In March key members of India’s legal community converged in London on the invitation of the Law Society of England and Wales. The Society made its aim clear: it wanted to convince India’s government to lift its ban on foreign attorneys practicing in India. As late as the end of August, the Press Trust of India reported India’s government was discussing the matter with India’s legal community, which opposes liberalization out of fear that Indian firms will lose business to large international firms.
Experts vary on when the Indian market will open, but pressure from countries with business interests in India makes the move imminent. Until the market opens foreign companies operating in India are limited to using domestic Indian attorneys as outside counsel.
