Indian Lawyers Association

300 chapters nationwide representing 1.3 million lawyers

The World’s Largest Lawyer Organization

www.indianlawyers.org

Amit is President for ILA Pune and Prayank is Vice President for ILA Pune

A hearty welcome to ILA,

The Indian Lawyers Association (“ILA”) is a voluntaryprofessional organization for the legal professionals of India. Membership isopen to lawyers, judges, professors, law students, and others interested in thelaw and the legal profession. The ILA has been formed to shape the future ofthe legal profession throughout India.

As an essential ally and advocate for members of the legalprofession, the ILA is committed to enable opportunities for qualityprofessional development, support the enhancement of equality in the legalprofession, promote the delivery of justice, facilitate effective law reforms,and advance the rule of law throughout India.

ILA aims to support the legal profession by offering accessto practical resources for legal professionals to help improve theadministration of justice, establish ethical codes, and develop a professionalnetwork. ILA promotes an exchange of information between the hundreds of ILAChapters nationwide.

Growth of the ILA has been spurred by the tremendous growthof the Indian economy and the legal profession. As companies and businessesworldwide become more deeply involved in the Indian economy, they requireexpert legal assistance and guidance from lawyers in India as well as fromIndian lawyers across borders. The ILA helps lawyers to keep abreast of businessand legal developments that affect their clients. More importantly, the ILAoffers valuable opportunities for business lawyers to network with each otherand with other lawyers and professionals in related fields of practice andbusiness.

The ILA Chapters hold a monthly meeting third Thursday ofevery month at 6 PM in their respective cities. These monthly meetings are anopportunity for local members to meet up and discuss ideas and thoughts andlisten to guest speakers. Such meetings afford ILA members the opportunity tobecome acquainted with the Indian legal systems, lawyers and key leaders in thecountry.

The ILA organizes an Annual General Meeting and Conferencewhich provides a unique opportunity for lawyers to discuss legal, business andpolicy issues affecting India and cross-border business involving India, in amanner that fosters collegiality and development of relationships to enhancethe legal practice through professional networking. These annual meetings andconferences are held in different jurisdictions.

Aims & Objectivesof ILA

Goal I: Serve Our Members.

1. Provide benefits,programs and services which promote members’ professional growth and quality oflife.

2. To provide mentorship andsupport for our regional chapters, and its members.

3. To provide a platform for networking and professionaldevelopment opportunities for individual law students and lawyers.

Goal II: Improve Our Profession.

1. Promote the highestquality legal education.

2. Promote competence,ethical conduct and professionalism.

3. Promote pro bono andpublic service by the legal profession.

4. Raise the repute of the profession of Law

Goal III: Eliminate Bias and Enhance Diversity.

1. Promote full and equalparticipation in the association, our profession, and the justice system by allpersons.

2. Eliminate bias in the legal profession and the justicesystem.

Goal IV: Advance the Rule of Law.

1. Increase publicunderstanding of, and respect for, the rule of law, the legal process, and therole of the legal profession at home and throughout the world.

2. Hold governmentsaccountable under law.

3. Work for just laws,including human rights, and a fair legal process.

4. Assure meaningful accessto justice for all persons.

5. Preserve the independenceof the legal profession and the judiciary.

6. Provide access to a network of pro bono services.

ILA is governed by its Executive Committee

1. President

2. President-Elect

3. CFO

4. General Counsel

5. Vice-President, AnnualConvention

6. Vice-President,Membership

7. Vice-President, Chapters(North)

8. Vice-President, Chapters(East)

9. Vice-President, Chapters(South)

10. Vice-President, Chapters(West)

11. Vice-President, Chapters(Central)

12. Vice-President,Technology

13. Vice-President,Committees

14. Vice-President, SpecialEvents

15. Vice-President,Publicity

16. Vice-President, Law Students

COMMITTEES

The substantive work of the ILA is undertaken by its variouscommittees. The members of ILA have the opportunity to contribute to thedevelopment of the organization and its initiatives. ILA members can choose tojoin up to three committees on which to participate. New committees may beformed as legal practice areas emerge or evolve or organizational developmentoccur.

