COLLOQUIUM ON GRADING AN INDIAN LAWYER

The term lawyer may be an all-inclusive term and has broad connotations.  However, an advocate may be more specific, meaning someone enrolled with some Bar Councils in India and qualified to practice law before the courts and tribunals.  The lawyer appears to have a better romantic appeal, and why is there a choice in the title? 

A Statutory Grading of Advocates

The law[i] governing legal practice in India, not only defines an advocate but also classifies him.  The broad classification of the Advocates in India is into two categories: (1) Senior Advocate and Other Advocates.  Even though it is a reality, most lawyers do not wish to be called ‘Other Advocates’, therefore the just ‘Advocate’ is used for our purpose.

The constitutional vires of the classification were questioned before the apex court by those opposing the classification, but such challenges were answered in the negative[ii].  Hence the classification is today’s reality.  The third of crossing over to the other, for an advocate, is his ‘special knowledge and experience’[iii].

Special Knowledge and Experience

The Supreme Court and the High Courts were unguided in determining this special knowledge and experience among advocates while selecting Seniors from the Advocates.  The choices were at times arbitrary, until the apex court intervened, to formulate guidelines.[iv]

The guidelines would now assist the Permanent Committees constituted in the High Courts and the Supreme Court using the 100-point system adopted.  Points are allocated for different components of the ‘special knowledge and experience’.  It is heartening to know, that the system is being revised to alleviate the practical difficulties faced during its operation.

The Hundred-Point System

The Supreme Court’s discussion on the point system in the judgment[v] is extracted here for a better understanding:

VII. The Permanent Committee will examine each case in the light of the data provided by the Secretariat of the Permanent Committee; interview the concerned Advocate; and make its overall assessment based on a point-based format indicated below:

S. No	Matter	Points
1.	Number of years of practice of the Applicant Advocate from the date of enrolment. (10 points for 10-20 years of practice; 20 points for practice beyond 20 years)	20 points
2.	Judgments (Reported and unreported) which indicate the legal formulations advanced by the concerned Advocate in the Courts of the proceedings of the case; pro Bono work done by the concerned Advocate; domain Expertise of the Applicant Advocate in various branches of law, such as Constitutional law, Inter-State Water Disputes, Criminal law, Arbitration law, Corporate law, Family law, Human Rights, Public Interest Litigation, International law, law relating to women, etc.	40 points
3.	Publications by the Applicant Advocate	15 points
4.	Test of Personality & suitability based on Interview/interaction	25 points

A Critical Review of the 100-point system

The point system appears to be comprehensive, but a few may be missed out of the race in the current scenario.  The missed outs include those who do not attend the High Courts or the Supreme Court regularly.   They may include those advocates who predominantly practice in the District Judiciary or the arbitration professionals and the like.  

Let us be reminded that the classification is between Senior Advocates and Other Advocates, and not with Other Advocates regularly practicing in the High Courts and Supreme Court.   The fair position would be to make the selection more inclusive. 

This article is not intended to put forward a proposition that all Advocates should strive to become Senior Advocates, or that becoming a Senior is the ultimate goal in the life of an advocate.  A careful reading of the restrictions on the Senior is advised, before starting on the mission.  However, the opportunity should be available and more importantly, there should be a mechanism to showcase the special knowledge and experience of any advocate.

A colloquium to design a mechanism

A mechanism to showcase the special knowledge and experience of an advocate is being considered by Project Complete Lawyer Foundation,  A colloquium is being planned to be conducted on 23rd November 2024, in Kochi for collating ideas to develop a mechanism.    It is expected that the colloquium could offer the necessary inputs to finalize the idea and give better inputs from the stakeholders. People from all walks of life, are expected for the colloquium.

A concept note for the colloquium

The Project Complete Lawyer Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, intended to transform the legal profession in this country.  For the Foundation, the term lawyer again does not have a restrictive meaning of advocate, it includes all the stakeholders of the rule of law.  The concept of the Foundation is developed from the ideas expressed by the late Prof Dr. NR Madhava Menon, popularly known as the Father of Modern Legal Education.  Promoters consider the activities of the Foundation as a tribute to this Legal Legend of our Age, who helped transform the lives of several in the profession and outside. The concept of the Foundation is not much different from that of the colloquium.

A one-liner for the concept is to ‘transform the legal profession to achieve the constitutional goal of rendering justice to all’.  There are two components to the plan, the first is to ensure that the law graduates entering the profession are practice-ready and the second is to inculcate special knowledge and experience among the advocates. Several ideas are being discussed internally, for the development of the concept.

Creation of Professional Forums

There are some discussions in progress regarding the establishment of professional bodies/forums/clubs for specific areas of practice, like a constitutional law club, criminal law club, Criminal Law Club, Arbitration Club etc..  The admission and renewal of membership should be based on test or training qualifications and the foundation should work to enhance the special knowledge of its members.

Networking for Pro Bono Work

There is a general complaint that our law schools do not have facilities for clinical legal study and the available facilities are inadequate.  The authorities under the Legal Services Act have formulated schemes[vi] for setting up and maintaining legal aid clinics in the grama panchayats, law universities, law colleges, and prisons.  The students may be trained to manage these legal aid clinics and network with advocates who wish to be part of pro-bono work.  This network could work wonders in the lives of the undergraduates and would enable them to gain confidence to join the profession without any hesitation.

Need for a Peer-Reviewed law Journal

There were complaints from a section of the lawyers against the 15 points prescribed for publication and therefore the apex court reduced the points to 5 points[vii].  It was argued that there is the possibility of plagiarism and other malpractices for claiming these points.  This leads us to the need for peer-reviewed law journals, exclusively for research publications of legal professionals and academicians. 

Conclusion

Any concept will not be complete without critical reviews by the stakeholders.  These ideas need perfection, even while admitting that there is a need for a mechanism to showcase the special knowledge and expertise of legal professionals.  The grading of the lawyers is not to discriminate but to benefit the concerned professional and for the benefit of the public at large.

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[i] Advocates Act 1961

[ii] Indira Jaising vs. Supreme Court of India 2017

[iii] Section 16 of the Advocates Act 1961

[iv] Indira Jaising vs. Supreme Court of india

[v] Paragraph 33 of Indira Jaising vs Supreme Court of India 2017

[vi] National Legal Service Authority Scheme on legal aid clinic 2010, 2011 and 2023

[vii] Indira Jaising vs Supreme Court of India 2023