The Tech Savvy Lawyer : Collaboration Technolgies for Legal Firms ... http://bit...

The Tech Savvy Lawyer : Collaboration Technolgies for Legal Firms ... http://bit...

Posted by valeri on June 25, 2010. The author has 5 years experience working with web based technologies. His expertise lies especially in collaboration applications for the SMB segment.

The Legal Industry & Information Technology

Like all other industries, the legal industry is not insulated from the tremendous changes in information technology over the past decade, and the challenges and opportunities it presents. If anything, the changes have more bearing on law firms & departments because information management is at the core of what they do – consulting with clients, colleagues or experts; increasing compliance & regulation demands, wading through a constantly expanding sea of legislation and case law; managing outsourcing partners; keeping abreast with latest developments; or managing a mountain of matter files.

Recent Trends

Perhaps the most significant change in the legal services industry the decline of “relationship lawyering”.

Recent times have seen increased competition, & changes in underlying market structure. There has been a continuing trend of decline of “relationship lawyering”. Traditionally strong relationships between law firms and corporates are eroding, with more companies opting for in-house legal departments, or “shopping around” for the best deal. Another significant trend is the increasing convergence of legal markets, where competition is as likely to come from a firm in another state or overseas as from a local firm. These & other developments are exerting greater pressures on legal firms to be more efficient, an it is imperative that attorneys spend their time analyzing information, rather than organizing or managing it.

Drivers of Technology Adoption by Legal Firms

Possibilities of Technology – The primary driver of greater use of information technology by legal firms is developments in technology itself. New technologies & greater bandwidths allow great possibilities in the arenas of information management, productivity and remote collaboration. Information can be moved over the internet with greater security. And unlike yesteryear, law firms can access these technologies without hefty costs and the need to set up specialized IT departments.

In 2004, Forrester Research Inc estimated that some 39,000 legal jobs will have moved offshore by the end of 2008.

Outsourcing/Offhsoring – Legal firms are now increasingly open to legal process outsourcing of tasks they traditionally held close – research, transcription, coding and even legal research and the drafting of legal documents. It is commonplace to see a NY based law firm, subletting research work to a team of professional lawyers & paralegals in Bangalore, India. This enables firms to majorly cut down costs & concentrate on core legal functions. But it also necessitates a greater need to communicate, collaborate & monitor the functioning of outsourcing vendors hundreds or thousands of miles away. Security is also an issue, since performance of the services often requires access to regulated consumer data or other sensitive data.

In 2004, almost 60% of lawyers worked at multi-office firms and over 10% of lawyers work at firms with ten or more offices.

Geographic Diversification – As mentioned before, there is a distinct movement towards multiple office firms, with offices spread both nationally and globally. US based companies are now serving many foreign clients, or serving foreign interests of domestic clients. There was a significant presence of international clients in even the smallest law firms of 1 to 20 lawyers. There has also been a spate of global mergers and acquisitions of law firms in the new millennia. All this necessitates a greater need for communication, collaboration and information exchange between branches.

Regulatory Compliance – Since the implementation of Sarbanes Oxley Act came into effect, records management has become an essential requirement. Organizations are required by law to retain certain documents for predefined periods. Also, the amendments to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect on December 1, 2006, and apply to any firm involved in litigation in the U.S. Federal Court system. The amendments mandate that companies be prepared for electronic discovery. Firms have to drastically alter the way they preserve, retrieve and produce electronic data.

Competition is coming both from firms spread across the nation & the globe, as well as consultants & advisors who were traditionally not considered part of the “legal industry”

Competition – Because of the death of relationship lawyering, and “one stop shopping” by clients, firms cannot afford to be complacent anymore. Moreover, competition is as likely to come from the opposite end of the country or globe, as from local companies. Competition is also coming from other quarters, consultants and advisors who offer services that were previously the purview of lawyers. In this arena of intense competition, lawyers have to double up as “rainmakers” & networkers (legal business development) in addition to traditional roles.

IT Needs of the Legal Industry

Centralized Document Storage – The legal profession generates a tremendous amount of digital information in the form of case files, contracts, court filings, exhibits, evidence, briefs, agreements, bills, notes, records and other office activity such as email. This information is the firm’s collective knowledge & learning which sets it apart from competition and needs to be retrieved again and again. Compliance also requires certain documents to be stored & retrievable for extended periods of time. Attorneys across different offices need to access and collaborate on this information.

In 2007, 53% percent of lawyers used a PDA outside of the office, 32% to check e-mail.

ABA Law Tech Report 2007

Remote Access – Ready access to crucial documents and information can sometimes be all the difference between a favorable or adverse judgment. Lawyers now have wings on their feet visiting clients, interviewing experts, or attending outstation court proceedings, and are often out of office. It is important that they are able gain LAN like access to documents from the firm’s repository even when they’re not at the office premises.

Document Collaboration – It is not enough to only be able to access documents from the firm’s storage. A single case file may need multiple inputs from attorneys with different expertise, clients, experts, researchers, and other associates spread over the country or even the globe (in case of outsourcing). Therefore it is important to have the ability to concurrently access and work together on the same file, from right where everybody is.

Remote Conferencing – Sometimes the ability to collaborate on a document may not suffice and actual discussion and knocking together of heads might be needed. Web conferencing allows multiple people to get together in a virtual meeting room and discuss issues as effectively as being there in person.

Security – A lot of the information a legal firm handles is highly sensitive client information, which it is bound my business ethics and contracts to protect. Since this information is mostly accessed and distributed over the public network of internet, and often distributed to third parties at some page, security is right at the top as a concern.

Access Control – Another level of security is the ability to manage who sees what information and what they can do with it. Since multiple parties like attorneys and associates across the company, outsourcing partners, and multiple clients access information from the firm’s central storage this is of prime importance.

Productivity Applications – Although managing documents and information is one of the most important things a law firms IT systems need to do, it is not all. They also need the ability to manage and share schedules, to maintain lists of important contacts, to manage and track different tasks and litigations teams or individual attorneys may be involved with, or billing management.

