This article is written by Yash Singhal from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, New Delhi. This is an article on the negative implication of national lockdown on legal professionals along with the efforts of the Bar Council in minimising them.

Introduction

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown in India for 21 days from 24 March to 14 April 2020 amid the spread of COVID19. The scare over spreading of the virus through human contact has forced the country to observe a national lockdown with movement limited to emergency situations. The essential commodities have been made available to the citizens for their survival.

All the offices, schools, colleges, malls, gymnasiums and other places which are prone to crowding have been shut with immediate effect. The employers and their employees have accepted the concept of ‘work from home’ as the norm to cover most of the official assignments. The adaptability to staying at home at all times with no social interaction at a social setting has been an issue that has further affected the physical and mental health of the individuals.

The real issue is with the identification of infected individuals who do not feel any symptoms instantly and continue to follow the usual lifestyle of social interaction, infecting several other people who come in contact with the infected person. Also, the infected are hiding without informing the concerned authorities due to the fear of isolation while putting the health of related persons at stake.

The pandemic is yet to be controlled and if predictions are to be followed, there are chances of even longer lockdown in the future until any significant improvement in the situation is observed. All professions except those dealing with essential commodities have experienced a slowdown with lack of consumers or clients to consume their services. 

How lockdown affects legal professionals?

The lockdown has forced people to adopt the strategy of ‘work from home’ which requires the division of work among all the office staff briefing them on the quality of work expected out of each of them. The legal professionals have also been facing similar issues with the realisation of learning digital skills to handle the technology at their disposal for the benefit of all. 

Established legal professionals in firms/courts 

The legal firms are electronically communicating with the employees to get the work completed within the prescribed time limit. The firms that are engaged in online legal counselling would be benefited with their experience in handling technology. Also, the demand of the legal professionals during the period being low, the ones with special skills in providing home-based legal assistance would be favoured over others. The senior advocates and the judges have to acquaint themselves with the know-how of electronic courts after all Courts have been shut on the orders of the Government. The courts have shifted to video conferencing with the Supreme Court only addressing important matters through video conferencing.

The instant shift to digital communication would be difficult for those professionals who have never used technology in their work and are helpless with the changing scenario. The quick adaptability to the scenario is easier said than done. The professionals that could adapt themselves to the digitisation method would succeed. The lawyers as well the judges have quite a bit of uncertainty as to the feasibility of the video conference in delivering instructions or pronouncing verdicts. The contracts of the firms which they entered before the lockdown will also be affected. 

The Bombay High Court ordered lawyers to file only those matters that require urgent attention, failing which high or exemplary penalty to be imposed on the litigants. The lawyers are limited in their authority to file suits on matters lowering the number of cases with them and reducing the work of all lawyers.

Young Lawyers 

The young lawyers who have just entered the professional world will find it difficult to cope due to lack of work. They need to train themselves under an accomplished lawyer which would not be possible with the current work from home culture.. Those employed with established lawyers have their own issues due to fewer chances of proving themselves in front of their employers to be provided with any significant work. Those who are self-employed have their own set of drawbacks.

They have also missed out on learning from an accomplished lawyer through observing their mode of work or hearing them argue in a court. The practical training in such a professional field is crucial for the overall development of these young lawyers.. Apart from this professional loss, the economic impact would be even greater with these young lawyers earning less income in the period which might discourage the young lawyers to continue in the field. Also, the condition of the economy in the lockdown would result in recession after the end of lockdown. This will snatch away the employment of the already distressed young lawyers. They will not get adequate chances to prove themselves and would be subjected to even worse situations later.

The self-employed young lawyers require time to establish themselves for people to approach them with cases, but during the lockdown, the lack of cases has impacted them professionally and economically.

The other requirement being immediate knowledge of technology by these young lawyers to contribute to the work of the firm in any manner whatsoever or even have training sessions over the internet with the senior lawyers at the firm. All social interactions are possible through technological means and anyone who is not comfortable using it would suffer.

Law aspirants 

The law aspirants preparing for entrance examinations would feel the effect of the lockdown. Most of the law aspirants join coaching classes for law entrance exam preparations and with the lockdown in place, the coaching centres have been shut down and the students are suffering with no guidance from the experts. The aspirants would have no other option than self-study or take online classes or courses, provided the coaching classes have adequate resources to carry out online teaching.

