[Exclusive]: Foreign Law Firms case to come up for final hearing in SC soon

The debate over foreign law firms entering India, which had reached the Supreme Court in July 2012, is likely to be resolved soon..In 2015, the apex court had granted leave in two appeals – one filed by the Bar Council of India, and the other by the Global Indian lawyers..Today, the matter came up before the Registrar, who issued a formal order for the matter to be now listed for final hearing before the appropriate bench, since all pleadings are complete..The matter will now likely come up for final hearing in approximately two months time or perhaps even before..The lawyers/law firms – EC Agarwala, Dua Associates, and Trilegal –representing foreign law firms including White & Case, Covington & Burling, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Eversheds, Bird and Bird, Linklaters, Clyde & Co and Allen & Overy, will now gear up for final arguments..In the meanwhile, the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) has decided that it will no longer oppose the entry of foreign lawyers into India, provided it happens in a phased manner and subject to certain conditions..The Bar Council of India (BCI) has also changed its stance over the years; it had drafted the “Bar Council of India Rules for Registration and Regulation of foreign lawyers, 2016” not long ago. While drafting these Rules, the BCI had admitted that liberalisation will “go a long way” towards the growth of the Indian legal market..The process of framing the rules had begun in March 2016, when officials from the BCI met the then Law Secretary PK Malhotra, and had agreed to prepare draft regulations..However, the liberalisation was stalled as BCI withdrew its Foreign Firms Draft Rules after it alleged that that the Law Ministry and Commerce Ministry are involving private organizations like the ICCA in the debate over the opening of the legal market.