Law Firm is a firm established under the legal system where usually one or more partners are lawyers. The Law Firms established under law can have different objects and reasons for formation and they are bound to follow them. Some of the areas of operation of the Law Firms are consulting the clients, litigating for the clients, guiding clients over issues like compliance, regulations etc. A Law Firm can be litigating or soliciting or both; it can be small, medium or large law firm cratering different needs of the clients; it can also be service oriented like trademark, patent, copyright, or the corporate services; or it can be a full service law firm.
Challenges to the Legal Profession:
The legal profession is considered to be one of the easiest professions to qualify, but it is among the toughest profession to practice and establish. It is a profession where constant learning is needed through all available means like reading, litigating court cases, attending courses, workshops, writing articles & books, etc. All the available means of learning bring an opportunity for an advocate to excel in the legal profession. The advocates who are new in the profession especially, the first generation lawyers find it extremely difficult to procure work in the profession, and after procuring the work, there is a need to outperform with every case and deliver desired results with the passage of time. The Law Firms give a platform to lawyers who are hardworking, ambitious & flexible and are looking for a platform to deliver outstanding results.
When Can the Law Firms Be Contacted?
Whenever the litigants have a legal matter and believe that it can be handled in a better way by a Law Firm, they can contact a law firm. Especially, in complex litigations involving overlapping issues that required domain expertise of multiple branches of Law, the Law Firms have been preferred by the litigants in the past years.
Why are Law Firms Preferred by the Clients?
The Law Firms are continuously expanding the scope of litigation and they are preferred by the clients due to:
- Credibility of a brand value;
- A large team of lawyers;
- More professionalism and result oriented approach;
- Reliability and accountability in work culture;
- Flexibility in work assignment.
Where do the Law Firms function from?
The Law Firms usually have offices at more than 1 location from where they operate and function and most of the top-notch Law firms in India have PAN-India presence for most of the areas of litigation that are offered at the terms and conditions of the Law Firms. Usually, the Law Firms have their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for client meetings, corporate negotiations, litigation, etc., and most of time, they have an endeavor to adopt the SOP to fetch desired results.
Who Can Approach the Law Firms?
The law firms had been traditionally hired by the corporate companies or only the individuals who were able to afford the higher legal fee of the Law Firms. With the evolving times, there are have been more options available in the competitive world while selecting and finalizing a law firm. The options include the law firms which are among the top 5 Law Firms in India, and there can be other law firms that may not be at the top, but they are credible, reliable, and affordable. Any individual or an organization can approach a law firm and hire it after accepting the terms and conditions of the retainer’s agreement.
How to Contact the Law Firm?
The Law Firms have been usually contacted through Web-Portal, calls, or personal meetings through appointments. Once the clients retain the services, they can either contact the designated associates or the Client Relationship Managers. All these parameters are governed by the SOPs of the Law Firms.
The Clients Retain the Law Firms for:
Credentials of the Law Firms
The Law Firms usually have the associates/partners and other employees with outstanding & impeccable credentials, and the renowned Law Firms have built their brand value out of the collective efforts of such associates/partners. The big Law Firms have a credibility of the brand value and while hiring the prestigious law firms, the clients get an opportunity to engage/consult the best lawyers in the country depending upon the legal services preferred by the clients. The clients comfortably expect more professionalism and result oriented approach from the Law Firms;
Flexibility and innovative approach:
The Law Firms have a strategy to give flexibility and innovative approach in work assignment to the associates/partners and it imparts reliability and accountability in the work culture of the Law Firms.
Diverse fields of practice of the Law Firms:
The individual practitioners usually practice a stream of Law like Civil, Criminal or Constitutional Law, etc. where they practice throughout life and other subjects are handled by experts of different fields. While the Law Firms that have experts in almost all the subjects can readily accept the complex matters of diverse subjects, the clients frequently get benefitted from a multidisciplinary approach. The different teams of expert lawyers are working relentlessly for the top Law Firms in India.
Flexibility of services:
The Law Firms give options to their clients to choose the limited legal services they are looking at or integrated legal services. These available options dependent upon the SOPs of the Law Firms and subject matter of the accepted agreement by the clients & the firm.
Full Services integrated:
For Corporates: The reputed Law Firms offer services in almost all the areas of corporate services: framing internal rules and regulation of the Company, Guiding the Management on Regulatory & Compliance issues to ensure compliance with legal regulations protecting the company against the legal risks and management, designing & overseeing the Company’s Policies or litigation before NCLT, NCLAT or the constitutional courts, etc.
