In this article, Vincent Omwenga Kofi pursuing M.A, in Business Law from NUJS, Kolkata discusses Indian Law Firms with Maximum Online Presence.
Introduction
Throughout history, means by which humans communicate have evolved greatly. Ever since the invention of the internet, the number of people and businesses using it for communication is increasing staggeringly. In fact, as per Google’s determination, up to 97% of consumers search for local businesses on the internet before they interact with the businesses. In other words, in this context, more than 90% of legal consumers search Indian law firms online (Rampton, 2015). Given the fact, some Indian law firms have maximum online presence since their customers are mostly using the internet to search legal service providers. Having an online presence is undoubtedly important and determines the success of businesses in any industry. For most law firms, building an online presence is as easy as having a simple website showcasing their legal services and creating social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. It is one thing following these two vital approaches, and another using the approaches extensively.
Google analyses how much a business uses these approaches to rank their online presence – one with maximum online presence appears top in search results (Rehman & Khan, 2013).
Searching online to find almost anything easily is like using a print directory to find information, but the former is much quicker and less tedious. Having online presence as opposed to listing in a physical directory or merely keeping a traditional office is more advantageous from many aspects. For instance, having presence in the virtual world ensures accessibility to a business’s information around the clock. In other words, customers can find information about a law firm with maximum online presence even after working hours. The firms have a benefit of knowing how they are doing through reviews on blogs and social media. It is also a great opportunity for the firms to interact with their potential customers, such as through posting on social media websites and in blogs (Wang, Guo, Zhang, Wei, & Chen, 2016). All these interactions would convince potential clients to doing business with law firms having maximum online presence, which makes the internet an easy and affordable way of marketing brands compared to print and outdoor.
Having maximum online presence is important to both consumers of legal services and the firms themselves. As legal help becomes astronomically expensive in the US, for instance, a growing number of its middle-class citizens are using the internet to reach out to lawyers in India for legal counsel and assistance. On the other hand, an increasing number of Indian attorneys are finding a commercial opportunity in assisting Americans in preparing legal documents (Lacity, Burgess, & Willcocks, 2014). More Americans are getting attracted to the services offered by the Indian lawyers mainly because of cheaper hourly rates. Therefore, having a maximum online presence for Indian lawyers makes legal services more accessible to Americans while empowering the enterprising lawyers. In an insignificant but budding segment of cases, appellants have hired online lawyers from India and other regions to draft litigation documents and to take them through legal processes. This article uses Google ranking to identify some of the law firms that have maximum online presence and hence, benefiting from the opportunities that come with the commitment.
Online Advertising of Law Firms
It is still contentious in many countries whether legal practitioners should be free to advertise their services (Gillers, 2014). Proponents to the contention submit that by showcasing their achievements creatively, lawyers enhance their own image in the media, as well as that of the country’s legal prowess. On the other hand, the Bar Council of India holds that advertising such a noble profession would be akin commercialization, which would taint the profession.
Accordingly, the Council’s regulations prohibit legal practitioners from advertising or soliciting.Through media directly or indirectly. With a recent amendment, however, law firms can have their own websites, but website need only to contain the firms’ basic information, including the numbers and names of the firms’ lawyers, areas of practice, and contact details. While many law firm websites have done much more than the Bar Council of India’s counsel, the scope of this article is to identify Indian law firms with maximum online presence.
Indian Law Firms with Maximum Online Presence
This article identifies Kochhar & Co., Luthra Law Firm, Singhania & Co., Kachwaha & Partners, Dhir & Dhir Associates, Majmudar & Partners, S&R Associates, and Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (L&S) as having maximum online presence in India.
Kochhar & Co.
Kochhar & Co. is among the largest and leading corporate law firms in India. The Indian firm is also the only one with full service existence in the seven eminent Indian cities, i.e.
