnership in the name of Nanavati Associates. The Journey Nanavati Associates began with its founder, Mr. K. S. Nanavati, a senior advocate, who founded in 1977 – K. S. Nanavati & Associates – a proprietorship firm. With Mr. K. S. Nanavati getting designated as a senior advocate by the honourable High Court of Gujarat, his proprietorship firm was transformed into a partnership firm and thus, Nanavati Associates was born in 1996. Nanavati Associates has been founded on the values of the erstwhile proprietorship, that was K. S. Nanavati & Associates, and has inherited, maintained, and successfully managed to derive strength from those values by adhering to strict standards of legal practice and quality. The Partners and Associates of Nanavati Associates attend to matters
listed before other Honourable High Courts and the Honourable Supreme Court of India. In order to provide litigation and non-litigation services for other courts and tribunals, they formed a separate partnership firm in 2002 and thus, K. Nanavati & Gandhi Associates came into existence as a Sister Concern. Since 2003, Nanavati Associates has been providing IPR (intellectual property rights) legal services and networks with firms in US, Europe, Japan, and some other countries. Nanavati Associates claims to handle almost all cases encompassing all laws within the country and also on issues that arise out of International disputes. This enables persons working within each such vertical to achieve the level of expertise that comes with such practice. Each partner of the firm has his own vertical comprising associates working closely within such vertical, so as to ensure predictability, seamlessness and continuity of work. Each such vertical handles specific areas of laws that are decided and distributed amongst such verticals;
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We cultivate everyone at the firm to think beyond what’s presented and try and dig out facts that most would take for granted. ‘Devil is in the details’ is our motto
Nanavati Associates focuses more on quality than on quantity. The Nanavati Associates team emphasises: “Our ethos of providing legal service is to focus on what we can do differently to achieve the objective of the clientele in an effort to fortify the end result and hence we qualitatively appreciate ‘out of the box’ thinking and remedies.” This has always been the key to achieving lasting results when
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including different forums, courts, tribunals, etc for such resolution of disputes; whether they be inter party or with the government.
challenged in various levels of the appellate structure enshrined in various laws. The team of Nanavati cultivates everyone at the firm to think beyond what is presented and try and dig out facts that most would take for granted. ‘Devil is in the details’ is the firm’s motto. A ‘comma’ mistakenly put at a different place changes the entire context is their belief and hence they continuously try and challenge the narrative to arrive at the true picture. Grooming Future Lawyers When it comes to training aspiring lawyers, the firm believes that hands on training is a better bet than having them follow predetermined courses.
“Each person has a different approach that they bring to the table. Harnessing those differences helps us help them achieve their potential and, in turn, allows us to address client issues optimally,” commented the team. Lawyers are independent thinkers. Pigeonholing them would leave them worse off. Therefore, the team believes that grooming takes finesse and direct interaction with the partners, which allows them guidance on their tasks; that is the best way to boost their confidence from the early stages. Case Selection At Nanavati Associates, the selection of cases is determined based on
complexity, conflict, but also on the basis of compensation, and cases that pertain to ‘hard core’ crime are generally not preferred. Although the firm does not have any specific and quantified provisions for pro-bono cases, everyone is encouraged to go by their conscience in charging or while deciding whether to charge fees or not for a particular matter.
Leveraging Technology to Guide Autodidacts Each of the employees and the students at Nanavati Associates are cultivated to grasp at every piece of ‘learning’ that they want to learn. No person is given a task that they are unable to handle. At the firm, it is an accepted belief that each person has a passion that they would excel at. The team encourages flaming such passions and then teach them to try and be competent at other areas which the team feels they are lacking. This methodology in turn polishes them for the future in the legal sector. Technology has already made research easier, drafting is already aided by technology, and owing to the hardships of 2020, the firm like many others has learned that client conferences and proceedings also can take place by augmenting and/or utilising current technologies.
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We at Nanavati Associates focus more on quality than on quantity. Our ethos of providing legal service is of focusing on what we can do differently to achieve the objectives of the clientele
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Dynamic Leadership at its Best As stated before, K S Nanavati, Senior Advocate, established K. S. Nanavati & Associates - a proprietorship firm when he started his practice as an advocate. In 1995 he was amongst the first to be granted the designation of a Senior Advocate. On being so designated, he converted the firm into a partnership firm; now led by Dharmishtha Nanavati, Keyur Gandhi, Pranit Nanavati, and Kunal Nanavati.