What They Don’t Need

41% of lawyers had no IT staff at any locations for their firm, while 17% have one person, 8% have two, and 38% have three or more ABA Law Tech Report 2006

IT Hassles – If getting all the above goodies requires setting up a specialized IT department, installing expensive hardware, and managing ongoing maintenance and upgrades, it might just not be worth it for a small to mid sized law firm. Bigger firms have the deep pockets and incentive to set up dedicated systems, but it might not be sustainable for smaller firms.

Complexity – To ensure that attorneys embrace the IT system, attorneys should be able to concentrate on the information itself, rather than grappling with the nitty-gritties of the system.

Costs – Cost, of course is a top consideration for small to mid sized companies across industries. The ongoing costs and hefty capital investments needed for custom and enterprise systems are just out of reach.

The Software-as-a-Service Advantage for Legal Companies – HyperOffice as a Case in Study

SAAS allows firms to pay for using the software rather than owning it

About eight to ten years back, it was true that access to the above technologies was available only to huge firms whose budget and scale justified dedicated IT departments. Times have changed since then. The software as a service (SAAS) approach, allows even small to mid sized firms easy access to big business technologies, but without having to deal with the messy underbelly and huge costs associated with them.

Benefits of SAAS Solutions

- Low Implementation

- Cost Effective

- Flexible

- Mobile Access

- Enterprise Class Features

- Backup & Security

- Updates & Enhancements

Software as a service (SAAS) is an approach where the software vendor undertakes the burden of creating, hosting, maintaining and securing the application upon himself, and further lets it out to customers over the internet as a service. Customers do not pay for owning the software itself but rather for using it. Some specific benefits of the SAAS approach are as follows:-

No Implementation, No Dedicated IT Department – Since the backend is taken care of by the vendor, users don’t have to bother about hardware, software downloads, server security, configuration etc. Implementation cycles of months are cut down to just a few days. For example, HyperOffice just requires a sign up, and customers can get it up and running within minutes.

Cost Effective: Scale Up & Down as Needed – The cost structure of SAAS solutions is usually a reasonable monthly per user fee. This ensures that minimal costs are locked in, unlike enterprise solutions where tens of thousands of dollars are committed. Moreover, there is no cost uncertainty, as terms are clearly laid out, which allows for greater predictability.

Big Business Features – A range of big business functionality is available to users, but they don’t have to bother about the complex backend which goes with implementing this functionality, since that is the vendor’s headache.

Flexibility & Mobility: Keep Connected Always – These solutions are developed with a view to delivery over the web. This ensures that the system with full functionality is available over simply a web browser, saving users from tiresome downloads or implementations on local workstations. Moreover, since these solutions are children of the internet & mobility era, they also allow access over mobile devices. HyperOffice allows almost full functionality over many mobile device with internet access including iPhone.

User Friendly – Ease of use is of prime importance to a non techie attorney. SAAS solutions are out-of-the-box. Emphasis is on ease of use, with the messy backend taken care of. The entire HyperOffice solution can be managed from a central console and needs no technical expertise at all – truly child’s play!

Backup & Security: Let the Experts Handle It – Ensuring security and disaster preparedness requires effort. Antivirus software needs to be purchased and implemented, the system needs constant monitoring, and physical security of the servers needs to be ensured. Disaster recovery plans also have to be put in place in case of events like fire, natural disasters etc. Backup servers and magnetic tapes have to be maintained, frequency of backups has to be managed etc. Whew!

With SAAS, all this is a part of the messy backend taken care of by the vendor. Moreover, these vendors have developed an expertise hosting and securing applications, since this is their core operation. This is an expertise a mid sized law firm can not, nor would like to develop.

Updates & Enhancements – Since it application resides on the vendor’s servers, the vendor can simply add updates, enhancements and new features at his own end which are instantly available to the users of the application.

Get out of the trap: speak up - Business of Life - livemint.com

Get out of the trap: speak up - Business of Life - livemint.com

Sexual harassment redressal doesn’t have an impressive record in India. Lawyers say, nevertheless, that it’s important to keep a record of everything and complain

In April 2009, Sushma*, a lawyer interested in human rights law, joined a law firm in Delhi. Alongside that, she took up a volunteering position at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH). The irony of the situation was this: The values that Sushma fought for as a GSCASH member on weekends were systematically getting eroded at her job on weekdays.

“From the very beginning, I got an uneasy vibe about my (immediate) boss. He knew I lived alone, and would ask me what my weekend plans were. He would then add how lonely he was on weekends,” says Sushma. Her boss took care to issue these invitations verbally, and when they were alone. He would often call her on the pretext of work; the conversation would then lead up to more lunch and coffee invitations.

Once she made it clear that she wasn’t interested in any relationship outside of work, he started undermining her professionally. “He began giving incorrect feedback about my work to the big boss. I would write drafts that were never submitted and be given incorrect email addresses of clients,” she says.

As a lawyer with experience in such cases, Sushma knew that usually when a woman files a sexual harassment complaint, her competence is questioned first. “I was new in the organization; my immediate boss was second in command, the big boss was very temperamental, and most importantly I had no proof. I wanted to file a complaint but I knew that in this situation nothing was in my favour,” she says. She quit.

The Indian deal

Sexual harassment redressal doesn’t have an impressive record in India. What happened in Canada with publisher David Davidar (who quit as Penguin Canada CEO following allegations of sexual harassment by a former colleague) almost seems impossible in the Indian context, says Gayatri Singh, Bombay high court lawyer and board member of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN).

There is no codified law against sexual harassment. Instead, there are guidelines against sexual harassment at workplaces which envisage the setting up of in-house committees to examine and initiate criminal proceedings against violators.

The 1997 guidelines came when women’s groups from all over the country came together on the platform of Vishakha to petition the Supreme Court after the gang rape of Rajasthan social worker Bhanwari Devi. The Supreme Court went a step further than usual to state that the guidelines would have the effect of law.