Mumbai, Agra, Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Gurgaon, and Chennai, as well as four offices in Atlanta, Singapore, Jeddah, and Dubai (Nanda, Wilkins, & Fong, 2017). Kochhar & Co. is highly ranked for its client approval ethos through its clear, accessible, and responsive approach, in addition to business focused legal advice. As enumerated on its website, the law firm offers various legal services that pertain to corporate and commercial laws, particularly focusing on representing major overseas and local corporations with varied commercial interests in India. When searching “Indian law firms” on Google, Kochhar & Co. appears on the first page, linking to the firm’s corporate website, www.kochhar.com. Because of its high search
Ranking, the firm has attracted interests of various Fortune 500 companies and other large multinational corporations from Europe, Japan, and North America, which it has represented.
Besides its corporate website, Kochhar & Co. maintain social media profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, as well as appears on such professional websites as Glassdoor, Legal500, and HG. Kochhar & Co. also appears on hundreds of other websites, including rag-india.com, legallyindia.com, lawctopus.com, chambersandpartners.com, superlawyer.in, legalbusinessonline.com, taglaw.com, livelaw.in, indianlawyer250.com, thelawreviews.co.uk, lawlex.org, etc. Kochhar & Co.’s appearance on several websites makes the firm’s services easily accessible even to potential clients outside India. Another law firm with comparable online presence is Luthra.
Luthra & Luthra Law Offices
Luthra & Luthra Law Offices (L&L) is a full-service highly ranked Indian law firm. The firm boasts a crew of more than 350 legal counsels and law offices in Bangalore, New Delhi, and Mumbai. L&L’s prominence is significantly felt in terms of its adoption of an innovative tactic towards the practice of law, which involves combining conservative practice areas with evolving industry sectors, setting standards, and upholding highest standards within the legal arena (Nanda, Wilkins, & Fong, 2017). As gathered from various online sources, such as Legal500.com, chambersandpartners.com, and rsg-india.com, L&L has a past of working with international clients. L&L has a well-designed and aesthetically appealing website, www.luthra.com, which highlights the firm’s understanding of the global general counsel’s sensitivities and expectations. The website also points out the firm’s years of experience collaborating with regulators and advising clients on adverse regulatory implications.
L&L is prominently on Google Maps, giving directions to three of its offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and New Delhi. The maps also show the firm’s phone numbers of the respective offices and links to the main corporate website. L&L also has an active profile on various social websites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Olwer.com, and vccircle.com. Collectively, evanluthra.com, chambersandpartners.com, iflr1000.com, feedreader.com, legallyindia.com, and many other websites recognize L&L as offering aboveboard solutions to the intricate legal issues. Searching L&L on Google returns more than 53,800 results, most of which link the firm to such areas of specialization as legal advice on banking and finance, competition and antitrust, litigation and arbitration, mergers and acquisitions, health and pharmaceuticals, anti-corruption and compliance, international trade laws, intellectual property—patent and trademark, etc.
Google ranks L&L’s website top ten among law firms in India, indicating that the firm has invested heavily to ensuring it has maximum online presence. Singhania & Co. is another Indian law firm whose presence online is significant.
Singhania & Co.
Singhania & Co. is an Indian law firm that has expanded globally to also operate from London and New York. The firm provides advocates and solicitors who handle various attorney services in Asia, Europe, and America (Garth, 2016). On its website, which is also among the top ten results on Google search engine for law firms in India, Singhania & Co. recognizes that the world is struggling with dynamic economies that demand law firms that act responsively, valuably, and constructively. According to the information published on lawsociety.org.uk, Singhania & Co. areas of focus are mainly taxation, company registration, agency and franchise, corporate and commercial, anti-dumping, foreign exchange management, and admiralty, among others. Unlike many other Indian law firms, Singhania & Co. runs two main websites.
