The Indian legal market: an unsteady path to liberalisation

Despite a wave of changes and press releases, international law firms remain as hesitant as ever to establish a presence in the world’s most populous country.

India has made significant steps towards economic liberalisation in recent decades, contributing to its status as the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The Indian market now requires ever-more advanced legal advice due to its increasingly sophisticated and cross-border nature. Not to mention the lucrative aspect, too, with the USD2.49 billion legal market projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2 per cent up to 2030.

It should come as no surprise, then, that major international law firms continue to set their sights on India. To date, however, only a handful have an established presence in the country. Instead, firms like White & Case, Clifford Chance and Latham & Watkins operate out of regional hubs, with dedicated India desks typically located in London, Singapore or Dubai.

The legal market proves to be an exception to the wider trend

While many areas of India’s economy have grown more market-oriented since the 1991 balance of payments crisis, the legal market has largely bucked the trend. Beginning with the 1961 Advocates Act, foreign firms and lawyers have effectively been prohibited from practising domestic law or appearing in courts in India, owing to a more protectionist political economy.

This environment has resulted in a legal market which, at the top end, is dominated by a group of leading national firms, including AZB & Partners, Khaitan & Co and Trilegal. Indeed, these often claim the top of Chambers’ rankings in key practice areas like Corporate/M&A and Dispute Resolution.

Steps towards liberalisation

When news came in early 2023 from the Bar Council of India that, in principle, foreign law firms would be allowed to practise foreign and international law, as well as international commercial arbitration, optimism followed. This was seminal: the first significant Indian legal market liberalisation development after decades of back-and-forth high court judgments.

Dentons’ 2023 combination with Link Legal emphasised the watershed nature of this reform, becoming the first instance of an international law firm merged with a domestic counterpart in India. Dentons proved not to be alone; CMS announced its own partnership with IndusLaw in 2025.

Hesitancy and pushback

However, history has not followed a linear path towards ever-increasing Indian legal market liberalisation. The vast majority of international firms have not emulated the examples of Dentons and CMS.

Despite reforms being codified in 2025, considerable regulatory uncertainty persists. Clarity surrounding registration procedures continues to be sought, for instance. Meanwhile, in some areas conditions to practise have even become more challenging. A 2018 Supreme Court of India ruling found that foreign lawyers could conduct fly-in, fly-out visits to advise on foreign law. However, these visits are now limited to 60 days per year. Stricter disclosure and disciplinary requirements also followed.

The BCI’s tone is most telling. A retracted 2025 August press release named and shamed specific Indian firms alleged to have been collaborating with foreign law firms without authorisation. A revised statement held the same substantive message. While the 2025 reforms formalised which fields foreign law firms could practise in India, they were cloaked in reluctant, mistrusting language.

There have been no noteworthy formal registrations to practise in India by international firms since the reforms.

Outlook: an unclear landscape

Indian legal market liberalisation efforts cannot be ignored; the fact that there is now a codified path for foreign law firms to practise certain types of law in India undoubtedly marks a threshold.

This, however, remains the tip of the iceberg. Foreign lawyers remain barred from participating in litigation. More fundamentally, they cannot advise on domestic Indian law at all, which is, from an international law firm’s perspective, the most significant area of untapped growth potential.

The wary approach of the BCI and the domestic market to foreign firms, alongside the historically unsettled and shifting nature of regulations, leads almost all major international firms to prefer focusing on their India desks in centres like London.

To predict the next decade of India’s relationship with foreign law firms off the basis of recent years would be a vain task. However, recent evidence suggests that only a long-term restructuring of regulations and openness towards foreign firms will likely result in the notable establishment of offices on Indian soil.

Key takeaways

• While much of India’s economy has liberalised since 1991, its legal market remains largely on a protectionist footing.

• Recent efforts to liberalise are undeniable, with the establishment of channels for foreign law firms to practise foreign law, international law and international commercial arbitration in India.

• Firms such as CMS and Dentons have entered partnerships with local firms in recent years, though they are exceptions to the rule.

• There continues to be hesitancy towards foreign law firms in India. Changes in the past year have tightened regulations.

• Foreign law firms remain unable to participate in litigation and are all but barred from advising on domestic Indian law.