In what came to be known as the Vishakha judgement, the Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment is not confined to rape and assault, but includes “such unwelcome sexually-determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) as physical contact and advances; a demand or request for sexual favours; sexually coloured remarks; showing pornography; and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct”. On paper, the law is “woman- oriented”, adds Singh.

Why women shy off

In practice, very few organizations have a stringent redressal mechanism in place. “There are international organizations that have strict rules on the issue in their offices abroad but here in India they try and circumvent the rules by having different rules,” says Anitha Shenoy, advocate on record at the apex court who specializes in human rights and gender issues.

First, it is very difficult for women to even make a complaint because most often they are harassed by their superiors. “Even when they do dare complain, they are victimized. This has happened in 99% of sexual harassment cases overall in India. No action is taken against the culprit, nor are any committees formed,” adds Singh. “Organizations either try to hush up such matters, or settle with the women,” she adds.

This is what deters women from speaking up. “Most women don’t complain because of fear of losing their jobs. They only raise these issues when they are leaving or have already been thrown out, when they think they have nothing to lose. Which also gives a chance for the management to say that she’s complaining because she’s been thrown out. Not speaking up doesn’t really help,” says Shenoy.

In case a woman faces sexual harassment, this is what she can do: First, try to keep a record of everything. “Save all emails, text messages, every little thing. If harassment is verbal, protest to your senior, in writing and send a copy to the management,” says Singh. Second, file a written complaint with the management. She must have something to show the court. Ideally, the organization should support her by constituting a committee that will examine her case. “If they refuse to cooperate, she can make a complaint in the police station or file a writ petition in the high court to implement the Vishakha judgement,” adds Singh.

Most importantly, however, the woman herself must be convinced of the seriousness of the issue. “Most people—at times women themselves—don’t believe it’s a heinous crime that compromises work ethics,” says Shenoy.

* Name withheld on request.

shreya.r@livemint.com

Young Advocate Qualities-LawArticle

Young Advocate Qualities-LawArticle

An art can be specified as a talent, skill or ability. Advocacy is an art. Every successful lawyer is a good artist of advocacy. Some qualities are by birth and some can be acquired. In my life I lacked many good qualities which were a major setback in my profession. But I learned by my experience in the profession. I took all the good aspects from the profession and applied it.

Some good tips for a starter in the profession while practising in a Court of law are as follows:

Observe and Remove your fears

The first and foremost thing you needed as an advocate is to remove unwanted fears. As a human being you will fear things. You are first to court representing some matter and you don't know how to and the mannerisms. The quality to represent properly comes from observation and learning. Learn by observing other advocates and the mannerisms. The first and foremost thing you will notice in a court is the mannerisms. These are to be learned first. Then you can curb the fears to a great extent. It will be completely removed from your mind by experience. So be an observer.

Communicate properly:Language

Most of the Courts use English as thier language. Local language is also used. Whatever it may be, the command of language is very essential to represent something in court. The object behind language is to communicate. So do not bother what language you are using. Be sure how you communicate things. This communication should be clear and unambiguos.

Good voice and sound

Voice and sound are synonymous. A good sound will show your confidence level. It may happen that your sound level gets lower when you lack confidence. I do admit that most of you cannot fake it. So do observe things and get a great knowledge of law. If you are not sure of a thing, don't hesitate to ask someone you trust. When you ask them don't forget the questions "what", "why", "how", "when" "where" etc. This is a good method of gaining experience and your sound level will automatically rise. And do not forget to keep it medium and audible also. When making long submissions do not be monotonous. There is also a tendency to speed up the words. Keep it slow, steady and you won the race.

Raise questions

'Known is a drop and unknown is an ocean'. This rule you will get familiar with in the first days of practise in court. You should raise questions and formulate your own questions while hearing submissions and arguments. You can later come back and seek advice of seniors or fellow members and also seek help from law texts. Be keen to develop this habit as it will be a great bonus to the future development where you can easily formulate and answer and find out loopholes and solutions to complex situations in cases in your hand in the future.

Don't mess with the bench and bar

The bench and bar are two equal wings of law. But do not mess with anything in your professional life. A starter will find uneasiness by various factors. He will feel humiliated by various circumstance. Take your time and think. You can earn respect only by your knowledge and good mannerisms. You should be grounded. Show the bar and bench that you have the drive to learn things. Do not be oversmart. Be smart and tidy in your manners and submissions.

Learn things which must not be said

The first thing to learn is to get known with things which must not be said or raised during arguments and examinations. I learned it from experience and not by any books. Each time you argue a matter and examine witnesses, take down the matters and discuss it with seniors and other colleagues. Be clear with the provision of law on the aspect. Find similar cases and points of examination conducted by other experienced.

Be a good administrator

Apart from the general tips and experiences discussed above, it is always better to be a good administrator. You have to keep a disciplined time format for your profession. It does not matter under who you are working as a junior or how long you intend to work. The thing which matters is how you work as a junior.

So in concluding the life of an advocate is always of a student. Keep the drive to learn things and be a go-getter. Participate in competitions which are healthy to the profession and form a good caucus of advocate friends. Participate in online forums connected with law. You can even start a blog connected with law where you publish all the useful things which you came across in the profession

Source - Senseoflaw.blogspot.com

Blog, blog, blog: Take advantage of the fact that 27% of in-house lawyers use blogs as their most important tool in researching and identifying outside lawyers to hire. � Kowalski & Associates Blog

Blog, blog, blog: Take advantage of the fact that 27% of in-house lawyers use blogs as their most important tool in researching and identifying outside lawyers to hire. � Kowalski & Associates Blog

Recently, a deputy general counsel for the Association of Corporate Counsel, reported at a conference about a corporation that chose to conduct a “beauty contest” for a particular engagement by independently identifying the top five lawyers in the country who had the expertise to handle the matter. Of the group invited to make presentations, most were New York based. The client selected a Kentucky firm, since its rates were 25% lower than its East Coast competitors. James Merklinger of the ACC, who conveyed the anecdote, explained “In this day and age of technology, it doesn’t really matter where you are, so there’s no reason to pay top dollar if you can find someone who’s considered just as capable.”

