Foreign law firms can set up offices in India only if all of their lawyers are admitted to the Indian state bars and are enrolled under the country’s Advocates Act.
That was the judgement given by the Bombay High Court yesterday after a 15 year-long court ended up going against the local ‘liaison’ offices of international firms White & Case, Chadbourne & Parke and Ashurst.
In the early 90’s the three firms were granted permission by the Reserve Bank of India to set up local offices on the condition that no local income was earned by that office. However a group of local lawyers challenged that approval by the RBI, arguing that as foreign law firms not enrolled under the country’s Advocates Act they should not be allowed to establish a liaison office, even to conduct non-litigious work such as drafting contracts and on a consultant basis.
The court ruled that “the RBI was not justified in granting permission to the foreign law firms to open liaison offices in India.” However the firms still have an avenue of appeal and, as yet, the decision to allow foreign firms to practice in India still rests with the Indian government.
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