“People with no computer knowledge need not apply.”

Does this sound familiar?  No matter where they have practiced or how experienced they are, without knowledge of computers, it is almost impossible for lawyers to obtain jobs in large corporate law departments and in legal process outsourcing (“LPO”).  Computers are becoming a basic skill for many Indian lawyers.

After practicing in the Indian courts for some time and working for three years in the LPOs, I have been comparing the US / UK legal infrastructure with that of the Indian system. I have noted that there are many online legal resources for the US lawyers, with Westlaw and Lexis Nexis being two of the most familiar.  In the U.S., there are even iPhone applications for lawyers, such as Fastcase, LawStack, and Legal Edge.

Indian lawyers must also explore and develop online resources and recognize the competitive advantage that tech-savvy Indian lawyers will have over their book-and-notepad counterparts.

Though the new generation of lawyers and law students in India are making some use of computers and the Internet in their practices, it is limited only to urban areas. There are many lawyers in India who are not aware of such resources or ideas. To keep up with a 21st Century legal landscape, Indian lawyers cannot afford to be complacent.  When lawyers in the West are typing their own documents and are searching for legal precedents from their desks, Indian lawyers cannot afford to be left behind.

Here is my list of what Indian lawyers should adopt in order to better adapt:

1.    Computerization: Imagine having all your files stored on a hard drive, a pen drive, or on CDs, which consume only 1/100th of your office space and allow you to access case files in an instant. And guess what? We can contribute our bit to the environment by minimizing paper usage! Financially, a paperless office means less office space, which means less rent.  That means less overhead!

2.    Use of the Internet: We can make use of this amazing tool to procure information instantaneously. We can browse and subscribe to many websites like www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in, www.lawcommissionofindia.nic.in (to name just a few) in order to search for case law and legal updates, as opposed to maneuvering through huge books. There are many other resources, including but not limited to, www.manupathra.com, www.cyberlawsindia.net, www.indlii.org, http://judis.nic.in/, which we can rely on to increase our knowledge as lawyers. The Internet also opens us up to foreign legal systems.

3.     Social media: By creating websites and blog sites, Indian lawyers can share views and experiences so that, collectively, we become better.  Examples of a few such websites/blog sites include: www.legallyindia.com, www.lawyersindia.com, www.lawmirror.com, and www.legalinstincts.com (yes, this is my own company’s blog site, but we’ll do anything for publicity).  Indian lawyers should also embrace Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook as means for increasing their networks and, thereby, enhancing their chances of finding jobs and clients.

While the Indian government is still contemplating whether to let foreign law firms stretch their wings into India, I would like to refer to a blog post entitled “Entry of Foreign Law Firms: Let Them In” by an author named “napster” in www.legallyindia.com.  The author indicates a willingness to compete head-on with foreign law firms.  The author also blogs and clearly knows how to use a computer. There is a message in there, somewhere.

So if you wish to be a “torch bearer” for the impending Indian legal Olympics, you better start preparing now if you want a medal!