The Nanavati team added: “We feel that the seeds of change are sowed, and each person would need to accept the coming change. Hence, we encourage everyone to try and become familiar to the change in the present so that they are proficient in the future.”
A Future to Behold The firm recognises that digital working maybe here to stay, as it offers multiple timesaving and workflow-enhancement advantages. The team hopes that in the face of this certainty, it will successfully employ many other efficient modules and optimally capitalise on this norm of working while overcoming the geographical limitations that preclude them from being able to offer their legal services beyond their physical reach. All the while keeping in mind the transparency, trust, and commitment to providing quality service to the clients, Nanavati Associates has earned the title of being a tour de force in the law game.
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We encourage everyone to try and become familiar to the change in the present so that they are proficient in the future
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During the peak of the pandemic, the team and employees were operating with ‘work-from-home’ procedures, by augmenting, implementing, and utilizing their infrastructure to allow everyone to be able to work remotely. Tools which are now akin to second nature, were implemented early on and everyone was encouraged and enabled to be adept in recognition of the fast arriving ‘digital future’. In that sense, Nanavati Associates has successfully bridged the gap between an obstacle and a competitive edge. Students with the firm are also encouraged to recognise this change and guided to benefit from it optimally.
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AGGARWALS & ASSOCIATES
T
An Ambit of Legal Services, Committed to Positive Outcomes with Unique Approach towards your Issues
he Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns introduced as a response to the same brough peoples, businesses, sectors, industries, even entire nations to an indeterminate screeching halt. But even with its many troubles and tribulations, the legal professionals supported their clients through thick and thin. Such is the profession of law, for the society to function effectively, it can never be just suspended. Hence, the team of Aggarwals & Associates were holding the fort, finding ways to help their clientele in these most desperate of times. Law itself is a wider term which implies a pool of many new opportunities to the upcoming new generation of lawyers. It provides new gates for the lawyers to the corporate world, financial institutes, educational institutes as well as government agencies.
Catering to the needs of the current world, Aggarwals & Associates is leading the legal sector. The firm is a fullservice boutique law firm pioneering legal solutions to domestic as well as international clients. It operates as a unique blend of legal and corporate service providers. The firm was incepted in 2006 in Amritsar and now it has strengthened its base in Chandigarh. Having already started building relationships beyond the national boundaries, the firm now aims at starting many new offices in the international market, making it’s roots stronger beyond their own boundaries. Aggarwals & Associates offers a large portfolio of legal services through its branches stationed across the globe. At every branch, a team of specialized experts from various sectors emphasizes to rule out the difficulties being faced by their corporate clients and individuals. It also provides its
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Best Law Firms of India in 2021
best services to resolve client disputes either at domestic level or at an international level. Aggarwals & Associates work as a single-window service provider to deal with all kinds of cases across the globe under one roof. Here, the clients meet their legal compliances under one umbrella. The firm stands apart from others as it provides outstanding legal advice without compromising on professional ethics. The major goal of the firm is to make legal services more efficient, time-bound and cost-effective. The Pillars of the Firm Mr. Ashish Aggarwal is the Managing Partner of Aggarwals & Associates. After completing his graduation in law, he came to Chandigarh with a vision to achieve some of his goals and to fulfill his dream of becoming a solicitous professional. He soon started his practice in law at Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh. Subsequently, he was looking at the affairs of his clients while putting his appearance before various courts and forums across the nation and before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Mr. Ashish Aggarwal has a vast knowledge of criminal and commercial laws and has led his firm to win the trust of his clients by delivering 100% results. His team has always stood beside him in every aspect of the decisions that he has made for the firm. This team comprises of sharp and accomplished legal practitioners dealing in varied sectors. It offers a perfect blend of youth and experience. The team has the ability to anticipate the client’s legal needs (present and future). Talking about the work culture, Aggarwals & Associates has transparency in whatever the team does. To become successful, Mr. Ashish Aggarwal has a simple mantra which is to always motivate the team by staying honest with the profession. He believes that to be successful there are no short cuts. Exceptional Services The firm is one of the top law firms of North India and is well known for its expertise in civil litigation matters, company law-board matters, national company civil matters, arbitration and reconciliation matters, merger as well as acquisition matters. The prime service rendered by the firm is to advice client (individual or corporate houses) on their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent them before the various forums across the globe in order to safeguard their legal rights.
