The country's top lawyers are hopping across cities to attend conferences this February.

First was the 6^th ITech Law Conference at Bangalore, followed by a seminar on ‘Delays in the Indian Legal System: Legal, Judicial and Institutional reforms’ at the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) at Sonipat, Haryana. In stark contrast to most conferences which are attended by firms, transactional lawyers, in-house-counsel and corporates, the JGLS seminar saw the attendance of several academics, economists, litigating lawyers and students.

Third on the list was the conference organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) on ‘Arbitration for Indian Industry’ in Mumbai, which saw the attendance of some of India’s top lawyers and a number of representatives from the foreign law firms. Today and tomorrow, Mumbai plays host to the International Bar Association’s (IBA) conference on ‘Globalisation of Mergers & Acquisitions- an Indian Perspective’.

Many consider these conferences to be an opportunity to catch up with old classmates, friends and colleagues. However, there are other benefits. A lawyer who attended the ITech Law conference told Bar & Bench on the conditions of anonymity, “These conferences are merely about networking. The fact that top lawyers are addressing the conference is an added benefit. And of course, it is reasonable to expect some work to come out of this.” Some conferences are making no bones about this. The IBA’s website makes it clear, ‘Conferences fulfil one of the IBA's most important objectives - the promotion of useful contacts and interchange between lawyers throughout the world - as well as providing a forum for the dissemination of specialist information on all areas of the law.’

Foreign law firms are indicating an increasing interest in these conferences. ITech Law alone saw about 20-odd foreign law firms sponsoring the conference, and several more attending the conference. Similarly, the SIAC-CII conference was marked by the presence of a large number of foreign firms, including Ashurst, which recently shut shop. This only indicates an increasing interest in the India market, despite the judgment of the Bombay High Court, which many consider a dampener.

Interestingly, there is an increasing participation by members of the judiciary in these conferences. Justice Dalveer Bhandari of the Supreme Court of India addressed the seminar at JGLS, while Justice A.K. Sikri of the Delhi High Court participated in a session at the SIAC conference.

A hectic schedule lies in wait for lawyers in the near future, with several conferences being organized both in India and abroad.