With a flourishing practice and a growing presence, the dynamic duo of Aplc are value-driven and tech-savvy. Thus, we could say that Adv. Anand Kumar V and Adv. Aditya Kishor Tyagi – both Founding Partners of AP Legal Chambers, Advocates & Solicitors (APLC) are the torch bearers of modern classic advocacy beyond a reasonable doubt.
In Anand Kumar’s words, “We would like to introduce APLC, our law firm, as a new-age Indian Law firm having a young and vibrant team with each individual having the expertise to handle clients’ requirements with professionalism and transparency.
Since our inception, we have carved a niche in the legal industry by providing top-notch and result-driven services to a wide array of Indian and International Clients.”
The firm is headquartered in Delhi-NCR, with a branch office in Chennai and associated offices in Allahabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. APLC is adequately equipped to handle cross-border transactions and has a well-liaised arrangement with global firms to provide its clients access to a network of high-quality international solicitors.
Recently AP Legal Chambers, Advocates & Solicitors has joined an elite list of law firms in India to receive ISO certification for Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2015).
Partners in Justice
Adv. Anand Kumar is the founder partner of AP Legal Chambers, Advocates and Solicitors. He heads the firm’s International Taxation and Income Tax Appeals. His ability to deconstruct intricate issues within a short time and present the legal strategies to the clients has garnered high praise from fellow lawyers, clients and critics alike.
He spends time on the legal cases, conducts his research and studies the issues in detail before presenting them in a court of law. He is one of the lawyers adept at handling both litigation and arbitration works.
He is an experienced counsel with a demonstrated history of working in The Supreme Court of India, various High Courts, and Tribunals, including hands-on experience in dealing matters with DRT, CAT, and NGT.
He is engaged by soliciting law firms and individual lawyers to appear before NCLT, ITAT and CCI. Anand has represented clients in various domains such as FMCG, Automobiles, e-commerce and infrastructure.
Anand has a deep love for teaching and has been invited by various Colleges and Universities to share his insights on various topics of law. He has also presented important topics like International Taxation, Cross Border Transactions, DTAA, Model Tax Treaties, etc.
Anand regularly conducts brainstorming sessions and imparts management lessons and value education classes for young lawyers and entrepreneurs.
Adv. Aditya Kishor Tyagi joined hands with Adv. Anand Kumar to start APLC. He heads the Litigation, Property Laws and Dispute Resolution practice areas of the firm. Upon completing his Master’s in Medical and Health Laws from Amity University, he joined a mid-sized litigation firm in Delhi and gained experience in handling an array of litigation matters of clients.
A bright litigator with over five years of experience, he has put his mark in the Supreme Court of India, Delhi High Court and District Courts. Adv. Aditya has provided expert advice to clients on Property Laws and has significantly contributed to developing, modifying and implementing compliance policies and procedures for builders and consortiums.
His expertise in RERA has made him a go-to advocate for builders and home-buyers alike. He has represented various small farmer groups in the matters of Land Acquisition before the Land Acquisitions, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authorities.
He is also catering to the needs of various Residential Welfare Associations (RWA) in Delhi-NCR by providing his hands-on experience in the matter of Registration of Societies. He has also appeared and argued in multiple high profile criminal cases, which the media have well covered.
Exceptional Quality Management Certification
AP Legal Chambers, Advocates & Solicitors has become one of the distinct law firms in India to become ISO certified for Quality Management Systems (9001:2015).
Anand reveals, “More than anything else, we wanted to be self-assured and at the same time convey a subtle message to our clients, as well as prospective clients, that we have a robust management process and we at APLC are more effective, improved and have the ability to optimise based on client’s requirements and priorities.”
As generally, ISO Certification is obtained by Manufacturing Companies; Anand and Aditya were initially sceptical about the certification and the due process involved in it as they needed to customise the guiding manuals applicable to a law firm’s needs.
Their documentation, filing procedures, online data maintenance and communication processes were standardised.
Anand adds, “Interestingly, in our quest towards ISO certification, we noticed that we were already in line with all ISO processes using our in-house methodology and prudence.”
