Bar Council Lets Foreign Lawyers, Firms Practice In India: What Are The Rules?

The Bar Council of India (BCI), on Wednesday, 15 March, allowed foreign lawyers and law firms to practice foreign law in India.

For international lawyers and arbitration practitioners to be able to practice in India, BCI has released the Bar Council of India Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022.

"Bar Council of India is of the view that opening up of law practice in India to foreign lawyers in the field of practice of foreign law; diverse international legal issues in nonlitigious matters and in international arbitration cases would go a long way in helping legal profession/domain grow in India to the benefit of lawyers in India too."

BCI said in a statement

So what work are foreign lawyers allowed to do in India? And how do they register? We explain.

So What Work Can Foreign Lawyers Do?

The rules say that foreign lawyers and firms will be able to practice law here in non-litigious matters. The areas of practice shall be prescribed by the Bar Council in consultation with the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

Dos and Don'ts:

• Foreign lawyers and firms shall not be permitted to appear before any courts, tribunals or other statutory or regulatory authorities. 

• They shall be allowed to practice on transactional work/corporate work such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property matters, drafting of contracts and other related matters on reciprocal basis. 

• They shall not be involved or permitted to do any work pertaining to conveyancing of property, title investigation or other similar work.

• They may do work, transact business, give advice and opinions concerning the laws of the country of primary qualification.

• They may provide legal advice and appear as a lawyer for a person, firm, company, corporation, trust, society etc which has an address in a foreign country in any international arbitration case which is conducted in India and in such arbitration case where foreign law may or may not be involved.

• They may provide legal advice and appear as a lawyer before bodies other than courts, tribunals, boards, statutory authorities which are not legally entitled to take evidence on oath, in cases in which knowledge of foreign law of the country of primary qualification is essential. 

• They may provide legal advice concerning the laws of the country of primary qualification and on diverse international legal issues. This shall not include representation or the preparation of documents regarding procedures before an Indian court, tribunal or any other authority competent to record evidence on oath.

And, What Can Foreign Firms Do In India?

Registered foreign law firms and lawyers can also:

• Open up law offices.

• Engage and procure legal expertise of one or more Indian advocates registered as foreign lawyers.

• Procure the legal expertise of any advocate enrolled with any State Bar Council in India on any subject relating to Indian laws.

• Enter into a partnership with one or more foreign lawyers or foreign law firms registered in India under these Rules.

And How Do They Register?

According to the rules, no foreign lawyer or law firm will be able to practice in India without registering with the BCI. This, however, will not apply to lawyers and firms coming to India on a ‘fly in and fly out basis’ for giving legal advice to a client on international legal issues.

But neither can these lawyers/firms cannot have an office in India, nor can their practice exceed 60 days in 12 months. The registration fee for a foreign lawyer is USD 25,000 and for a law firm, it goes up to $50,000.