Singhania.com and singhanialaw.com, both of which show up when searching “Singhania & Co.” on search engines. More importantly, Singhania & Co. has its online presence on Google Maps, which give directions to two of the firm’s physical addresses and phone numbers in New Delhi and London. The maps also link to the firm’s website, singhania.com. Besides maintaining profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, and vccircle.com, Singhania & Co. also appears on professional directories such as internationallawoffice.com, iln.com, waterlowlegal.com, attorneyintown.com, discoverthepages.com, and nlinebangalore.com. All these websites describe Singhania & Co. as comprising a big team of law practitioners familiar to and focused on diverse faculties of international business. In India, the law firm is focused on contributing valuable expertise relevant to the country’s economic and business arenas, particularly concerning maintenance and expansion. Kachwaha & Partners is another Indian law firm specializing in business and whose presence online is remarkable.
Kachwaha & Partners
Searching “Indian law firms” on Google also returns Kachwaha & Partners as one of the top 10 results. A further search of the term “Kachwaha & Partners” returns 3,340 results. The first on the latter list is “Kachwaha & Partners” linking to kaplegal.com followed by “Kachwaha & Partners – New Delhi – Law Firm Profile – Asia-Pacific” linking to chambersandpartners.com. Appearing online on 3,340 web pages makes Kachwaha & Partners one of the law firms with maximum online presence. According to the Chambers & Partners website, Kachwaha & Partners is a full-fledged law firm operating from Mumbai and Delhi offices and in liaison with associate lawyers across several Indian cities. Law Mantra (lawmantra.co.in) identifies the firm’s partners and members as senior professionals with many years of experience.
International Comparative Legal Guides (iclg.com) says of the firm’s partners and members as bringing the top level professional services to legal consumers besides the profession’s traditions, ethical practices, and integrity. From the internet, readers can learn that Kachwaha & Partners is a member of the International Business Law Consortium, Salzburg (IBLC), which is one of the leading law firm networks in the world. Dhir & Dhir Associates is also an Indian law firm that has significant online presence as described below.
Dhir & Dhir Associates
On its website, Dhir & Dhir Associates describes itself as a full-fledged law firm established in 1993 as a single-window provider of legal services in an ever changing commercial setting. For more than 20 years, Dhir & Dhir Associates has provided legal services in various sectors and specializations while creating symbiotic relationships with its clients (Kachwaha, 2013). Dhir & Dhir Associates holds specialization in antitrust & competition, corporate & commercial, banking & finance, corporate & commercial, intellectual property rights, capital markets and securities law, dispute resolution & arbitration, corporate restructuring & insolvency, infrastructure & energy, joint ventures and private equity criminal litigation, governance risk and compliance, employment, and environment.
Dhir & Dhir Associates appears on Google Maps and linking to the firm’s website as well as giving direction to its Mumbai and New Delhi offices. Some of the most popular websites on which the firm is listed include Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, Indian Lawyer (indianlawyer250.com), Bar and Bench (barandbench.com), indiamart.com, and The Law Reviews. Dhir & Dhir Associates has Facebook profiles in different languages including English, French, and Swedish. The firm also has an active Twitter account and maintains professional profiles on LinkedIn. Evidently, Dhir & Dhir Associates seeks to create long term rapport with its clients socially and professionally through consistent integrity, accountability, and honesty. Accordingly, the firm prides itself in providing highly responsive, creative, expert, and valuable legal services. From different online resources, Dhir & Dhir Associates keeps a portfolio of diverse clients, including NGOs, MNCs, Central and State Governments, government ministries and financial institutions.
Majmudar & Partners
Searching “Indian law firms” on Google returns Majmudar & Partners as one of the legal services providers that is evidently significant online. The term “Majmudar & Partners” appears on more than 4,000 web pages. Its website, majmudarindia.com, publishes so much information about the firm, including its practice areas, team, and clients. The Majmudar & Partners describes itself as a leading law firm in India and operating from its Mumbai and Bangalore offices. In addition to the two locations, the 1943 founded firm has affiliate offices in Hyderabad, Chennai, and New Delhi. Based on the information on RSG Consulting (rsg-india.com) website, Majmudar & Partners is a full-fledged law firm that focuses on providing legal, fiscal, and financial advice to businesses in the technology, real estate, manufacturing, infrastructure, financial, and insurance industries. American Bar (americanbar.org), on the other hand, describes the firm as offering clients a positive approach to meeting their goals and strategic business objectives. Majmudar & Partners achieves this by working closely with its clients, understanding their real business statuses and issues.