ILA has specialist committees covering all areas of law thatmembers can join:

1. Anti-Corruption and theRule of Law

2. APEC

3. Arbitration & ADR

4. Aviation Law

5. Banking, Finance andSecurities

6. Bankruptcy

7. Competition Law

8. Corporate Law

9. Criminal

10. Cross-Border Investment

11. Employment Law

12. Energy & NaturalResources

13. Environmental Law

14. Family Law

15. In House Counsel

16. Infrastructure

17. Insurance

18. Intellectual Property

19. InternationalConstruction Projects

20. International Trade

21. Judges

22. Law Students

23. Legal Development andTraining

24. Lobbying

25. Mergers &Acquisitions

26. Marketing Your Practice

27. Maritime Law

28. Practice Management

29. Pro Bono & Legal-Aid

30. Scholarship

31. Supreme Court Practice

32. Tax Law

33. Technology, Media &Telecommunications

34. Women Lawyers

CHAPTER GOVERNINGCOUNCIL

Each chapter will have its own Governing Council as follows:

1. President

2. President-Elect

3. Vice-President MonthlyEvents

4. Vice-President Membership

5. Vice-President Pro Bono

6. Vice-President Committees

7. Vice-President Publicity

8. Vice-President SpecialEvents

9. Vice-President AnnualConference

10. Vice-PresidentAdvancement of Law

11. Vice-PresidentContinuing Legal Education

12. Vice-President Website

13. Vice-President YoungLawyers

14. Secretary

15. Treasurer

16. Law Students Coordinator

EVENTS CHAPTERS HOLD

1. Monthly event on the 3rd Thursdayof every month at 6 PM

2. Law firm mixers hosted bya member at their firm

3. Weekend lunch or dinnerhosted by a member

4. Meet with a Judge evening

5. Chai & Samosas hostedby a Corporate Counsel at his or her work place

6. Weekday lunch at arestaurant, for a group of attorneys that work close to each other

7. Continue Education on newlaws

8. Summer Picnic

9. Weekday evening cocktails

10. A debate on a current orrelevant topic

11. Social dinner and dance

12. Republic Day January 26

13. Independence Day August15

14. Constitution “Law” Dayevent November 26

15. Pro bono clinic

16. Free legal seminars ontopics of general interest to the community

17. Holi, Diwali, New Year& other festival get together

18. Meetings with visitingdignitaries

19. Meetings with GeneralCounsels

20. Meetings with GuestSpeakers on a variety of topics

21. Mentor Mentee meetings

22. Helping hand to a local charity occasion

20. Joint events with other nearby chapters

23. Regional Chapters (East, West etc) joint event – once ayear

24. Joint events with other associations, eg FICCI, CII,Assocham, Nasscom, TiE

25. Event to raise funds for scholarships to deserving lawstudents

26. Annual One Day Long Seminar with keynote and panelspeakers 5

27. Annual banquet &award ceremony

Indian LawyersAssociation

Questions& Answers

Why Indian Lawyers Association?

At the end of the day it’s the law that creates a society. Weare a large country with 1.3 billion people living in a diverse culture withmany religions, languages, customs and practices. For us to live together as asociety, we must have a very strong law and order system. For us to become asuccessful society where everyone is literate, no one is poor, businessesprosper, Governments function, there must be fairness, equality, and speedyjustice for all. Law is the neutralizing force. Enforced law unclogs thearteries of commerce. Law allows entrepreneurs to take risks because at the endof the day they will be treated fairly. Laws followed allows the poor andunfortunate to become human beings. Law allows all 1.3 billion people of Indiato take care of their lives and become the caretakers to look after theirsociety and surroundings and ultimately their country. It is law that keeps thethree branches of the government in check and functioning optimally.

Since law plays such an important role in our society, it isequally important that the 1.3 million lawyers have an organization thatunifies them and provides a platform in 100 plus cities where the members cannetwork, exchange ideas, get a job or to hire someone, learn and teach, learnways to create more wealth, and have a lot more fun in life.

How is ILA organized?

ILA is a society in India with its headquarters in New Delhi.ILA has 100 plus chapters in India. ILA has a professional board with apresident, president-elect and many other board members. Each chapter of ILAhas its own board, with a president, a president-elect and a dozen boardmembers.