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Aggarwals & Associates work as a single-window service provider to deal with all kinds of cases across the globe under one roof
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Aggarwals & Associates is proud of achieving expertise across varied verticals by providing legal services and guidance in the fields of: Ÿ
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Banking and finance: This field covers the debt capital market, trade finance and asset finance, regulatory and advisory, and corporate debt finance. Disputes and litigation: In this, the firm caters to arbitration, commercial disputes, criminal proceedings, company law board matters, pre-litigation and dispute advisory. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): It looks after the trademarks, copyrights, designs, domain names, patents, cyber and computer law and trade secrets. Real Estate: In this, it covers all the RERA compliances, land acquisitions, due diligence, commercial leasing, and integrated townships. Environment Health and Safety: General environment, health, and safety (EHS) legal advisory, compliances and EHS law mapping obtaining government and regulatory improvements and representing clients before National Green Tribunal are looked over by the firm. Technology, Media and Telecom: Here, the firm takes care of telecom and regulatory, IT and software, content development, e-commerce, privacy and data protection, outsourcing, structuring, policy and regulatory and IPR.
Apart from the list of services mentioned above, Aggarwals & Associates caters the start-up businesses to ensure the beginners to concentrate more on their business. To this, Mr. Ashish Aggarwal adds, “The strength of my firm is my team of hardworking and passionate people who think alike, in order to achieve best. Rest is assured that we shall take care of all the legal aspects of their company for them to flourish well.” Advancing into the Future Like any other law firm, Aggarwals & Associates too had to face various challenges. The firm has been persistently working through the ever-growing competition and pressure of the industry standards. The biggest challenge remains is the client’s expectation for working at a lower rate. But after explaining the clients about the number of efforts and dedication put into the case, the clients understand the value of it. Mr. Ashish Aggarwal says, “Never stop dreaming high as it always pushes you to achieve more and more. Your failures will always teach you how it be the best and never put full stops on your dreams, always put commas and try reaching higher and higher”.
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Strategies for
lawyers to
Improve
20 | September 2021 | www.theknowledgereview.com
Time-Frame
time
Management
skills T
ime is one of the most precious assets of any organization. Law firms and lawyers also have to manage their time judiciously so that the standard and quality of their services remain intact in this competitive legal environment.
strategies to stay ahead of their competitors while delivering excellent services.
Managing time is very important for any lawyer, especially when the client is being billed by the hour. With every incoming phone call and email hitting the mailbox, the clock starts ticking for the lawyers. They have to adopt various time-management skills and
Self-Assessment is Essential
The following techniques can help lawyers to save time and reap better results:
In order to manage time more effectively, lawyers have to first assess how they spend their time each day, what amount of time they spend on billable work, over personal calls and
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chatting, and so on. They have to track the time spent in working during any typical week. Following the 80/20 Rule For better time management, lawyers must follow the 80/20 rule. As per this rule, the relationship between input and output is never balanced. The balance can be rarely witnessed in certain circumstances. When applied to work, this rule allows people to produce 80% of their results with 20% of their efforts. If lawyers learn how to recognize the tasks and focus on them effectively, they can make the most effective use of their time. Setting SMART Goals Firms and lawyers can set even the simplest of goals, such as tracking all their time— billable and nonbillable— for a given period to learn how a firm or a lawyer spends their time in the day. Preparing ‘To Do’ Lists ‘To Do’ lists enhance the efficiency of time and help lawyers to reduce stress in their practice. They come in handy during overwhelming situations as they bring perspective and planning while allowing lawyers to take control of the task at hand. Comprehensive running lists assist in keeping track of the tasks to be completed. These lists come in handy for lawyers who want to complete their tasks in a timely fashion. At the beginning of every week, lawyers can make a to-do list of tasks that must be accomplished that week. This simplifies tasks and ensures excellence in execution.
