DESI LEGAL LESSONS FOR HARVARD GROUP

DESI LEGAL LESSONS FOR HARVARD GROUP 21 Jan 2009, 0028 hrs IST, Swati Deshpande, TNN MUMBAI: A bunch of six Harvard Law School students couldn't wait to see the swearing-in ceremony of Barack Obama. That it would be on TV, and in Mumbai, didn't dull the excitement. "Obama is a Harvard alumnus,'' they chirped, sitting in the office of reputed law firm Nishith Desai Associates at Nariman Point. They are here on a three-week internship programme at the Indian law firm, the first organised batch from Harvard to intern in India. The programme is a reflection of the increasing interest among American law students, both of Indian and foreign origin, to work with south Asian firms, said Neema Trivedi, team leader and a second-year law student. Also, the recent terror attacks in Mumbai didn't deter the group of 10, now at the fag end of their internship at four leading firms, including Amarchand Mangaldas and Majmudar & Co. The students met Harvard-educated Justice D Y Chandrachud at the high court, visited Sebi and the BSE and also interacted with Shekhar Kapur and Sam Pitroda, besides assisting with actual client work and research. Was the visit to the Indian courts illuminating? Rehan Abeyratne who found the internship at NDA "quite unique'', said he was impressed with how "the matters were moving very quickly at the high court. Even if it was an adjournment, many matters were being called out. In the US, lawyers take longer to deliberate on matters and there are fewer matters.'' Nishith Desai, a tax expert who heads the law firm, said he annually gets 800 applications from interns and selects 50, but to accommodate and encourage many others he has begun a voluntary e-internship programme where law students train and assist online. For the Harvard students, the programme was more intense but they had come prepared. For most, corporate law was the main area of interest, as it was increasingly turning out to be among fresh Indian law graduates. But Andrew Yahkind, one of the interns, was keen on doing a paper on the substantive differences between labour and employment laws and regulations in India and the US. "Most of us are potentially interested in doing cross-border work,'' said Neema. Added Catesby Perrin, another intern. "There is so much work in India linked to US investment. Business interests will only expand.'' Last year, Harvard introduced international law as a compulsory subject for first-year students. "I is expected that other law schools will follow," said one of them. "This trip will be my reference point while working on cross-border issues,'' said Erin Smith Walczewski. Walking into an auditorium, they were back to discussing Obama. "We will miss our dean Elena Kagan (Obama's candidate for solicitor-general),'' they said.

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