ILA Board Members

In ILA and its chapters, we get true professionals who want to help the legal profession of India. We need to uplift the image of lawyers, we want it to be a profession that youngsters want to join. We want it to be a profession of high ethics and morals. A profession that helps the society and upliftment of the country. ILA leaders are givers and donate their time and money to make the legal fraternity of their city stronger. Anyone can apply and get on the board of the ILA Chapters. Best way to get on the board is to first give to the chapter: volunteer and help the chapter with raising money, finding speakers, arranging events, mentoring youngsters, doing pro bono work, and serving on the committees of the chapter.

ILA is a professional bodyrepresenting 1.3 million lawyers of India, and is run in a professional mannerwith absolute integrity and honesty. ILA leadership reflects the maturecharacter of ILA. Our leaders are good lawyers that care immenselyfor the legal profession in India. Our leaders believe in giving andcontributing back to the society.

What is the role of a Chapter President?

The ILA president’s term is of a short tenure. One year aspresident-elect and one year as president. The presidents come in and givetheir 110%, and step aside and make room for others to carry the torch. Thepresident is responsible for overall supervision and control of all functionsof the Chapter, and ensure that the Chapter stays very active. One of theprized jobs in a nonprofit is that of a past president as they remainambassadors of ILA and can do as much or as little as they want. A sign of agood organization is when all the past presidents are involved to ensure thecontinued success of the organization that they love.

The president leads the board which includes apresident-elect, a secretary, treasurer, and a vice president for each one ofthe functions of ILA.

How often will the Chapters meet?

The chapters have full freedom to schedule their meetings asoften as they would like. The only thing that ILA National requests of itschapters is that they must meet on the third Thursday of every month no matterwhat. Whether it’s three lawyers meeting or 300, whether it is at a hotel orrestaurant or in the park or someone’s home or office, but a meeting musthappen. Monthly meeting keeps the oxygen flowing for the organization and themost beautiful thing is that the 1.3 million lawyers of India know that on thethird Thursday of every month at 6 PM in their city, a party will go on nomatter what.

ILA Chapters do many more events besides monthly meetings.ILA Chapters capitalize on every opportunity to hold a meeting. The committeesof the ILA chapters hold their own meetings. The ILA website has 30 potentialmeeting ideas that every chapter can use as a guide. Some ILA Chapters doone-day conferences every quarter and annually.

Monthly Meetings

One of the ways some nonprofit organizations becomeultra-successful is that they do their monthly events on a fixed schedule. Thesuccess comes from the fact that the organizations that don’t do their meetingson a planned basis end up having a meeting to just decide when, where and howto do the next event, and then end up doing only two or three events a yearwith low attendance.

With ILA, we will do an event on the third Thursday of everymonth at 6 PM for the next 100 years. Every lawyer in India – all 1.3 millionof them – can put this monthly event on their calendar forever.

Third Thursday of every month

Business networking eventsare best done on weekdays and not weekends. Then it is the experience of mostbusiness organizations that the event not be done on Mondays and Fridays.Mondays because it’s a busy working day and Fridays because people start tohave social commitments with their significant others and families.

That leaves us with Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. It’s ourexperience that Thursday is the best because people are generally alreadygetting into the mode of a weekend and so the Thursday evenings are generallymore pleasant and fun. The time of 6 PM was chosen because there are somepeople that would rather come early evening and be done before late evening andget home at a time that’s close to the time they generally get home. And thosethat want to come late can come later, and the meeting would still be going on.

Committees

Throughout the year the various committees of each ILAchapter and ILA National function independently and focus on the substantivepractice areas and carry on the mission of ILA.

The committees allow lawyers from each city that have commoninterest to work together to exchange ideas, to benefit from each other ‘sexperiences, and enjoy the social and professional exchange.

The committees are self-governing autonomous bodies anddecide their own rules, procedures, and methods of communication. They also learnfrom the procedures laid out by the committees of other ILA Chapters.

We envision that close to 20,000 lawyers will beparticipating in the various committees across our hundred plus chapters.

