Almost 18 months after the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) March 2023 surprise announcement that the Indian legal market would be opening, this market is back in the news. The renewed chatter in global legal circles comes after BCI representatives told the Law Society of England & Wales that they are on course to implement amended regulations governing the entry of foreign lawyers and foreign law firms to India by the end of July 2024.
In 2023 there was a frenzy of activity, as many international firms welcomed the news in public statements—however the lack of clarity of what these rules meant and how they would be practically implemented (together with various legal challenges in the Indian courts) caused most firms to pause actions and watch and wait for greater guidance.