For other clients: The other category of clients is more interested in litigation aspect of the legal services. The renowned law firms offer these clients integrated solutions of all the steps of legal disputes from consultation to the litigation aspect of a case.
Collaboration with the Law Firms of India for the widest platform:
There are clients who are looking for law firms for a wider platform having collaborations with other law firms that are specializing in a particular area of law. The top Law Firms in India have collaboration with all specialized firms and this trend has been increasingly followed by most of the leading law firms in India.
Associations with International Law Firms for the disputes in multiple countries:
Most of the International companies have operations in foreign countries and these companies look for the law firms that have collaborations with International Law Firms to have better cooperation in the disputes of International ramifications. The top 5 Law Firms in India have mostly kept collaborations with International Law Firms to cater needs of such International companies. A medium and small Law Firms find such associations difficult due to the constraint in resources.
Legal Retainerships
The Law Firms usually work on assignment/hourly basis for corporate clients, but the Law Firms that have a wider range of legal services offer retainership options to their clients and it can be given to the corporates or any other clients. The idea behind the retainer ship option is to ensure a broad range of responsibilities are dealt with by a unified platform in an effective and efficient manner thereby reducing cost in some cases.
Few services available for corporate clients are framing internal rules and regulations of the Company, Guiding the Management on Regulatory & Compliance issues to ensure compliance with legal regulations protecting the company against the legal risks and management, designing & overseeing the Company’s Policies, preparing appropriate legal documents for Tribunal and Court proceedings, Corporate Social Responsibility, Related Party Transaction, Mergers and Acquisitions, Liquidation and Winding up of Companies, Capital Markets, Corporate Litigation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Project Development & Finance, Public Company Representation, Technology Transactions, White Collar Defense & Investigations, Insolvency and Bankruptcy proceedings, etc.
Top Lawyers & Advocates Join the Law Firms for:
Diverse exposure to the fields in the legal profession:
The individual practitioners usually practice a stream of Law like: Civil, Criminal or Constitutional Law etc. where they practice throughout life. While, the Law Firms that are full range service firms frequently accepts multiple cases of diverse nature so as to provide a full range of the legal services to the clients. The exposure in all areas of litigation helps the professional to achieve new heights of success in profession. The Law Firms have the expert teams of associate lawyers in almost all areas of litigation and the young law graduates frequently join the Law Firms to have diverse exposure.
Monetary Remuneration:
The Law Firms usually offer a fair remuneration to the associates, partners, equity partners, or senior partners. The joining packages of newcomers in the profession are also lucrative as compared to the individual practitioners. There have been annual increments, bonuses, other perks and privileges like medical insurance reimbursements, and stock options available for the lawyers/employees who outperform their duties.
Security of Employment:
In Law Firms, the work inflow gradually increases with time, and there is a constant need for new Associates/Partners. The layoffs are fairly uncommon in Law Firms especially, the Associates/Partners who are performing well. Extreme measures are not taken unless the economy is in a complete meltdown or someone has violated the law firm’s code of ethics. Job security is fairly present in most of the law firms for associates/partners.
Diverse exposure of the Client base:
One of the most rewarding perks of working for a legal firm is the ability to interact and meet people from diverse societal strata. The Law firms are frequently divided into separate teams, which allows associates to connect with wide range of clients and the best part is that the team members also get the opportunity to work with different clients.
Access to training opportunities:
A fundamental disadvantage of individual practice is that after some time complacency is developed in the legal practice; the professionals stop growing, while the law firms encourage & motivate associates/partners to learn by providing them opportunities through training, workshops, other competitive strategies, etc. The professionals are incentivized through bonuses, perks, privileges, appreciations, etc. and the net result is that the associates/partners become better equipped to deal with any complex legal proposition in front of them.
Career advancement is more rapid:
The best law firms have a very good mechanism to identify deserving associates/partners and if they are hardworking & work diligently, keeping in mind the desired result, the graph of growth gets steeper rapidly. Such partners or associates become indispensable to the Law Firm.
Author’s Opinion:
It is the professional’s choice to join an individual practitioner or a Law Firm, and especially, the clients are the best audience to decide the advantages of retaining a Law Firm. Law Firms in India have given enough opportunities for professionals to grow at the same time delivering the best legal services to the Corporates or individual clients. During COVID times, the top Law Firms in India have given bonuses to their associates/partners, at the same time delivering the best results to the clients. Post pandemic, India has witnessed new trends in almost every business and profession; it seems that the Law Firms will also have a positive impact on the client base in the near future.
LAW FIRMS & LAWYERS