Legal aid At times life is unfair, andbad things happen to everyone. The rich have access to law, lawyers, and thecourt system. The poor and illiterate do not even know about the protections oflaw, let alone have access to lawyers and the court system. ILA changes all ofthis. All 100 chapters of ILA have a pro bono division which informs the peopleof their city about the various laws and the protection the laws offer. And,each chapter has an army of lawyers who are committed to make their city thebest in the country by providing access to law to the poor and the unfortunate.Anyone who cannot afford a lawyer will be provided a lawyer through their localILA chapter. We are extremely grateful to the hundreds of lawyers who havedecided to donate and devote a part of their life to help the unfortunate membersof their society.

ILA and professional development

The local chapters of ILA provide many continuing education opportunities. They do monthly, quarterly, and annual seminars providing learning in every area of law.

Experienced lawyers, judges,motivational speakers, and guest speakers speak on a variety of topics relatedto every aspect of business.

What kind of support can young lawyers get from ILA?

The younger members of the profession are huge fans of ILAbecause it is the only place in their city where they can rub shoulders withsenior members of their profession. At ILA they can find mentors, getsuggestions, learn from others who have blazed the trail before them, and findfull time work or temporary assignments. They can find others to start theirpractice with. They can find motivation, and secrets of the trade.

ILA will work with the universities and law schools tocoordinate mentoring of students. ILA will also work with law schools and helptheir students find internships. ILA also welcomes interns and young lawyers toparticipate in ILA on a volunteer basis.

ILA Membership Dues

ILA is a membership organization and each Chapter will decideits membership dues.

Ultimately, most ILA Chapters should have a membership fee.Each ILA Chapter needs to figure out what works for them because every city inIndia is so different. So, feel free to experiment, ask lawyers in your city,ask your board, and try a few different things.

To begin with maybe take it easy, and build up a database ofa few lawyers, and maybe do the first year at no charge, or keep a reduced fee.

A lot of lawyers’ associations also have a lifetime fee. Oneflat amount and no more billing. Some have 2-year, 5-year fixed rates.

There are some arguments in favor of not having anymembership dues in this new world. Some associations complain that the amountof money they collect on membership is not worth the effort it takes to have amembership fee, and then to invoice members, collect, process and to remindmembers to pay the invoices every year.

Also, the issue is that whenever the lawyers’ associations doan event, only 2-3-4-5% of the membership shows up. And if the membership isnot large, then the events are not well attended, and if the events are notwell attended, then the speakers are not happy. So to drive attendance, have nomembership fee; every lawyer in the city is a member by default; inviteeveryone and then make each event financially self-sustaining.

Finances

The ILA and its chapters will generate their revenue frommembership dues, advertisements on their website, national sponsors, localsponsors, and monthly-quarterly-annual events, sponsorships of events, and theannual convention.

ILA National convention December 7-9, 2018

ILA’s first annualconvention is on December 7-9, 2018 in New Delhi. ILA will feature keynotespeakers, plenary sessions, and 21 breakout sessions on the following topics:corporate law, tax, intellectual property, real estate, media andentertainment, Litigation, bankruptcy, banking, family law, franchising,private equity transactions, criminal law, in house counsel session, pro bono& legal aid, how to run your law practice, how to become a partner, how tobecome a judge, how to market your law firm, how to succeed in politics,Supreme Court important decisions of 2018, and how to become a successfullawyer. And, of course the ILA convention will have lots of food and drinks,and entertainment.

ILA Members

The lawyer members of ILA live by a shared values and beliefsas follows:

1. Taking care of theirclients is the first duty.

2. Honesty and integritybefore anything else. ILA members maintain the highest standards of ethicalconduct, and encourage other lawyers to do the same.

3. Honest and transparentbilling and charges to clients, with fee agreements in writing.

4. Act pleasant anddignified, and refrain from all illegal and morally reprehensible conduct.

5. Be respectful to judges,the courts, opposing counsel, and opposing parties. Every person should betreated with respect and dignity.

6. Doing everything possibleto resolve current matters that are stuck in court for years and reducing thebacklog of 27 million cases. ILA members are treating this as an emergency andcommitted to resolving all 27 million pending cases by 2022.

7. Settling legal disputesas much as possible by using alternative dispute resolution methods beforeseeking the intervention of courts and clogging the Indian court system evenmore.

8. Dedicating their life tolearning and uplifting the profession of law

9. Committing to a life ofgiving and sharing. To whom much is given much is expected in return.

10. Rendering required legal services to those who cannotafford to pay.