Mr. Nipun Bhatia is a qualified Lawyer and Chartered Accountant. He specialises in law firm management, legal practice management and strategy planning.
Nipun counts on his work experience with various Indian as well as Foreign Law Firms and Corporate Departments, assisting them in managerial and strategic aspects of organizational management.
Q. What are the nuances of law firm management that you have discovered throughout your years of expertise in it?
A. Law Firm Management consulting, being a very personalized service, comes with its own nuances. There is no cookie-cutter approach that one can follow. No two law firms are same, nor are the nuances surrounding their practice. With nature of firms ranging from full-service, boutique to multi-service and regional, growth strategy for each has to be devised keeping in mind various internal and external factors. Firms with active culture of rainmaking may grow faster than firms where only Managing Partner is undertaking the rainmaking function. Then, there are firms which are open to explore technological advancements in their operations while other may be more old-school when it comes to operational aspects. With so much of variety surrounding the professional environment of each legal practitioner and law firm, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to law firm management strategy. What may suit the growth plan and brand strategy for one firm may be completely different from another. One of the most important approach we’ve followed over the years is to create growth strategy for each law firm that capitalises on firm’s internal strengths and blends it with favourable external factors conducive to firms’ growth.
Q. You are a qualified Chartered Accountant apart from being a law graduate. What do you think are the perks of pursuing both together?
A. Legal education drives you towards honing your research and writing skills; and sharpens your mental faculties in terms of interpretation, reasoning and analysis. Chartered Accountancy, on the other hand, makes you rock-solid in terms of your understanding of numbers. Lawyers who wish to excel in the field of taxation and corporate laws may find pursuing Chartered Accountancy course advantageous, since it would give them a good grasp on the numbers. As regards my area of management consulting, being a Chartered Accountant has immensely helped me in creation of Equity Structures and Business Plans for law firms. I’ve often experimented with hybrid profit-sharing structures and innovative compensation models for lawyers. Comfort with financial data also comes in handy while preparing business plans, as it involves making future projections based on trend analysis and assumptions. Having a dual qualification has undoubtedly benefitted me as I’m consulted for possible impact of any strategic decision on the financial position of the firm. Understanding of finance has also helped me in being able to assist law firms in areas like pricing of their services, matter budgeting, creation of competitive fee quotes and establishing internal audit checks wherever required.
Q. Your management consultancy- Legal League Consulting operates out of New Delhi and Mumbai. Dearth of efficient consultancy regarding Law Firm Management can be felt in Tier – II cities like, say, Lucknow or Chandigarh. Do you look forward to conduct training sessions in such cities and how do you think should the dearth be addressed?
A. We’ve already serviced law firms based out of cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. Through technology, geographical borders are no more a limitation. While our team travels wherever required, we’ve been able to service international clients based at Dubai, Karachi, Singapore, Hong Kong and London. Having said that, I do understand that there is dearth in legal management consultants, which comes from the lack of awareness about the existence of such an option. Several students who I interact with, have keen interest in what we do, but they do not have understanding, awareness and platform to explore law firm management consulting as a career option. We have been the first-movers when it comes to the concept of management consulting for law firms in India, and the shift in the mindset of law firms to opt for outsourced management experts has started only recently. We’re also making a conscious effort now to reach out to as many law schools as possible and make students aware of management consulting as a career option for them. As the awareness spreads, I’m sure more such service providers will come and join this field.
Q. Your organization Legal League Consulting has worked with more than 400 client organizations including top notch law firms, mid-sized firms and start-up practices. What has been your experience and what kind of work do you enjoy the most?
A. Experience has been extremely enriching. We are fortunate to have serviced such a large number of clients, with different size and nature, within the legal sector. Interestingly, mid-sized firms and start-up firms are giving as much time and attention to professionalization, as any other top tier firm. The most important assets for a law firm or legal department are their human resource. Organizations have understood that if they wish to retain and nurture top talent, there has to be ‘pay-for-performance’ culture where lawyers are remunerated, rewarded and recognized for their effort, rather than taking arbitrary decisions on pay structures, career promotions and incentives. I thoroughly enjoy partnership structuring assignments because I get to be involved in the most crucial step in institutionalizing a law firm, above and beyond the entity of the founders. One has to ensure a structure that achieves fine balance between various conflicting factors like not diluting the role and autonomy of a founder, while also allowing the new stakeholders/partners in decision-making process. These assignments are challenging as we also have to ensure that the proposed structure is not just palatable to all partners, but is understood, welcomed and implemented as a measure to grow the practice of the firm to next league.
Q. You have been into this field and gained expertise in a span of nine years. How have you seen the legal industry grow in terms of new practice areas, outsourcing of business etc.?
A. Legal profession has become much more welcoming than what it used to be. A sector that traditionally valued legacy more, is today giving due credit to merit of a first generation lawyer. With change in the economic landscape, there are boutique firms that are dealing with niche practices like sports law, anti-trust, insolvency and international arbitration. Firms are also focussing on building industry sector expertise and there are firms that are committed to specific sectors like energy, infrastructure, construction and technology. There is also a shift in the acceptance of ‘law firm management’, in comparison to what it was a decade ago, when consultants like us were still considered as ‘outsiders’. From hesitation to share confidential information with us to being involved in strategic planning, partnership structuring and law firm mergers, progressive changes in the mindset have been witnessed. There is also a greater consciousness amongst law firms to create a brand that rests on merit and thought-leadership. Law firms now understand the importance of connecting with all components of the legal ecosystem – ranging from law students, to general counsels, senior advocates, judges and legal services providers – which is a progressive development. Synergies amongst law firms are being explored to combat competition and strengthen market-standing. The shift from founder-driven management to participative partnership and governance structures is indicative of the level of sophistication our profession is moving towards.
Q. Do you conduct training sessions and workshops at Legal League Consulting?
A. Our training sessions and workshops are custom-designed as per the requirements of law firms and legal departments. We largely conduct training sessions on practical aspects of managing legal practice, which involves training on subjects like practice development, how to deepen your clients, being a true mentor, art of client retention, soft-skill training, how to create perception of being a thought leader, brand-building and performance evaluation workshops. Some of our specially designed training programmes help newly inducted partners in transitioning to their roles by way of training programmes focussed towards meeting financial targets, how to be a profit centre and leveraging the art of delegation. It will by true endeavour to get involved in bringing law firm management as a part of the curriculum in law schools, as I feel that our legal education system needs to address this huge gap. There are operational aspects of legal practice that students must be accustomed with, while they are studying law, instead of hit and trial learning once they pass out of law school.