In Conversation with Mayank Mishra, co-founder Team Research

Mayank Mishra, a graduate of Hidayatullah National Law University Raipur, is the co-founder of Team Research, an online platform offering legal research assitance. The month-old venture seeks to “outsource” legal research work to law students across the country, providing efficient and economical assistance to law firms and litigating lawyers. In turn, TeamReseach will provide financial renumeration to the researchers..Team Research is the final result of an idea that Mishra has held onto since he was in the fourth year of his law degree. In this interview with Bar & Bench, Mishra talks about how Team Research works, the origins of the venture and the way forward..Bar & Bench: When did you start this venture? How big is the TeamResearch team?.Mayank Mishra: The venture was deliberated with friends, practicing advocates, senior associates and partners of leading law firms for a few years and remained in testing mode for about six months. After addressing the possible concerns such as format and quality of research note, confidentiality, guaranteed delivery schedule, pricing, etc. TeamResearch.in went live on January 6, 2014..TeamResearch is headed by me and two other qualified lawyers who have over 4.5 and 2.5 years of work experience with senior counsel and tier-1 law firms. Also, we have been assisted by an engineer who on a part-time basis takes care of backend technical and web support services..B&B: When did you get the idea to start Team Research? Why not opt for traditional modes of employment?.MM: To answer the second question first, the idea of TeamResearch developed its roots in penultimate year of my law school. As a student I had an opportunity to intern with a broad range of organizations, from NGOs’ to senior counsels and leading law firms. The message was clear on the wall that my trainer expected me to extract information, research for relevant case laws and process them into a fine deliverable, which formed the basis for answering queries to structuring transactions and court room hearings..Also, while working for law firms, I realised the necessity of having a capable and well groomed intern throughout the year and not just during the semester breaks of law schools. As the academic curriculums of most law schools require physical presence of the students and high percentage of attendance, I visualized and have conceptualised to make the intern available on a virtual platform..On being an entrepreneurial endeavour, I intend to generate cash flow not only for subsistence but also for adequately rewarding our young enthusiastic researchers. The idea is to first create a marketable product which lawyers and fellow colleagues can use in their day to day professional operations. Further, my quest for learning law and my belief in the intellect of the young budding lawyers gives me immense confidence that this mode will prove to be far rewarding than any other traditional modes of employment..B&B: What has been the response of your friends and family? Any lessons learnt along the way?.MM: Response has been over whelming and encouraging so far. I have received many sweet and sour criticisms from friends, family and professionals who have used the services of TeamResearch. I have tried my level best to incorporate all possible suggestions to whatever extent I could. My biggest critique is my girlfriend turned wife who has the tendency to shake the substratum of TeamResearch and at times turn it to a 180 degree view point..During this short journey, the foremost lesson I learnt is ‘while the fundamental behind TeamResearch is the product itself, the user experience has to set us apart.’.B&B: How does TeamResearch work?.MM: Lawyers who want to avail services of TeamResearch are required to visit our website and post their query online. Once a query is received, we send an email to the query seeker confirming the delivery schedule and our bank account details for processing the payment. Immediately thereafter, we allot the query to at least 2 researchers and 1 qualified lawyer of TeamResearch. All responses are compiled, reviewed and crosschecked. Thereafter, a final research note is prepared and delivered to the query seeker in a time bound manner. For clarifications and questions, we also arrange on call support services..B&B: How can students register as researchers?.MM: The registration is open for sixth to tenth semester undergraduate law students and all post graduate students who are in top 25% of their respective classes and successfully qualify our preliminary researcher test. Based on the academic performance, resume, areas of interest and test results, a student is enrolled as a researcher with TeamResearch..B&B: How will you ensure the quality of research conducted by students?.MM: To maintain quality of research note, all queries are independently researched upon by at least one qualified and experienced lawyer of TeamResearch. Additionally, the lawyers of TeamResearch closely monitor and review every research note that gets out of TeamResearch. Rest assured the last thing which we will compromise will not be the quality and correctness of our research notes..B&B: How much can a law student expect to earn (monthly or yearly) from Team Research?.MM: Unlike a traditional way of internship where students are required to work exclusively for a law firm or an advocate and get a monthly stipend, we pay our researchers on a per assignment basis. Depending upon the research quality, we share a substantial portion of our fees with the students. .B&B: What is the kind of research that Team Work has been given so far?.MM: We have been asked to research upon queries relating to corporate and securities laws, banking, arbitration, telecom, civil, real estate and criminal laws. The scope of work included review of latest case laws, summarising the judicial precedent on a particular provision, interpretation of FEMA regulations, enlisting the applicable laws for a real estate project and proofreading and formatting of agreements, memos and petitions.