Identifying Priorities Lawyers can utilize the 80/20 rule to prioritize the tasks at hand and to choose their actions effectively. This will help them to complete those tasks, which are more important, and then focus on other less important assignments. Keeping Reserve Time For better results, lawyers and law firms should always plan for the unexpected and keep time for emergencies and last-minute occurrences. They should not overbook themselves - rather underpromising to the clients, and then overdelivering can have a better impact. If lawyers thinks they can deliver a contract by Tuesday noon, they can tell their clients that they will get the job done by Wednesday at 4 pm. However, if they deliver it on Tuesday, the client will be very pleased. Work Allocation as per High and Low Energy Periods Firms can manage time by working on the most important or complex matters during those periods where the energy of the staff is at the peak. They can deal with the less crucial or demanding matters during times of energy sag Recording Time In order to gain higher billings and ensure a more productive law practice, it is essential to keep good time records. Maintaining good time records can help in handling
individual client matters. Lawyers can also maintain a personal time log of all activities (billable and non-billable). This can assist them to determine the activities that are non-productive or inefficient. Delegation is the Key Leaders of law firms should understand that it is not possible to do everything by themselves. Achieving targets with efficiency requires a smooth game plan. Leaders should delegate the tasks to the subordinates so that the objectives can be achieved seamlessly in a very short time. Overcoming Procrastination Effectively Procrastination is a common factor because of which lawyers waste a lot of precious time that they could have otherwise used to win cases and serve clients efficiently. It is a common time waster among lawyers. Often people have no idea why they procrastinate. In such cases, they should brainstorm and come up with ideas about what they should do to move ahead. They can also avoid procrastination by breaking the project into small parts. This will take the dullness out of the project, and lawyers will be able to complete the same efficiently. For any lawyer or a law firm, it is essential to manage time. This would help in prioritizing things and in improving productivity. The tips and methods mentioned above will help them achieve their goals effectively, while saving more time to take care of other important things. -
Ananda Kamal Das
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Leadership Communication
S
tephen Covey the Management Guru of our times and the author of ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ defined leadership as, “Leadership is communicating people’s worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it clearly in themselves." Basically, leadership has a lot to do with communication. When you are a leader and you have a vision for your organization, you have to communicate the same to your people who will team up and work to bring that vision into reality. So, a leader who can communicate in clear terms his vision, people’s worth and potential is surely an effective leader and has an advantage in terms of his role as a leader. The Brooklyn Bridge in New York is a great example of leadership. In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However, bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before. Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion, he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway, a tragic accident on the site took the life of John
Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move. “We told them so.” “Crazy men and their crazy dreams.” “It’s foolish to chase wild visions.” Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap, Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment. It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife. He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again. For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed.
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The Secret Ingredient
Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. That’s a great example of a leader who had a vision and communicated it to his wife and his people despite all the odds and completed the project. So how does a leadership communicate? What’s the difference between his communication and the communication of the ordinary people? Here are 3 things that I have gleaned from my own learning and experience: "I see a spark in you."- A great leader does not see people as they are but what they can be if their potential and talents are utilized and channelled in the right way for the right purpose. So, the first communication of a leader to his people is in the words – “I see a spark in you.” A Leader will encourage people towards self-discovery. Most of the people in the din and bustle of their world have lost their authenticity. They have forgotten that they are special. They are a spark of the God Almighty Himself. We are made in the image of God. We have talents and potential that can lie hidden and get buried with us when we die. A great leader encourages us to discover those talents, those powers hidden in us. He compels us to see ourselves differently. Our surroundings and people around starting from our own families may have never been able to see those special gifts in us. They may have always considered us as one of the run of the mill type. They may have even communicated to us quite the opposite to what the leader sees in us. Many times, they do it with good intentions, but they were themselves unaware. It is because of such experiences that we start feeling that we are not that good. We are average. We are meant to settle for an ordinary life. A teacher once took his disciple to show him the graveyard where the most famous people were laid to rest. After the tour of the cemetery, the student was confused. He saw that the graveyard was of ordinary people, none of the names displayed on the graves were of any famous people he was aware of. So he questioned his teacher about it and the teacher answered to him, “All these people were meant to be great, they were born to be great but they never realised it and died with their greatness buried in them.” A great leader’s words to his people are – “I see a spark in you.” He doesn’t let us die with our greatness buried in us rather, he will help us see our greatness and help us bring it up to serve the world!