Partners were given special training, which was later passed on to APLCs associates and staff. Today Anand and Aditya are certain that everyone in their firm knows the process and the flow of QMS.
Anand states, “As ISO certification was completed, we saw that this arduous journey was justified.”
The League of Justice
AP Legal Chambers was founded in 2017 by two like-minded first-generation advocates determined to make a meaningful impact on the profession and society.
At the same time, Anand and Aditya wanted to compete with the best legal minds and provide a platform for young and upcoming lawyers and law students to develop their legal knowledge and hone their court crafts.
According to Aditya, the decision was quite simple: ‘get onto the ground and play.’ He shares, “We did not wait for the opportunities; we created them ourselves.”
Initially, they found it challenging to find a suitable office space with their limited purse in Delhi-NCR. But they had the determination to play long innings, so they started slowly but steadily in a small office, and by the end of six months, they moved to a much bigger and prominent place.
Aditya continues, “Now we are providing opportunities to young independent lawyers to access our well-furnished and equipped office space without charging them anything.
Our firm has completed five years in the legal industry. One legacy that we are proud of mentioning here is that we are helping and nurturing other young lawyers who are yet to find their feet in the market by providing them with proper infrastructure. Because of this, we have been creating many market-ready talented advocates.”
Precisely for this, APLC commands trust and respect in the legal sector.
Advocates Encountering Adversities
Anand and Aditya had a few clients at the beginning, typical of all first-generation lawyers; they also faced the problem of getting new clients into the firm. Time went by in a jiffy: it took them about a year to just get hold of the ground reality. Many well-wishers advised them to close their firm and join a big law firm or get into the corporate sector.
“Sometimes it is a blessing in disguise to not have a plan B,” says Anand;- “We did not have any Plan-B; we channelised our entire focus to develop this firm’s clientele and create an image in the minds of our clients and fellow advocates and five years down the lane we are here. Now we spend every other minute maintaining the reputation in the market that we are in today.”
Similarly, COVID and subsequent lockdown were significant challenges; they had started to cater to a diverse section of clients and did everything they could to continue providing their services uninterruptedly, even during the lockdowns. Anand recollects, “We were on our toes during those times.”
Presently, he says, rather than a challenge, they have a responsibility to emulate the already high benchmark set by their team. Anand smiles, “We are happily holding the mantle with utmost devotion to our profession. Expansion is round the corner, and we are serious with our business and stakeholders; every move we take now will impact our firm’s brand in the next half a century.”
On a Mission to Uphold the Law
Aditya adds, “We are appreciated for our ethical practices, transparency, research skills and well-maintained information security systems, which give the clients the confidence to share documents and files online securely and safely.”
He says with assurance, “Once we give our commitment, we are 100% into it. We are result-oriented, and the Value Systems are imbibed in the DNA of APLC. We as a team always place the client at the forefront and cater for their needs with utmost honesty, integrity and accountability.”
Every individual of the firm knows their responsibilities towards the clients and towards the firm. Aditya reaffirms, “We always back our team, and these are the set of guiding principles and fundamental beliefs that help our team to focus on our common professional goals.”
About the various specialised legal offerings, solutions, and services of APLC, Aditya shares, “We are providing specialised services in the areas of domestic and international Taxation, Constitutional Laws, IPR, ADR, Property Laws, Energy Laws, Mergers and Acquisitions, Commercial Advisory and Corporate Compliance.”
APLC is having dedicated tax compliance and advisory team focusing primarily on start-ups. Clients come to APLC to get specialised services in foreign investment and foreign contribution regulatory compliance. The firm also provides pro-bono services to deserving and underprivileged people.
The Admirable Legal Strategists
APLC is a process-driven organisation. It has leveraged the ISO inputs it received and developed its quality standards which are fundamentally strong and have helped it gain a competitive edge over its peers. Aditya states, “We as a firm concentrate on the means to achieve the ends which are more important than the end itself by following our streamlined processes which have given us guaranteed results.”
Today, APLC can handle on par both high profile and low-key cases seamlessly into its systems. The team APLC engages in brainstorming sessions related to various cases, which help it understand each other’s perspectives and arrive at a consensus that would form the basis of its legal strategy.
