Will 2023 mark the beginning of the age of the general counsel?

As we enter the year 2023, and Karanjawala & Co. looks forward to becoming 40 years of age (my wife, Manik and I began the Firm on the 1st of February 1983), I think this is an opportune moment to look back on the legal landscape over the last 40 odd years to see what are the changes that have occurred therein.

- RAIAN KARANJAWALA

Since the time I joined the Bar in 1979 till today, there have been to my mind three significant changes on the legal landscape, two of which have already taken place, and one of which, is a work in progress. The First change is obvious to all, namely - that in the last 40 years, the legal profession has had an exponential increase in the amount of fees lawyers charge and the prestige they command.

When I joined the Bar, the top seniors of the Supreme Court would charge not more than Rs. 1,040/- for an appearance, today for the same, Counsels of similar standing, routinely charge Rs. 10 to 15 lacs. The Second change that has taken place is that we have entered an era of specialization, especially post liberalization. Even in so far as litigation is concerned, there are now various Tribunals specializing in the adjudication of different branches of the law, e.g., whilst in the old days everything aggregated in the High Court, today there are more than a dozen Tribunals to enumerate just a few - Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Competition Appellate Tribunal (The COMPAT), the Securities Appellate Tribunal (The SAT), National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) etc. These are situated geographically in different places, and as a result, have rotating around them, different bars of their own, and this in turn has led to even at the litigative level, increasing specialization.