About the Author Sohan Tiwade – Professional Speaker, Corporate Soft Skill Trainer & Asst.Prof. @ Sanjay Ghodawat University) “It’s messed up but let’s see how we together can emerge better out of it.” - A leader after having communicated to his people their greatness and given them a vision, will direct them to work for the vision. Many of us will falter along the way, make mistakes, and mess up things. When a leader sees that we have messed up, he/she will tell us, “It’s surely messed up but let’s see how we together can emerge better out of it.” Note, the leader doesn’t say, “You’ve
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messed up” but, “It’s messed up.” A great leader will never attack you personally. He will just attack the problem. That’s great communication secret of a leader. When as a leader we attack someone personally, the person will lose faith in himself and never be able to give his best. Words that we use towards other can either make them or break them and a great leader is aware of the same. She/he will choose her words carefully when criticizing. Next, he/she will not leave you with the mess. Observe the later part of the communication, ’How we together can emerge better out of it.’ The leader will take the responsibility of the mistakes of his/her people and give the credit of success to them. Jim Collins in his book, ’Good to Great’ talks of the leader who stands before a mirror and sees himself whenever something wrong has happened, he/she takes the responsibility. But whenever something good has happened she will stand before the window, look out to her people and give them the credit for the good that has happened. So, a great leader will not leave their people in the mess but help them with the way out of it. He/she will help to see the lessons that were hidden in the misfortune. She will encourage us to learn from our mess and emerge a better person. I somewhere read about a Nobel Prize winner scientist who attributed his success to the way his mother brought him up. Once, as a small child, he spilled all the milk from the fridge and made a mess of it. His mother saw this but did not shout or scold him. She allowed him to play. Later when he was done with playing, she told him that now she will teach him how to undo the mess. Together they both picked up and cleaned the mess. This incident stayed in the mind of the child as he grew up and he became fearless of experimenting that made him a world-renowned scientist. That’s the way a leader communicates - ’It’s messed up but let’s see how we together can emerge better out of it.’ "You are now ready to take the responsibility to lead" The final important leadership communication to people is – “You are now ready to take the responsibility to lead.” A great leader will always concentrate on readying people to take responsibility. He/she believes in sharing his powers and knows that is the best way to work and complete the vision he has for the organization. He doesn’t allow all the powers to be concentrated at one place especially at him. He believes in decentralization of powers and responsibility. He wants everyone to emerge as a leader and take the responsibility for their areas. He has grown leaders out of common people and that makes him a leader of leaders! He has a mentality of abundance not lack.
A person with mentality of lack will say that the pie gets smaller when I share it. An abundance mentality person will say that the pie only gets bigger by sharing. There’s enough in the world for everybody. If someone gets something that does not mean he has taken out of my share. That is the philosophy of abundance mentality and a great leader. Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey created the matrix of situational leadership. They how leadership role graduates slowly from directing people and telling them what to do to coaching and training them, giving them the necessary support and finally giving them the responsibility fully. These are the stages through which a leader and his people graduate - Directing, Coaching, Supporting and finally Delegating. We have to check our leadership styles, have we grown leaders to overtake us. A great leader always has better and competent people to pass on the mantle of leadership to. A bad leader has never allowed leaders to grow and when he leaves the organization, the organization collapses. On the contrary, a great leaders’ organization flourishes all the more when he leaves it for, he has prepared able shoulders to take on the responsibility. It’s like the 4x 100 mts relay race. Every runner will run for 100 mts and then pass on the mantle to another runner who continues for the next 100 mts. The initial runners know that there is an equally able runner ahead to take on the baton and they gladly pass it on to them. It was Winston Churchill who said, "The difference between mere management and leadership is communication." Leadership is all about what and how you communicate to your people. We have explored some important aspect of leadership communication here "I see a spark in you." "It’s messed up but let’s see how we together can emerge better out of it." "You are now ready to take the responsibility to lead. So let’s communicate empowerment, resilience, and responsibility to our people as leaders !
