Seven Indian Law Firms that keep you updated on (corporate) law

In the fast changing, and complex, world of corporate law, it is important to stay on top of changes in laws, policy and regulations. In addition, increasing levels of specialisation, means that practice-specific lawyers need a very specific set of information.

This need for information has been, for the most part, unmet within the domestic market. While globally, law firms regularly invest time and resources to produce reports and newsletters, this practice is slowly garnering acceptance in India. Furthermore, publicly available updates, such as those on  Mondaq and Internal Law Office, are far and few between.

Which is where the India Law Connect project comes into play. As part of the ILC, we have been collating the writings of Indian law firms; more specifically their knowledge resources. The seven firms listed below do an impressive job of churning out relevant legal updates regularly, updates that are then made available to all.

1. Nishith Desai Associates [Link]

You name it, they have it.

Their research, which has always been ahead of time, is divided primarily into three segments:

• Research articles are shorter format ones, which are usually published in leading daily business newspapers. The topics, however, which NDA covers are quite interesting, mostly because you will not find other law firms engaging in similar research.
• Research papers, which are typically quite lengthy, are topics which require ‘further investigation’. These research papers, delve into the nuances and intricacies of the subject matter. Recent ones include topics such as ‘Preparing For a Driverless Future in India’ and ‘EdTech: From IT to AI’.
• NDA Hotline, which is divided on the basis of various areas of practice, provides regular updates in the relevant field, often covering rather unconventional areas as well, such as gaming laws, international trade and technology law.

2. HSA Advocates [Link]

Divided in two parts, under the head briefings, are Legal and Tax Newsletters. HSA provides brief, succinct articles on the latest regulatory, legislative changes and judicial pronouncements.

You will also find several in-depth analysis pieces. The “update” series are also quite useful and include ‘Infrastructure & Energy Regulatory Updates’, ‘Competition Law updates’ and ‘RBI Updates’.

3. DSK Legal  [Link]

The DSK Knowledge Center, as the name suggests, is a knowledge hub for corporate lawyers.

DSK’s ‘Infrastructure & Energy Quarterly’ reports are long format papers which delve into several policy, legislative and regulatory changes made with respect to infrastructure & energy in the past quarter.

Other than that, DSK also frequently publishes articles relevant for corporate lawyers, sometimes pertaining to new notifications issued by regulatory bodies and their subsequent impact thereof, while others which are of general importance to lawyers.

4. Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan [Link]

Tax Amicus, which is LKS’s monthly newsletter, is published usually around the 7^th of every month. Tax Amicus covers statutory changes and developments in Central Excise, Customs, Service Tax, and Value Added Tax laws.

Apart from Tax Amicus and other articles pertaining to tax laws, LKS also publishes articles on IP laws and corporate laws as well.

5. RK Dewan & Co. [Link]

RK Dewan, an Intellectual Property firm headquartered in Mumbai, publishes contents in three formats, viz. case studies, monthly newsletters, and articles pertaining to IPR laws.

While case studies and articles seem to have lost momentum on the website, monthly newsletters offer a quick read for those interested in IP laws. They are short format newsletters, usually covering, among other things, relevant judgments passed by  courts all across the globe.

6. Trilegal [Link]

Trilegal primarily publishes regular content under two different categories viz,

• Updates, which are basically summarised regulatory updates from across various regulatory authorities, and other legislative changes having an impact on businesses in Indian.
• Analysis, on the other hand, ‘delves into the impact’ which such legislative changes will have on the businesses in India.

7. BMR Advisors [Link]

‘BMR Insights’, extensively covers various tax related developments, including but not limited to, various notifications, circulars issued by the CBDT and latest judicial pronouncements.

They also, have a separate series dedicated to the Union Budget, which analyses the impact of tax related changes on various sectors of the Indian economy.

About India Law Connect: India Law Connect (ILC) is a digital database of useful information targeted at in-house and private practice lawyers. We are currently building a freely accessible library of law firm newsletters, notes and articles covering a wide range of topics.  If you wish to contribute content for India Law Connect, please drop in a mail at varun@barandbench.com