Neat story with obvious lessons.

But the astute reader should be thinking about a different question: How in the hell did the client find a lawyer in Kentucky, of all places, with the precise expertise it needed? A better question you should be asking is: Instead of your chasing around looking for new clients and business opportunities, attending de rigueur lunches, golf outings, industry specific conferences (where you are competing with a score or more of lawyers looking for the same work) is there some efficient way, other than late night TV ads, for you to have clients look for you, instead of your looking for them?

The fellow from Kentucky figured out how to do this.

ALM Legal Intelligence Group, in association with the Zeugheiser Group released early this week the result of a survey it recently conducted which will lead you to obvious conclusions: 27% of in-house lawyers used blogs posted by lawyers on relevant topics as the “most important” tool in researching for outside counsel for a particular engagement. Another interesting statistic: only 96 of the AmLaw 200 firms used blogs.

So I assume that each lawyer takes pride in his or her specialized expertise in a subset of his or her broader generic practice area. So for example, you are a litigator with relatively unique expertise in nuclear reactor construction disputes involving concrete. Likely, your firm’s web site will have you listed as part of its litigation group or part of its construction group. A Google search made by a prospective client for lawyers with that unique expertise (expertise in nuclear reactor construction disputes) will never find you doing a web search.

Don’t believe me? Try it yourself. Identify a specific area in your practice for which you have specialized and conduct a search a lawyer with that expertise. The heavy odds are you will be shocked not to find your name popping up. So, how are the 27% of in-house lawyers who rely on blogs as their most “important tool” in searching for outside counsel going to find you?

Lesson 1: create and maintain a blog (don’t know how? Skip the call to your IT department and just go to Google or a similar search engine and type in this question: How do I create a blog? Or ask your kids or grandkids). Lesson 2: put postings of interest and of substance on your blog, and please, don’t make them boring or make them look like they were written by a second year law student writing an analysis of a case. Short, interesting, substantive, informative is part of the solution (Example this is a recent development that you should know about [please, please, no case citations and no procedural history, nobody cares]). Lesson 3: Post regularly (I suggest once a week). Lesson 4: use the key terms of your special expertise (such as nuclear reactor construction disputes involving concrete and use those terms in different combinations often. Lesson 5: circulate a very short, sweet and enticing email among your clients and prospective clients very briefly advising the reader that you’ve just written a piece about the subject and include a link to your posting . Keep adding to your email list new prospective clients. I previously addressed this issue, if you forgot, click this link. Lesson 6: Include a link to your posting on Linked In and the relevant groups to which you belong (there are 1,500,000 lawyers on Linked In, thousands of groups dealing with nuclear reactors and construction, which have too many millions of members for me to count), as we previously recommended. Chances are that if you are reading this, you just saw how this all works.

And, the final and most important point, the more often you use the terms associated with your area of expertise and the more times people link up to your web site, the more often your name and area of expertise will show up when one of those 27% of corporate counsel are looking for somebody who needs the very special skills you have. Or, when an ACC member or other in house corporate lawyer calls a colleague and asks if he or she knows somebody with expertise in nuclear reactor construction disputes, hopefully he or she will say check out so and so. I’ve read his or her blog and he or she seems to know what they are talking about.

And then keep a pile of new matter intake forms piled on your desk as the phone rings off the hook.

PeerPower : Two reasons to cheer

PeerPower : Two reasons to cheer

Moves to reduce judicial backlog

Law minister Veerappa Moily has made two excellent suggestions, both of which merit serious consideration by the government. One, to set up fast-track courts to deal with litigations relating to bouncing of cheques.

And two, for Parliament to assess the extra burden any new law it passes is likely to impose on the courts and provide for financing to tackle the additional burden, if any. Take these one by one.

Till we move to a completely electronic mode of payment, which in the Indian context is likely to be a long time from now, cheques will continue to dominate business and commercial dealings. However, cheque payments will cease to have any sanctity if there is no mode of ensuring they are honoured.

It was with this in mind that the Negotiable Instruments Act that governs cheque payments was amended to make the dishonour of cheques a cognisable offence.

While the objective was undoubtedly good, given the huge pile up of cases in our courts (30 million at the last count) and long delays in the Indian legal system, the outcome has not been an entirely happy one.

As of now, there are about 38 lakh cases pending before courts over dishonoured cheques, not only defeating the very purpose for which the amendment was envisaged, but also adding to the backlog of pending cases.

The law minister's suggestion of fast-track courts to deal specifically with such cases should thus go a long way to address both these problems.

An impact assessment of the likely cost of implementing any new legislation will help the government factor in the additional burden on the legal system of any new law.

If the added pressure on an already-overburdened legal system is far in excess of the benefit sought to be derived from the new laws, the government might want to rethink the law.