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Pulastya Legal Services LLP Delivering the Next Generation of World-class Legal Professionals
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ulastya Legal is a law firm engaged in providing high-quality legal services including in the field of intellectual property, corporate law, media and entertainment law, and more. The firm also represents global clients based in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asian countries. After working with a Californiaheadquartered law firm for more than eight years, Mr. Abhishek Sharma (Managing Partner) along with his partner (and brother), Mayank Sharma started Pulastya Legal in 2015. Understanding the needs of a global and competitive market, Pulastya Legal continues to offer responsible and budget-friendly counsel to its clients. The firm has its roots in the legal industry since 1983 (erstwhile K.K and Associates, founded and managed by their father, Late Mr. Krishan Kumar Sharma) and has served clients for over 35 years. Taking the good old charm of the legal profession and merging the modern-day best practices, the firm has many success stories around the world. In the field of intellectual property, Pulastya’s partners have spent a substantial amount of time educating and counselling creative minds in identifying their intellectual property so that it can be best protected under law. The firm’s attorneys also keep a close check on potential infringements of the legal rights of their clients so that the clients can focus on building their business and life in peace. A Glorious Vision The firm’s mission is simple. To provide trustworthy and effective legal advice through customized legal services,
and it strives to help protect its clients’ legal and business rights - all the time! The vision of the firm is to continue to be trusted and relied upon by its clients at all levels. Its vision is to help all those who need legal assistance and are wronged somehow. Its vision is to continue to be on the speed dial list of all its clients and be accessible when needed the most. The firm’s core approach rests on identification, protection, and monitoring an end-to-end formula that has allowed its clients to work in peace. Its core value is to render legal services to even those who cannot afford it and create a law firm that truly gives back to society and keeps the profession as noble as it is originally perceived to be. The Holistic Learning Experience Pulastya Legal Services provides long-term internships to law students, especially those who are in the final year. Taking a deviation from the standard industry practices for allowing internships for one month, the firm believes in not just filling up the seats in the office but to ensure that some real value is added to the law students’ work experience. The firm is open to receiving internships from law schools across India and is not restricted to only taking interns that are geographically suited for its offices. Pulastya’s Mumbai office has seen interns from Hyderabad, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Kolkata, Assam, and many more places. In addition to the above, the firm takes pride in exposing the interns to ongoing billable matters and it is no surprise that the firm absorbs some of its interns at the end of their internships. It believes in respecting the time and effort that
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Best Law Firms of India in 2021
a law student is spending in college and more so the time he/she spends in Pulastya’s office. “We prefer not to waste their time in unnecessary research work and subject to confidentiality, we share our ongoing matters with them to work on,” commented Mr Abhishek Sharma. The Firm that Cares The firm is grooming future lawyers to face the legal practice by exposing them to real matters, complicated legal issues and by giving them the respect that they deserve. The partners of the firm handhold them personally at every step whether it is drafting a contract, filing an IP application, reporting something to the client, management of docketing, or even client communications. Mr Abhishek Sharma explained the prospects of new joiners saying, “It does not come as a surprise to us that almost every intern who finishes their internship with us applies to the firm for a ‘Trainee Associate’ position and at any given point of time, we have a pool of law graduates, fully trained to take on the legal matters.” “On a few occasions where the law graduates have started their own practice. Our partners have referred clients to them, gifted them law books, and sent invitations to them for regular business events so that they can build their practice,” he added. On many occasions, the firm has even provided placements to graduates and have even recommended a good resume to its friends in the legal industry. The Steadfast Leader The firm’s Managing Partner, Abhishek Sharma, has been invited on many occasions by law schools, across India, to deliver lectures on intellectual property law practice and share his insights on the legal profession. Mr. Sharma has also participated in seminars and panel discussions across law schools and at various big business associations, such as TiE, on a number of topics including intellectual property law, media and entertainment, commercial contracts, franchising as a business model, and so on. He has also been invited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India to talk on similar topics. Standing Apart There is no better testimonial for Pulastya than those of its
The firm’s mission is simple. To provide trustworthy and effective legal advice through customized legal services, and it strives to help protect its clients’ legal and business rights - all the time!
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A Household Name The Firm has been a member of various business organizations such as TiE, INTA (International Trademark Association), and many Chamber(s) of Commerce across India.
interns and associates who apply to the firm itself for a fulltime position immediately after graduation. Elaborating on the same, Mr Abhishek Sharma said, “Since the internship program allows interns to work on ongoing billable matters and exposing them to the day-to-day heat of the legal profession, it does not come as a surprise to us when they tell us that almost no other law firm allows its interns to work on billable matters.” The firm does not provide such training to its students with an intention to compete with other law firms, but it’s because the partners genuinely believe in the joy of sharing. Riding the Digital Waves When asked whether the digitization of the judicial process will prove beneficial to law firms and citizens in general, Mr Sharma replied, “Absolutely yes. With the advent of technology many processes and services are available online to citizens and access to legal justice, being a fundamental right of every citizen, will be served better with equal platforms.” Many administrative hearings such as trademark hearings were taken online and even though the experience is new for everyone, this ambitious firm is sure that somewhere everybody appreciated the time and energy that was saved by doing things online. Adapting to the ‘new normal’ The firm comprises a group of exceptional and hardworking, talented lawyers. Lawyers who come to the office every day with great zeal and hope to make a difference in the lives of clients every single day. Legal services, as the firm sees it, is not just giving a formula to a client but reassuring them that they should pursue or not pursue legal action against the opposite party. Traditionally, this reassurance is most effective when delivered in person. Not being able to meet the clients, sit next to them and
Mr. Abhishek Sharma Managing Partner convey advice to them through a legal remedy along with the correct body language is something that the lawyers of the firm definitely miss. Scaling the Future Safety comes first, everything else can wait! The firm’s main aim is to ensure that all its active clients are served well, no adjournments are sought, and delays are caused due to limited availability. Pulastya has shifted its offices to a bigger and safer premise, and in some locations, it only plans to fully operate once it is safe. It continues to screen and interview good candidates for the team and are hiring even now! Its an exciting time to work in Pulastya Legal Services LLP!