Being easily accessible through its Facebook pages in both English and French, and through professional networking via LinkedIn, clients find Majmudar & Partners approachable to discuss the commercial problems to which the firm provides practical advice and solutions.
Using its social media pages and contact forms online, the firm demonstrates its skills pertaining responsive and dedicated professional services. When necessary, potential customers can go online, particularly on Google Maps to find directions to the firm’s offices or even call on the numbers given on various listing websites. What is more, Legal 500, Practical Law Company, and Chambers & Partners rank Majmudar & Partners as a top-tier Indian law firm as published on the respective websites. Another law firm in New Delhi and Mumbai that is significantly online is S&R Associates.
S&R Associates
S&R Associates, in the firm’s self-description, provides legal services to both local and international clients from its New Delhi and Mumbai offices. The firm’s website, snrlaw.in, tops the list when searching “S&R Associates” and it links to the homepage which publishes that the firm’s law practitioners are permitted to practice within the country and many jurisdictions, such as the US, UK, and Singapore. Accordingly, S&R Associates maintains active Facebook profiles under the username “SRAssociatesllp,” which are published in English, Española, Polish, and Italian languages. The firm’s presence on more than 6,500 web pages makes its services accessible worldwide, which makes it possible to offer its clients an exclusive combination of Indian law expertise tied with intercontinental quality legal services.
Like many other Indian law firms that have maximum online presence, S&R Associates appears on some of the most popular contextual websites, such as RGS India, Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, Bar and Bench, Asia Law, Legally India, and Magic Lawyers. On its LinkedIn professional profile, S&R Associates highlights that its lawyers have been involved in advising some of the most remarkable Indian transactions and determinations in recent history. The firm associates its extensive presence on the internet to the high quality of legal advice and services it provides, which has elevated it to becoming the preferred law firm for its clients. The firm does not only have maximum presence online, but also widely published in leading industry publications, rankings, and surveys (Nanda, Wilkins, & Fong, 2017). Last in the list in this article is Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan.
Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (L&S)
Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (L&S) comes up among the top 10 Indian law firms on Google search, which is an indication that the firm has maximum online presence as much as the others discussed in the previous sections of this paper. Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan is also a full-fledged law firm that offers services in Corporate and Intellectual Property, Tax, and International Trade laws (Nanda, Wilkins, & Fong, 2017). “Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan” appears online on more than 21,300 webpages ranging from social to corporate sectors. Top in the list is the firm’s official website, lakshmisri.com. The second is a listing and description on Chambers and Partners, while the third is a link to the firm’s Facebook profile. As opposed to all other law firms discussed in this article, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan is the most active and engaging on Facebook. In fact, there are 31 reviews of the firm’s service on Facebook with an average score of 4.7 out of 5.0. With more than 2,500 Facebook fans, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan is undoubtedly one of the most significant law firms on the internet.
Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan is featured prominently on Indiatimes (indiatimes.com), Ionia (inovia.com), Bloomberg (bloomberg.com), Lexology (lexology.com), allindiantaxes.com, ACWL (acwl.ch), etc. Having served for more than 30 years, the firm is among the largest law practices in the country that focuses on providing advisory, litigation, and consulting services. Understandably, therefore, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan’s clients include various Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders in the local market. Over that period, the firm has managed to open and run offices in ten cities in the country and it employs close to 600 people as chartered accountants, engineers, advocates, support staffs, and scientists.
Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan’s website, lakshmisri.com, publishes that the law firm has processed over 40,000 litigation cases, including more than 2,000 representations in the Supreme Court of India.
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