Wah India! Twenty thousand pardons | The Asian Age

Wah India! Twenty thousand pardons | The Asian Age

Frankly, the only person coming out like a decent human being in the ongoing Bhopal trial court conviction of seven high-profile people associated with the world’s worst industrial disaster, is veteran lawyer Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General of India. I am sure he sleeps well at night and is able to look himself in the eye when he wakes up without cringing. He recently revealed how a prominent legal firm (J.B. Dadachanji and Co.) tried to rope him in to defend what we all know was indefensible to begin with. They had most of the other top drawer lawyers like Nani Palkhiwala, Fali Nariman and Anil Diwan in their kitty by then. Soli flatly refused to jump on the bandwagon, saying the victims of the disaster probably needed his advice far more! This was a brave decision which may have isolated him from the other legal brains who had signed on to represent Union Carbide and protect the interests of the American company. But that’s Soli. Nothing new about such a strategy. It is the same story today — any legally compromised corporation which is able to flaunt big bucks resorts to exactly the same strategy — buy up the best legal brains in the Lawyer Supermarket and make sure the other side is starved of equally powerful representation. Such intimidatory tactics have been going on for decades, and New Delhi is full of high-profile hustlers who charge by the micro second, rarely read briefs and are the real power brokers in a town that thrives on little else but that elusive entity — power.
In such a cosy environment, where the Big Boys’ Club consists of ridiculously paid lawyers who reputedly fix any and every loophole in their clients’ favour, it is indeed reassuring to know that at least one man from the same tribe did stand up when he had to and had the moral courage to say “No”. It has come to a stage when all a corporate crook needs to get away with blue murder (in the Union Carbide case, literally so) is to hire the best legal eagles on the shelf — the whole lot (cheaper by the dozen?) and then play the nasty waiting game. Our system is such, as the Bhopal issue has once again established. The world must be laughing at us —from 1984 to 2010, this is the “progress” we have made. And look at the absurd outcome of that progress — Warren Anderson, the Union Carbide Corporation CEO who flew the coop with enviable ease right after 20,000-plus Indians had perished in the most blood curdling way, is busy enjoying his autumn years in the Hamptons where he lives a luxurious, retired life. He is a doddering old man now… no point in going after him. Besides, he knows and we know, America is hardly likely to let us get our hands on a person known as the Butcher of Bhopal. That was a given then, it is a given now — as we are discovering to our horror. Three days after the gas leak had effectively flattened the town, Anderson was given a great send off by the then chief minister Arjun Singh. Tapes and TV footage of that cowardly exit show a cocky Anderson declaring, “House arrest or no arrest, bail or no bail, I am free to go home. That is the law of the United States… India, bye-bye… thank you”. Such was the arrogance of the man, and the shameless complicity of the Indian administration, that cringe-making visuals of that ignominious exit show our spineless policemen and other officials saluting him as he escaped his rightful punishment in India and flew back home to freedom.
The question to ask is: What has changed today, if anything? It still works in the same nauseating way. Is anything further going to be done to the desi directors who are out on bail? Not a chance. They must have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all when they had to put in a mandatory appearance in court recently before climbing into their individual limos and rushing off to the nearest club for a gin-and-tonic to calm those nerves. These men fall into the “pillars of society” category — they are well-respected individuals with impeccable social pedigrees. But the fact remains a court has found them guilty (so what if the verdict was delivered 25 years after the crime was committed?). They still remain convicted men who are out on bail. Just like other criminals. The nature of their crime is monumental and repugnant. But what they and their mighty lawyers must be banking on right now is the great advantage that delayed justice provides to perpetrators of unspeakably gruesome crimes in our country. Wearing down victims is just a small part of the overall strategy. And if the families of those who lost their loved ones experience a deep sense of frustration, helplessness and rage, well, too bloody bad. This is India — have money, will win. No matter how serious the crime — and in the Carbide case, the world agrees it can’t get any more heinous or callous. But what does anybody care? Pitiful compensation is supposed to take care of the emotional loss suffered by these people who have battled on for so many years in the hope their wounds will finally be healed once the criminals are brought to justice. Now, even that hope which has kept them going for so long is dwindling rapidly. They must watch the nightly buck-passing taking place brazenly across TV channels and save their tears in sheer disbelief. Arjun Singh says one thing, Arun Singh another. While even mentioning Rajiv Gandhi in passing is seen as sacrilege. This is the sorry environment we foster — whether it is probing the Indian Premier League scandal or providing justice to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
Soon, even this will become a dead story. The engineered fury of a few will vanish just as soon as it manifested itself. The men who were prosecuted will nonchalantly continue their golf and gin-tonic routines, safe in the knowledge kuch nahi hoga.
And the ageing Warren Anderson will eventually die a peaceful death in the Hamptons… unlike the over 20,000 Indians who weren’t as lucky when they gasped their last breaths in distant Bhopal 25 years ago.
Wah! India! Wah! Union Carbide Corporation ko sirf saat khoon nahi balki bees hazaar khoon maaf!

— Readers can send feedback to www.shobhaade.blogspot.com

Lawyers Collective | Lawyers Collective

Lawyers Collective | Lawyers Collective

Established in 1981, the Lawyers Collective is one of the leading public interest service providers in India with a proven record of setting high standards in human rights advocacy, legal aid and litigation.

The Lawyers Collective was formed at a time of important changes in the Indian judicial system. The traditional paradigm of an adversarial judicial process- where only the person whose interest is prejudiced may move the court- was being replaced by a more expansive notion of judicial function. Courts undertook the process of judicial review and there was a liberalisation of the rule of the law of locus standi. Both developments made the judiciary more accessible to disadvantaged sections of society who were denied their rights, enabled individuals and groups of people to move the courts on matters of common concern arising from dishonest or ineffective governance and increased public participation in the process of constitutional adjudication. Such litigation came to be known as public interest litigation.

A number of organisations began approaching the Supreme Court for violations of fundamental rights. The Supreme Court also took cognizance of newspaper reports on the same. Prisoner rights, the rights of children and bonded labour all flowered in this period. The Lawyers Collective was formed during this period with the specific aim of providing legal services to the community and meeting unmet needs of victims of undeserved wait. It took up cases of pavement dwellers and slum dwellers, hawkers and women in distress.

In this context, the Lawyers Collective was distinguished by its membership comprising of professional lawyers, law students and human rights activists. It was created to provide expert legal assistance to the underprivileged, especially women and children, workers in the unorganised sector and other members of marginalised groups. Lawyers in the Lawyers Collective were engaged in both professional and public interest work, using the former to subsidise the latter. However, even in their professional practices, our members are bound by the Collective's code of ethics and do not take up any cases that are in conflict with public interest principles. Thus they do not represent clients such as alleged rapists, or employers who violate labour laws.

Today Lawyers Collective runs funded projects on HIV/AIDS related discrimination and women's rights. Over the years the Lawyers Collective has collaborated with other professionals as required for their expert opinion and supervision in specific cases. By doing so, the Collective has adopted a multi-disciplinary approach in arguing for legal remedies. Such professionals include epidemiologists, environmentalists, social scientists, etc.