The urban regions have technological resources with computers and the internet at their disposal but the rural regions are bereft of any such resources which are basic amenities in the present situation. 

Law aspirants thrive on the quality of books available in the library near their residence. Library access has also been restricted during the lockdown, with the only option to obtain law books being e-commerce websites such as Amazon or Flipkart. Not all students can afford to purchase every book. This would be disadvantageous on the part of the aspirants who are determined for the course but do not have the resources to obtain these books.

Law students 

The law students who are currently pursuing their course are suffering due to shutting down of all institutes/colleges/universities. The online teaching methods have been adopted to make sure students do not miss out on the course syllabus. The internship opportunities and moot court competitions are paramount to the development of the law students but no such activity is possible in this time period. 

The frequent court visits is a way through which law students can make contacts and obtain necessary information about court functioning. The courts being shut down during the period have left them with no option but to remain at home.

Freshly graduated lawyer 

The freshly graduated lawyers are inexperienced and need a well established lawyer to guide them through court proceedings. In a firm, they need to learn from senior advocates on the requirement of professional skills to get successful in their field. All the lawyers are going through the period of less work which has, in turn, reduced their employment of young lawyers who have just graduated. The requisite training under a senior lawyer is a must for these freshly graduated lawyers which they would not get owing to the shutdown of courts and lack of fresh cases. 

The practical experience in the natural environment in the courts is unmatched and any video conferencing, when all the professionals are struggling with the clarity over the use of technology to get the proceedings underway, would be far from similar to the actual court proceedings. In a court, the cross-examination, the art of argumentation, the observation of witness, and upholding principles of justice are the skills which are learnt by the lawyers while physically being present there. 

Efforts by the Bar Council of India in this regard

Every profession in India is on a standstill during this lockdown period due to lack of demand in the market and restricted movement with all offices closed. Even though professionals have adopted the ‘work from home’ approach to cover the work, it has not been able to arrest the decline in demand for work. No policy has been formulated as such by the government to support those who will suffer in the lockdown. 

Bar Council of India has advised the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers to grant a subsistence allowance of INR 20,000 per month to young lawyers during lockdown. This provision is specifically forwarded for those who belong to the economically weaker section of the society and are incapable of surviving without any income for the time being. The funds are to be issued from the Centre Funds, the State Government Funds or jointly. This is by either providing for the same directly or through the Advocate Welfare Fund of the respective State Bar Councils.

Bar Council of India identifies the situation to be a grave one and while the country is passing through difficult times, all professions have gone down during the lockdown except those involved in providing essential service. They identify advocacy as a noble profession which defends human rights, fundamental rights, and constitutional rights of every individual. Therefore, their support at the times of emergency is a duty of the government. The young lawyers who are working under the senior lawyers are yet to make an individual mark in the market, thus, would find it difficult to get much work during this time. It is an effort of the Bar Council of India to not let the spirits of the young lawyers go down by advising the government to provide assistance in the form of subsistence allowance.

They stated a stat regarding the proportion of advocates who are in a position to survive and subsist without any earning during the lockdown accounted for merely 10%, with the rest lacking any social security and facing risks of financial crisis. These people who are not a part of that 10% subsist on regular earnings of the week, but the restricted court functioning has impacted their earnings. 

The Bar Council of India contends that the advocates’ community are the highest taxpayers in the country and that it is the duty of the government to protect its taxpayers. It requests the government to make arrangements for those who fulfil their social duties by fighting for their clients in order to bring them justice should not be left in dire situations where they could not earn their bread and butter. 

Conclusion

The nationwide lockdown imposed by the Prime Minister of India on the 24th of March, 2020 has restricted the movement of the individuals, forcing the people to adopt the strategy of work from home to complete their pending work. All professions have suffered a major setback due to low demand in the market for their services except the essential commodities service providers. The legal professionals are adapting to the changes after the guidelines from the courts to shift to video conferencing and the Supreme Court only taking up important matters. The Bar Council of India has advised the government to protect the advocate community by issuing subsistence allowance. The lack of work, adaptability to digitisation and low practical experience are major problems being faced by the legal professionals amid the lockdown.