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Importance of
in Legal Drafting - Ananda Kamal Das
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or any common person, legal drafting means creating well-structured documents, including petitions, memorandums, contracts, wills, and so on. Generally, such documents are also known as legal drafts. Hence, it becomes essential that they are written in a simple language so that the intended audience can read and understand
them. Also, in courts, there is no other mode of interpretation than the literal one. These drafts are written in complex and long sentences, covering several points at once instead of making each sentence fulfil a precise purpose. In a legal draft, every point should be crisp, precise, devoid of double negatives,
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Chalk-Talk
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and should convey the message in a comprehensible language. The best drafts use concise and unambiguous language, avoid unnecessary abbreviations, and do not include excessively long sentences. Keeping the above points in perspective, let us delve deep into understanding how important it is to draft legal documents in easy English. Moreover, let us focus on the drawbacks and disadvantages if we do not. Steps Involved in Legal Drafting In order to draft a legal document, it is important to understand the context and concept of the document which is being drafted. Concerned people should also pay attention to the facts revolving around the document and the laws governing such facts while ensuring that the document does not offend or violate any provision of law. Once the laws are interpreted, and the facts are understood, the next step is to start drafting the document. This process involves collecting and consolidating the facts and writing them down in a manner, which is structured, accurate, and precise. The document thus prepared should convey the exact meaning once it is interpreted legally. The Ideal Legal Language Unlike normal language, which is spoken by the general public, legal language is different. It uses certain specialized terms and phrases, which laymen do not use in daily conversations. Legal language also contains cluttered, wordy, indirect words and contains technical terms and phrases which are ideally not required.
Legal language has certain features, which cause various sorts of problems. Long legal sentences contain a huge amount of information, which adds to the complexity of comprehension. As a result, the language becomes difficult to read. It uses unnecessary extra words in a document, which complicates the message. Many times, in legal documents, double negatives are used in sentences and phrases. This naturally makes the sentence extremely difficult to read and also leads to the wrong interpretation of the document if the reader does not read it carefully. Certain words and phrases in legal writing known as terms of art have specific meanings in legal language. Known as ‘Terms of Art,’ these expressions have specific meanings only in the legal language and can be used only by people who are a part of the legal industry. People who do not have the basic knowledge of the law cannot understand the meaning of these Terms of Art. The Popularity of Normal and Easy English With time, more and more lawyers, jurists, and so on are increasingly using simpler and plain legal language instead of the generic legal language. This is because general English is simple, comprehensible, and easy to read. Accordingly, the concerned parties easily understand the information provided in the documents. Such language, if used in other legal documents, will make the information provided easy to understand.
If plain language is used in legal documents, it increases the readability and makes the information easy to understand. Thus, after reading these documents, parties will have fewer questions regarding the terms and provisions of such documents. This will eventually save the time of both the reader and the person who has drafted the document. As stated above, if a legal document is drafted in plain and simple language, it becomes easy to read and understand while opening doors for effective communication. Such precise language makes the terms of the document extremely clear to all the parties involved. This creates no room for confusion and disagreements, which helps in avoiding disputes which arise out of legal documents. Making the Right Decision The information provided above makes it clear that the simple English language is beneficial in comparison to traditional generic legal language. It helps in avoiding disputes, in making efficient communication, saving time and money, and also in enhancing the profits of lawyers and brands. Simple English language increases the transparency between lawyers and clients instead of increasing complexity in this already complex legal world. By using plain language, it would be easier to make the general public understand laws better. Moreover, it would also play an important part in reducing unnecessary disputes while making the judicial process even faster.
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