Law of India - Wikipedia

Law of India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Law of India refers to the system of law which presently operates in India. It is largely based on English common law because of the long period of British colonial influenceduring the period of the British Raj. Much of contemporary Indian law shows substantial European and American influence. Various legislations first introduced by the British are still in effect in their modified forms today. During the drafting of the Indian Constitution, laws from Ireland, theUnited States, Britain, and France were all synthesized to get a refined set of Indian laws, as it currently stands. Indian laws also adhere to the United Nations guidelines onhuman rights law and the environmental law. Certaininternational trade laws, such as those on intellectual property, are also enforced in India.

Indian family law is complex, with each religion having its own specific laws which they adhere to. In most states, registering of marriages and divorces is not compulsory. There are separate laws governing Hindus, Muslims,Christians, Sikhs and followers of other religions. The exception to this rule is in the state of Goa, where aPortuguese uniform civil code is in place, in which all religions have a common law regarding marriages, divorces and adoption.

There are 1221 laws as on May 2010

History of Indian law

Ancient India represented a distinct tradition of law, and had an historically independent school of legal theory and practice. The Arthashastra, dating from 400 BC and the Manusmriti, from 100 AD, were influential treatises in India, texts that were considered authoritative legal guidance.^[2] Manu's central philosophy was tolerance and pluralism, and was cited across Southeast Asia.^[3] Early in this period, which finally culminated in the creation of the Gupta Empire, relations with ancient Greece and Rome were not infrequent. The appearance of similar fundamental institutions of international law in various parts of the world show that they are inherent in international society, irrespective of culture and tradition. Inter-State relations in the pre-Islamic period resulted in clear-cut rules of warfare of a high humanitarian standard, in rules of neutrality, of treaty law, of customary law embodied in religious charters, in exchange of embassies of a temporary or semipermanent character.^[5] When India became part of the British Empire, there was a break in tradition, and Hindu and Islamic law were supplanted by the common law.^[6] As a result, the present judicial system of the country derives largely from the British system and has little correlation to the institutions of the pre-British era

Blog Post by Justice Shylendra Kumar - Netizens & Citizens VII 22-05-2010 (justdvskumar)

Netizens & Citizens VII 22-05-2010 (justdvskumar)

