Practice Areas for Specialisation of a Corporate Lawyer


 

The following areas of specialty are available to corporate lawyers in India.

  • Banking and finance practice
  • Mergers and acquisitions practice
  • Dispute resolution
  • General corporate law
  • Insolvency and restructuring
  • Capital markets
  • White-Collar Crime

When you work in these areas, you will need to have a good understanding of company law. This helps you understand the context in which you are working. These are just a few of the seven areas that corporate lawyers in India specialize in.

1.    General corporate

Large corporations hire the best Indian corporate law firms, while smaller companies have their own corporate teams. Here is how corporate lawyers work in India.

  • Offering advice regarding the options of investment and explaining the route of entering India.
  • Helping with the incorporation of subsidiary, liaison, or branch office.
  • Complying with the KYC documents.
  • Drafting the modifications in AOA and MOA.
  • Requisites for foreign companies to conduct business in India.
  • Structuring and layering of the group companies.
  • Restructuring of corporate entities.
  • Meetings for initiating corporate action.

Although compliances can increase while working for a listed firm, they are still required to comply with SEBI regularly. Other than this, event-based compliance is also required, such as buy-back, delisting, ESOP, acquisitions, and buy-back.

2.    Mergers and Acquisitions

This is another practice area for the top corporate lawyers in India and they must execute the following duties.

  • Draft the important documents related to M&A.
  • Help in creating a corporate structure needed for the transaction.
  • Offer advice on the opportunities to exit during different phases of fundraising, open offer, or IPO.
  • Negotiating with the legal advisors of the other party on various issues.
  • Filing of forms before the Registrar of Companies.
  • Carrying out due diligence related to the affairs of the target company.

Apart from the Companies Act, the lawyers serving in this field must have knowledge of different regulatory practice as well.

3.    Banking and finance

While banks might offer loans to customers or businesses, they must protect their interests in recovering. Top Indian law firms are staffed with lawyers who are experts in finance and banking. They are responsible for reviewing and drafting loan agreements, mortgage deeds, or other documents. The company law also covers inter-corporate loans and other transactions involving the Company Director as well as promoters, shareholders, and others.

4.    Dispute resolution

Your knowledge of these topics will help you to manage dispute resolution.

  • Disputes of shareholders and rights of the minority shareholders
  • Decision making procedure such as preparation of the agenda for meetings.
  • Power of the board of directors to sell the company.
  • Terms of AOA
  • Power of the bank to regulate the company affairs.

This is where the expertise of a commercial litigator lawyer can be very helpful.

5.    Laws of insolvency

Many Indian law firms are familiar with the insolvency code and bankruptcy code. They can relate this information to matters of banking and finance, dispute resolution, and banking. This practice is however specialized by law professionals. Without a solid foundation in company law, the work of insolvency is difficult. They should also be able to understand the concepts of priority, rights of debtors, litigation issues before and after the NCLT and recommend other viable solutions before declaring bankruptcy.

6.    Capital markets

A corporate commercial firm is often hired to assist with compliances for investors, brokers, investors and mutual funds. They should have a good grasp of the regulations of SEBI. They provide advisory services to investors, merchant bankers, and issuers on various issues and do due diligence on company affairs. This requires a solid grasp of company law. The law practitioners must also draft the documents that will be used to amend the AOA.

7.    Handling white-collar crime litigation

The Corporate law firms that are the best in the business specialize in white-collar crime. They need to be able to comprehend the regulations that govern the criminal penalties for directors. The Companies Act is covered by section 447 of that Act and the Companies Rules of 2017. An organization accused of violating the statute provisions can hire the firm if it is found guilty.  The lawyer must assist the director in obtaining bail and putting up a defense. It doesn't matter if the non-defiance is related or not to Companies Act. The lawyer must help the director to obtain bail and put up an adequate defense.

Building the skills

You will have the chance to handle various corporate disputes if you work in a corporate legal firm. It is important to be able to apply the Companies Act to your job. But knowledge alone is not enough. The legal professional must be able to apply the law in the relevant areas. Many Indian companies prefer to hire corporate lawyers who also have qualifications as company secretary. To deliver the expected results, more people today need to be able to hold dual qualifications in corporate law and company secretary.

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