Everyone thinks of starting on his / her own at some point or the other in life. It is the ultimate dream of all first-generation lawyers, particularly those who are proficient in relationship building and are confident of generating business on their own.
Working with big law firms for so long made Mr. Bhumesh Verma (Managing Partner) realize that there was scope for more personal, accessible, and customized legal services and this culminated in the creation of Corp Comm Legal.
Corp Comm Legal is a boutique Indian law firm with its headquarters in New Delhi and associate offices in other major Indian cities. On international assignments, they work with foreign law firms on a non-exclusive basis.
Corp Comm Legal also has a global network of boutique law firms to provide seamless services to clients all over the world. In association with its global network, Corp Comm Legal provides end-to-end legal solutions to its domestic and international clients, be it M&A, corporate advisory, due diligence, litigation, arbitration, IPR, HR, compliances, and so on. The clients can be assured of the same level of services across the world with excellent turnaround time and genuine estimates of billing.
The challenges
First-generation lawyers with no family background in the legal profession or contacts have always had it hard, be it now or long back. They have to work extra hard to be recognized and appreciated. They have to climb stairs whereas those with a silver spoon manage to get the best internships, placements, and whatnot by pulling some strings here and there.
Mr. Bhumesh Verma, Managing Partner at Corp Comm Legal says “I remember a first-gen lawyer friend being snubbed by another one (with a privileged background) in Supreme Court, telling the former “it will take some years for you to get here”. However, in the long run, it is your efficiency and delivery of service that matters – all other factors get decimated sooner or later. Luckily, I was always working among very learned colleagues all the time, who had no bias towards a privileged background and it helped me a lot in my career.”
Today, it has become fashionable to flaunt one’s underprivileged background to gain sympathy – be it TV talent shows or LinkedIn and so on. However, Bhumesh says that his generation worked much harder even they had no rich parents to support 5-year courses at private universities, no internship or placement opportunities, no stipend working with litigation lawyers, to name a few impediments but without complaining and professionalizing the Indian legal profession to global standards.
Today’s struggles are of a different kind. Sometimes, it seems amusing for law students to argue “I have spent X amount on my education, I must get a minimum Y amount of remuneration”. One needs to understand that your education spend is not a fixed deposit or a mutual fund investment, assuring you a fixed or guaranteed return. You have to earn every penny in the profession with hard work; impatience doesn’t make it any better.
If you are hardworking and efficient, you will definitely have your place under the sun even if takes time. Always believe in ‘Apna Time Aayega’!
The space for boutique law firms considering big firms are becoming bigger and bigger:
It is a global phenomenon of big law and boutique firms coexisting and complementing each other.
However, some big firms get inflexible after a certain time, working like factories, having monthly targets, budgets, resultant burnouts. At times, they may not be receptive or attentive to smaller matters nor ready to invest in long-term relationships. It also cuts both ways – not all clients can afford the big law firms nor can the latter devote their best resources for smaller deals and matters. Even Corp Comm Legal gets so many job applications from all big law firm lawyers, be it associates, senior associates, or partners because of burnouts and other issues.
Therefore, Bhumesh feels that there is a sweet spot for small/mid-sized firms to cater to a wider range of clients with more attention and flexibility in fee and emphasis on a balanced life for lawyers. In smaller firms, the clients get to work with the person they want to work with, have direct access and say in handling of their matter. There is no padding up of fee or loading of lawyer’s fancy office/software costs and so on.
Remember, the biggest actors and players are among the richest people list because we buy the products endorsed by them. Next time you feel impressed by an amazing office or gadgets of a lawyer or a law firm, remember clients pay for it!
Switching to a boutique law firm format
The transition is both challenging and interesting. The challenge lies in being an initiator and executant of the workflow at the same time – most of the lawyers in big law firms play the second part whereas the promoters are rainmakers.
It is interesting in the sense that you get a sense of credit, accomplishment, and satisfaction about everything you do – even if you make X revenue (the howsoever small amount it is), it belongs to you and your team and you are in charge of its distribution.
Switching to your own also provides you the flexibility to pursue your passions – for example, in the last 2 and half years, apart from regular practice, Bhumesh has addressed thousands of students in classrooms and online, written 350 articles, 3 books, and done his bit in improving the legal education standards in the country. This would never have been possible in a big law firm. Corp Comm Legal guess none of his contemporaries working in any other law firms can boast this much.
Education initiatives.
Corp Comm Legal is also a knowledge partner with some of the best Indian legal education institutions to impart practical training sessions/credit courses for their students. It also encourages and engages students from such institutions in researching and writing with it. Corp Comm Legal team works on students’ submissions and often publishes their research in journals/websites in students’ names.
The global network of law firms.
Corp Comm Legal has tied up with like-minded relatively smaller firms from India and abroad and brought them under a common platform ‘Global Business Lawyers’ League’. Most of the promoters of these firms have been partners with big international law firms or in-house counsel, started on their own, and offer world-class services with more personal attention and customization.
About the state of competition in law firms’ space
In India, smaller firms face competition even from the biggest of law firms which could resort to undercutting, predatory pricing, and so on just to throw the competition out of the market and capture work for their bench strength. Most of the industry forums are virtually cornered by bigger firms by sponsorships and other means. Smaller firms lack such visibility and avenues for showcasing their abilities. The government provides encouragement and incentives to industrial MSMEs but no such avenues are available for smaller law firms and they are left to fend for themselves.
However, Corp Comm Legal has to live with it – a free economy is the order of the day. This is one of the reasons for assembling a global network of smaller firms to have a collective say in such an adverse atmosphere. Corp Comm Legal is growing bit by bit and is optimistic about the future. After all, Rome was not built in a day!
The Future of Corp Comm Legal
Corp Comm Legal is at the cusp of a great future. With recent legal and economic reforms initiated by the government, better days are certainly ahead for the Indian legal profession. India’s place as a preferred FDI destination is bound to be further cemented and they foresee a lot of growth in domestic and international assignments. With a mandate not to open up any new law schools for the next few years, there is an effort to streamline legal education as well. The professional standards will certainly get better.