Anand shares, “During team meetings, everyone is allowed to express their opinions, and this open structure helps us understand our weaknesses and identify our strengths.”
Another essential aspect that Anand and Aditya emphasise in their firm is the work-Life balance. Even though they consider their team a single large family, spending quality time with one’s family is equally important. They provide a proactive role in the holistic growth of their associates and juniors.
They keep their team empowered by engaging them in team-building activities and conducting mock trials. Aditya adds, “Along with our coaching and mentoring programs, we also allow them to go for post-qualification courses or workshops, seminars etc., to groom themselves to become independent lawyers.”
Preparing a Knowledge Sharing Society
COVID-19 outburst and the ensued Lockdown were unprecedented and unheard of. Who might have imagined the Apex Court of India would be shut down briefly and go virtual? All the people in the legal sector suffered and did not know how this would shape up in the future. The practising lawyers had apprehensions, and law students became anxious.
To combat the situation, team APLC organised webinars during the lockdown, which were runaway hits. Anand sheds some light on it, “I constantly feel that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Whatever the situation, we can always see the good side of it. Even if we are confined to our homes, knowledge sharing need not stop.”
Thus, the team APLC invited eminent speakers from various disciplines, including Law, Politics, Medicine, History and Literature and gave them the floor to express their views, ideas and insights.
APLC wanted to leverage their rich experience and insight and hence presented each and every webinar in a unique way. It had the early beginners’ advantage in the legal industry. Anand says, “Our topics and way of conducting the webinar became an instant hit, and many others followed suit. Today, we feel we have created a part of history by recording these webinars and the experiences of resource persons on YouTube.”
This can be utilised by people in general and law students or lawyers in particular who seek to get knowledge. The videos can be accessed from APLCs YouTube Page https://www.youtube.com/aplegalchambers
The Law-Tech-Equalizers
Regarding the impact of technological advancements in the Law space, Aditya thinks that technology is a great leveller. A young and upcoming advocate from a Tier III city also gets to access the same contents that a senior advocate of the Supreme Court can access. Searching Case Laws, Cause Lists, getting judgment copies or referring to voluminous books is now just at a click of a mouse button.
It saves the precious time of the litigants. It has enabled advocates to cater to clients in remotest locations effortlessly using technology without the need for the client to be present physically.
Aditya expresses, “I personally feel that technology also comes with downsides; as much as information spreads, misinformation also spreads faster.”
Many misconceptions and rumours have cropped up with the availability of open-source editable information. The Law fraternity has a responsibility to educate common people on what is right and what is not.
Defining Legal Wisdom
Anand’s advice to aspiring legal enthusiasts who are willing to step into the legal space today is definitive. He says that an aspiring legal enthusiast should persevere for long term success. Big billings are essential but not at the cost of losing your old clients. Be patient because success comes to those who wait.
Anand shares, “In our profession, reputation is valued over instant success. Use technology as a tool and not as a substitute for knowledge. Your fundamentals need to be strong, and technology cannot replace them.”
A lot of practices in this profession have been in vogue since time immemorial and have stood the test of time, so be pragmatic and at the same time be ready to embrace changes in this fast-moving world. Always see the bigger picture. Possess the ability to have a hawk-eye view of what is happening in and around you and use them to your advantage.
“I feel one should not think out of the box; one needs to think as if there is no box,” says Anand.
Justice for All
When asked how he envisions APLCs operation eventually concerning the current scenario of the Legal Space, Anand thinks that eventually is a very abstract word.
He says, “We envision creating a reputation in the legal industry by serving with superior efficiency and creating a passionate team of lawyers with shared values for greater standards of services to our clients.”
He adds, “As our commitment to giving back to the society, we are conceiving an idea of setting up a dedicated wing of APLC for providing top-quality free legal services to people irrespective of the rural and urban population.”
Anand concludes, “Gradually, we are planning to be present in each and every tier-II and tier-III cities in the coming years. The tremendous growth potential in these emerging markets gives us an opportunity to serve more people and help in aiding them to get justice for all.”
The post AP Legal Chambers: Modern Classic Law Firm appeared first on Insights Success.
