The U.S. - India Business Council, in partnership with the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF), hosted the 2nd annual Legal Services Conference, "Hot Topics for In-House Counsel" in Delhi, on September 24. The welcome address was given by Ashish Sharma Board Member, USIBC; CEO, Discovery Services LLC and co-chair of USIBC LSEC along with Shishir Sharma Managing Partner, Tatva Legal and co-chair of USIBC LSEC.

It started bang-on with an opening address by Lalit Bhasin, President SILF and Honorary General Secretary, Bar Association of India. It was followed by an inaugural address by Ralph Voltmer, Partner Covington & Burling LLP who also gave a warm welcome to Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Member of Parliament, National Spokesperson Congress Party and Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India.

Abhishek Manu Sanghvi was pressed for time, but aptly addressed the grand topic of “In-House Cunsel” and left the crowd asking for more. Judy Reinke, Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs U.S. Embassy gave a short talk about her role in developing a relationship with India and the U.S.

The icing on the daylong conference was provided by the much awaited Harish Salve Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, who came in to give in a special keynote address and said, “As a constitutional lawyer, I would like to say to all the in-house counsels that we have to now change our mind set. Whatever laws we have, we have provisions for corporate governance, provisions for social responsibility, environmental laws etc. please believe me that we must look afresh on how we must comply with these laws. These laws should not be looked at as something which you have to follow because there is a Government out there which will someday prosecute you. Your conduct today has to be such that you would inspire India, the lay India, the common India. We have done the right thing by devolving power, in corporate India. In-house lawyers have always been the fire-fighters of corporate organisations. You now have to change your role, you now have to become conscience keepers”.

The Forum provided a global stage to discuss current issues regarding energy and infrastructure, competition / antitrust, developments in intellectual property, FCPA compliance, and E-discovery.

The 1^st panel discussion on “Energy & Infrastructure” had panellists comprising of Abhimanyu Bhandari Partner, Axon Partners LLP; Mohit Saraf Senior Partner, Luthra & Luthra; Y.M. Shivamurthy President Legal Affairs, GMR Group; Sumanto Basu Partner, J. Sagar & Associates and Akil Hirani Managing Partner, Majmudar & Co. These panellists were moderated by Percival Billimoria Senior Partner, AZB & Partners. This was one of the most interesting and attention grabbing panel, as GMR’s role playing and talks on Vedanta were debated upon.

Moving on to the 2^nd panel on “Competition / Antitrust Update” the scene was set by Dhanendra Kumar Chairman of the Competition Commission. This panel comprised of Balbir Singh Partner, DSK Legal; David R. Stewart Partner, Howrey; Rahul Dave Partner, Dua Associates and Isabelle Rahman Partner, Dechert LLP. Competition / Antitrust moderator was none other than Pallavi Shroff Partner, Amarchand Mangaldas. The most talked about topic was the recent decision on CCI probe cannot be challenged before Competition Appellate Tribunal: on SAIL vs. Jindal by the Supreme Court of India.

The 3^rd panel was on “Developments in Intellectual Property Protection” and comprised of Ramesh Adige Executive Director Corporate Affairs, Ranbaxy; Rakesh Bakshi Legal Head, Microsoft India; Ajit Yadav Senior Partner, FoxMandal and Sturgis Sobin Partner, Covington & Burling LLP. The IP panellists were moderated by Anand Sharma Partner, Finnegan Henderson.

The 4^th panel covered the topic of “Corporate Investigations: FCPA Compliance and India” and comprised of Sharie Brown Partner, DLA Piper; Sanjay Mullick Counsel, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; Dilip, Tatva Legal; Prakash Narayanan Senior Associate, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Anand Prasad Managing Partner, Trilegal. The moderator was Ravi Singhania Managing Partner, Singhania & Partners and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was well articulated by Sharie in this session.

The last session was on “E-Discovery & Litigation: Reducing the Impact on the Bottom Line” and comprised of Ashoke Prasad Director Litigation, Pangea3; H. Jayesh Founding Partner, Juris Corp; Vyapak Desai Head International Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice, Nishith Desai Associates; Thomas Butler Partner, Chadbourne & Parke and Murali Talasila Head of Forensic Technology & Director, KPMG. The moderator was Ashish Prasad Board Member, USIBC; CEO, Discovery Services LLC and co-chair of USIBC LSEC highlighted this discussion on e-discovery and touched on the much debated case of the 31 foreign law firms amongst who an LPO is also involved with inputs on the crucial role playing of all 5 panellists involved.