Indian National Bar Association in association with Ernst & Young hosted a Webinar on May 6, 2020 on Legal Industry Grappling with COVID-19 which had a presence of Legal Heads, Corporates, General Counsels, Major Law Firms and other legal Practioners from arounds the world. Under the Flagship of Mr. Kaviraj Singh, Secretary General; INBA tried to put forward the transitions COVID-19 made to the professional lifestyle of legal industry. The pandemic has forced the legal fraternity out of their offices, confined to their homes, juggling with their legal work with child-care, household management and plenty of other obligations.
The Webinar began with the welcome address by Mr. Kaviraj Singh, Secretary General, INBA, giving a feeling much like that of a live conference. The opening session started with Mr. Arpinder Singh Partner & Head, India and Emerging Markets, Forensic & Integrity Services, EY briefing the Web-audience on Leveraging technology to battle the COVID-19 Pandemic. Mr. Arpinder guided and discussed ways for the Law Firms, Legal Practioners and the corporate sector as well to cope with the present situation without being panic. He said, “lawyers and law firms have found ways like videoconferencing allowing lawyers to be in contact with one another even more frequently than if everyone had been in the office”.
Mr. G R Raghavender-Joint Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India kept forward the government’s perspective on E-courts & Digitalization Of Legal Documents. He further made a mention that the lawyers and clients have been pleasantly surprised by a great remote work experience and how reasonably well it has gone so far. “From a technology aspect, most firms adapted quickly,” said Mr. Raghavender. Mr. Zameer Nathani, Senior VP & General Counsel, UFO Moviez, India Ltd was there to guide the corporate sector for measures to be taken by the corporates to handle this situation and adopt to e-court; a new way to legal framework as various governments are opting for it. Zameer Nathani’s Presentation on E-Courts
Mr. Kabir Duggal, Attorney, Arnold & Porter, Lecturer, Columbia Law School, Arbitrator & Mediator, through his Presentation showed deep concern on the on-going situation of legal industry, which finds hard, to keep the system in flow.
Mr. Luv Tanwani, Managing Counsel, Cummins India, and Mr. Sachin Kalra, General Counsel, HT Media emphasized on the role of General Counsels and In-House Counsels during this time. Looking at the on-going scenario when people have opted for work from home, there are concerns and issues raised of how confidential reliable the internet at home spaces are. Ms. Kavitha Gupta, CIPP-Asia, Senior Corporate Counsel, India & South Asia giving zoom instances raised the issues and put forth measures to be adopted to keep the data safe.
Dr. B Ramaswamy, Legal Advisor to MPs, Former Bench Magistrate, Member, Lok Adalat and Ms. Babita Ambekar, Partner, Head of India Practice, DWF, LLP, Singapore kept forth their views to tackle with degrading economy and to boost the morale of legal fraternity. Dr. Ramaswamy said “it is a phase which has made us all panic, but as seasons come and go, this too would fade away”. Ms. Babita concluded the discussion saying, “We are educating ourselves, learning to live with the situation”. The Webinar was concluded with Vote of thanks by Mr. .Kaviraj Singh to E&Y, all speakers and participants, conveying that this is a transitional phase which would transform our lives, our economies and indeed our lifestyle.