Justice D V Shylendra Kumar Judge, High Court of Karnataka Bangalore, 22nd May, 2010 NETIZENS AND CITIZENS, Our High Court was closed for summer vacation from Monday, the 26th of April, 2010 and we are resuming work from Monday, the 24th of May, 2010. The last time I addressed you was on Tuesday, the 9th of March, 2010 when I was still performing my duties at the Principal Bench of our High Court, Bangalore and I was deputed by our Chief Justice to perform duty at the circuit Bench of the High Court at Dharwad from Monday, the 22nd of March, 2010. In service parlance and language, it is not really a deputation as the High Court is only one High Court and as of now it is functioning through the Principal Bench at Bangalore and circuit Benches at Dharwad and Gulbarga and the duties of the Judges of the High Court is to perform at the Principal as well as circuit Benches, in different combinations and in respect of the subject matter assigned to the Judges by the Chief Justice of the High Court, which position continues to be occupied by Justice P D Dinakaran. In my earlier communication, I had conveyed to you that the Chief Justice of our High Court, Justice P D Dinakaran who has been facing an impeachment motion before the Parliament and in that context has not been performing on the judicial side from 17th of December, 2009 onwards, should not perform or exercise his powers and authority as a Chief Justice on the administrative side also and that it is not in the fitness of things. A Chief Justice not functioning on the judicial side continuing to exercise authority on the administrative side does not augur well for the system in maintaining the image of the judiciary. In my open letter/appeal to the Chief Justice dated 8th of March, 2010, I had earnestly appealed to our Chief Justice not to exercise powers on the administrative side also and to refrain from doing so and a copy of this communication had in fact been posted on my website and you are all familiar with it. But, my appeal had only fallen on deaf ears and Justice P D Dinakaran has continued to regale in mal-administering the power and authority as a Chief Justice of the High Court. A few words about the circuit Benches of the High Court and the Judges of our High Court serving in circuit Benches. While it is the prerogative of the Chief Justice of the High Court to constitute Benches which in turn implies, who has to function at the circuit Benches and who all at the Principal Bench, even in the matter of assignment of subjects for Judges to hear and dispose of cases, it is again the prerogative of the Chief Justice. This is an important administrative power of considerable significance. Importance is it is the Chief Justice who decides what cases should go before which Judge and the significance is that a Chief Justice lacking bona fides can manipulate constitution of the Benches as well as assignment of the subjects to the individual Judges to his whims and fancies and more so when the Chief Justice gets personal and wants to confer bounties on his favourites and create problems and meet out hardship on those Judges who possibly may not tow his line. Our former Chief Justice, Justice Cyriac Joseph who is presently functioning as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India had, while so functioning as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court had in a lighter vein, remarked that a displeased or annoyed Chief Justice can use his powers to constitute Benches and to nominate Judges to serve on the circuit Benches, as a tool to punish or seek vengeance, on those whom he does not like or approve of. Personally speaking, I am not sure whether our present Chief Justice, Justice P D Dinakaran likes me or dislikes me. But, the fact of the matter is I am the only Judge in the Karnataka High Court who has served on the two circuit Benches put together, on five occasions, three times at Dharwad Bench and twice at the Gulbarga Bench whereas at the time I was deputed to Dharwad Bench to perform duties from 22nd of March, 2010, there were a couple of Judges in the Karnataka High Court who had done only three stints and were eminently qualified to serve at the circuit Bench, Dharwad. Their claim was overlooked and I was favoured! In fact, I wanted to know from the Chief Justice as to why he was favouring me, repeatedly to serve at the circuit Benches. Chief Justice did not even have the courtesy of giving me an audience nor was prepared to speak to me over the telephone. In the absence of any response to my query, with the roster published by the High Court registry, having indicated that my sitting was at the circuit Bench at Dharwad and heading the Bench from 22nd of March, 2010 onwards, I had no choice but to make myself available at Dharwad to perform my duties at the circuit Bench. In between, when I was at Bangalore on Saturday, the 17th of April, 2010, my wife and I visited the residence of the Chief Justice to enquire about the health of the Chief Justice and Mrs. Dinakaran as it was being talked that they had some health problems. While my wife and I waited for more than twenty minutes in the waiting hall at his residence to meet the Chief Justice and Mrs. Dinakaran, Mrs. Dinakaran’s elder sister, whom I literally confused to be Mrs. Dinakaran herself, met us and informed us that the Dinakarans are not willing to see us. I did respond saying that the official residence of the Chief Justice being their residence, it is definitely their prerogative to meet or not to meet persons visiting their house even as the English saying goes that ‘A house is a man’s castle’ and while we left, we left behind a few fruits which we had carried as is the custom in our society, particularly, when visiting elderly people with health problems, with a request to sister of Mrs. Dinakaran to handover the fruits to them with our good wishes, for normalcy. That evening, we were to visit a relative and after that we returned to our house. The security man at the gate informed us that the fruits which we had left at the Chief Justice’s residence has been returned as they were not willing to receive it. At the exact moment, one of my former colleague came to our house and I told him in a lighter vein that there is a proverb in Urdu that ‘Dhane Dhane pe likha hai khane wale ka naam’ which in English translation means “Every grain has etched on it, the name of the person for whom it is meant!”. To my great satisfaction, my former colleague very gleefully accepted the fruits. With the herald of summer vacation for our High Court and after completing my five weeks stint at Dharwad, I returned to Bangalore. In between, I had visited Bangalore every week end, once to participate in the National Seminar on ‘Good Governance: Its Dimensions & Challenges’ held on Saturday, the 27th of March, 2010 at Sri Vivekananda Law College, Bangalore and in the next week i.e., on Sunday, the 4th of April, 2010, to deliver an Endowment Lecture as part of silver jubilee endowment lecture series at the SDM Law College, Mangalore on the topic of “The need for Judicial Accountability in the era of Judicial Transformation”. A copy of this lecture is posted along with this communication for your perusal and reactions. As already indicated, the purpose of addressing this communication to you all is to create awareness and also to give an insight into the happenings in the judicial system which has been kept a jealously guarded secret, which in my opinion is the root cause for all maladies in the judicial system. It is said that there is no better disinfectant than sunlight and there cannot be a better disciplinarian than transparency. It is only in places where there is lack of transparency, engulfed in darkness, all sorts of malpractices prevail, illegalities, exploitations and even atrocities take place. There has been tremendous response from the general public and media in particular in the wake of some important developments in the judicial system, particularly with Justice K G Balakrishnan whose reign as Chief Justice of India lasted for a period of three years and approximately four months came to an end with Justice K G Balakrishnan laying down office on Tuesday, the 11th of May, 2010 and the next senior most Judge of the Supreme Court Justice S H Kapadia having assumed charge as the Chief Justice of India. The media has not been kind in expressing its views about the tenure of Justice K G Balakrishnan as Chief Justice of India and in fact has been highly critical of the manner in which Justice K G Balakrishnan had functioned, particularly, in trying to stonewall the efforts of the inquisitive and serious members amongst the litigant public to seek information about the manner of functioning of the Supreme Court on the administrative side, more so about the collegium business. The adamant manner in which Justice K G Balakrishnan had not only refused to divulge information about the developments on the administrative side, but also had tried to stonewall the judicial opinion as expressed by the Delhi High Court in holding that the Supreme Court of India, as an institution, is also amenable and has to part with information to seekers/applicants under the Right to Information Act. This stubborn attitude, in fact, greatly damaged the image of judiciary in the country and the already eroding faith and confidence of the people of the country in the judicial system only got further reduced in the wake of such an attitude on the part of the former Chief Justice of the country. I had indicated in my earlier communications that I am an optimist and hope to see light at the end of the tunnel and that Judiciary will be restored to its earlier glory and will serve as a true and genuine institution to protect the lives, liberties and the rights of the citizens of the country as mandated in the Constitution of India. I have echoed this view in my endowment lecture at the SDM Law College, Mangalore, the lecture being part of the endowment lecture series is undoubtedly a little lengthy and does test the patience of the readers. Unless one has a penchant for knowing about the role of judiciary, its past, present and future performance, the lengthy lecture may not be capable of retaining the readers’ interest till the end. For the benefit of the readers, I have put a small abridged version of this lecture at the end of this communication for ready reference, and if you desire to read the full text, you can open the attachments to this communication. Well, you can take a break and read it in installments. The lecture may be of interest more to academicians and law persons whether practicing law or teaching law than the lay persons. There can be several views and even quite divergent from the view that I have expressed in my lecture, well, we are in a democracy and everyone has a right to express his views. While on this topic, I would like to dwell upon the special position of the Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court of India undoubtedly is one of the most powerful courts in the world today and being the Apex Court in our country, its verdict is final, not amenable to any further appeals or revisions, except for the limited scope of seeking review of the Judgment. The law declared by the Supreme Court binds all courts in this country even as per the Constitutional mandate under Article 141 of the Constitution of India. It is said that, to err is human and the Supreme Court being comprised of Judges who are also human beings, it is quite possible, some Judgments may go wrong, some Judgments might have errors and the Judgments and the law declared by the Supreme Court may be incorrect and amenable to criticism. When once a Judgment is rendered and the law is declared by the Supreme Court, it becomes the law of the land and has to be applied by all courts. At the same time, once the Judgment is rendered, it passes into public domain and will be amenable and open to debate, healthy criticism and even a possible public opinion being evolved to point out the drawbacks/errors in the Judgment and to usher in suitable corrective mechanism to set right an incorrect view or a faulty opinion, in the absence of an appeal or revision. This can be achieved by one or the other of the accepted, permitted, legal and constitutional methods only and not otherwise. One possibility is seeking for review or for change of opinion in a later case before the Supreme Court wherein the very question arises for examination, but to persuade the Supreme Court to take a different view notwithstanding the earlier view expressed by it and that view having become the law of the land so that the law of the land can definitely be changed for the better. Fortunately for us, our Supreme Court has that power and flexibility and is not bogged down by the English legal principle of ‘stare decisis’. This principle to an extent has been given a go by even in the English legal system and of course never found favour with our Supreme Court from the very beginning. If I say this, it does not mean that the Supreme Court should keep tinkering with its Judgment every other day or to keep changing its opinion every time a disgruntled litigant seeks for a different direction in law. Hallmark of law and a Judgment of the court lies in its certainty and finality. If law becomes uncertain and wavering, that again causes grave damage to the legal system and to the society at large as people get confused due to the fickleness of law and the professionals in the legal field will also be left bewildered and that can pave way for erosion of faith and confidence in the judicial system. This is a quagmire area and judiciary should be careful and cautious not to get entrapped in such pits. Justice P D Dinakaran continuing to exercise authority and functioning as the Chief Justice, albeit only on the administrative side of the High Court is not a healthy augury for the judiciary, more so when the power and authority is being continuously misused or abused and even otherwise a lame duck Chief Justice being at the helm of affairs in the High Court on the administrative side is definitely not a healthy trend and can be taken advantage of by other unscrupulous and greedy officials at the lower levels. Recently, I heard that there were some malpractices, particularly, some illegalities having taken place in the matter of expenditure incurred by the High Court under the head ‘hospitality expenditure’, more so, during the stewardship of Justice P D Dinakaran as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. Being a little disturbed with such development, I had sought for some factual information from the registry and the information which I received has not put me at ease, but on the other hand has put me to great uneasiness and anxiety, particularly about the way and the direction which our High Court is heading. I am placing the particulars of expenditure incurred as furnished by the registry for the information and perusal of the general public, an information which is otherwise available to you all under the Right to Information Act, and to form your own opinion and of course to react and respond suitably. Under our constitutional scheme, judiciary does not have financial independence and the expenses in the judiciary is also part of the budgetary proposal and being voted by the State legislatures and the Union in the Parliament and therefore to that extent judiciary was blissfully kept independent of any financial responsibilities and the concomitant accountability with regard to expenses. While that is the scheme under our Constitution, in recent times, with all sorts of additional responsibilities having sprouted on the courts, particularly, at the level of the High Courts and the Supreme Court and the High Courts and the Supreme Court getting more and more active on the administrative side, have been privy to considerable extent of State funds and whom the amount is being spent at the sole discretion of the Members of the Judiciary. The checks and balances which are available under the Constitutional scheme and the statutory scheme in respect of any State expenditure, particularly, the scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India under Article 148 of the Constitution of India is not fully or strictly applied in respect of expenditure incurred by the Judiciary in respect of funds which are available at the disposal of the Judiciary wherein the discretion of the Chief Justices matters. The State making available vast funds as part of the services made available to the general public under the Karnataka State Legal Services Authorities Rules, 1996 and being at the sole discretion of the Executive Chairman who is a Member of the Judiciary and Judge in the High Court, while has given considerable financial independence and capability to the Judge heading this Authority, the manner of utilization/application of such large amount has come in for criticism and over a period of time, the public opinion is that Judges are most ill suited to occupy the position of a Executive Chairman of the Legal Services Authority and it should be looked after by other persons who do not have the onerous judicial responsibilities to discharge. Well, opinions may differ, but the fact remains that Judges becoming privy to large or vast amounts has not been a healthy trend if one should look at the developments during the past two decades and it certainly calls for a debate, a rethinking and suitable changes if so felt and warranted. I learnt that Karnataka State Legal Services Authority had received not less than Rupees Thirteen Crores for its annual expenses during the year 2009-10 and I was not very happy with the manner of the funds allocated to expenditure of this Authority and I had called for information about the same when I was serving at the Circuit Bench of the High Court at Gulbarga during November-December 2009. It took more than three to four months for the Member Secretary of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority to part with this information even to a Judge of the High Court and it is only with some pressure and threats I was able to get the information. This again is not a very healthy development, particularly, if persons who are entrusted with public funds are asked for accounting the same, it should be available at a minute’s notice and at fingertips, and not furnished after three months like some Judges, declaring the particulars of their assets and liabilities!. One another recent development is that some of my other colleagues in the Karnataka High Court also have declared particulars of their assets and liabilities and such information about nineteen Judges also finds a place on the website of the Karnataka High Court. While it is undoubtedly a welcome development, here again, I sam a little vary of the manner in which things are moving, particularly as, most unfortunately while some of my colleagues took not less than nine months to reveal their assets and liabilities some others have not disclosed till date which again is a phenomenon which creates doubts and suspicion in the minds of the general public, about our judicial system. Unfortunately, the Judges of the Supreme Court themselves led the way in this regard by not revealing the particulars of their assets and liabilities immediately following their own voluntary, unanimous resolution to declare their assets and to throw it into public domain and which particulars had been claimed by the then Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan, was available with him even from the year 1997 onwards in respect of all Judges who had assumed charge as Judges of the Supreme Court of India and which information should have been made available the next moment or the day after the resolution, but was made available only three months thereafter! What was the reason for the unholy delay and that too, to make available an existing information. Format is not the criteria, but the substance. The information required was regarding particulars of assets and liabilities and not the manner of presentation. Alas! That did not happen and the High Courts have only taken cue from this lead and have been improving upon it. Even today, many Judges in several other High Courts have not yet declared the particulars of their assets and liabilities. As I have indicated earlier, Judiciary is one organ of the State wherein not a single corrupt person can be accepted or allowed to remain. There should not be any suspect person in judiciary. Well, that is my concept and perception of Judiciary and my goal also. With your enlightened awareness and response, I am sure we can definitely reach this goal. With regards and good wishes, for the present. More in days to come. Justice D V Shylendra Kumar Judge, High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore Email: justdvskumar@gmail.com