BCI Announces Legal Registry

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has officially announced the commencement of a landmark initiative to establish a Centralised Registry of all law firms and lawyers in India. This development, confirmed through BCI’s Press Release dated 18 June 2025, marks a deliberate shift toward more inclusive and representative governance within the Indian legal profession.

The registry is intended to serve as the foundational step for forming a democratically elected, pan-India organisation of Indian law firms, with the express aim of ensuring that policy dialogue includes voices from all tiers of legal practice—across every region and size of firm.

“This organisation will ensure that voices from every region and practice level are included in the policy dialogues.”
— Bar Council of India, Press Release (18.06.2025)

Background: Reassessing Representation in Indian Legal Policy

This initiative is directly linked to ongoing structural concerns about the concentration of policy influence among a limited group of large firms. In particular, the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) had recently opposed BCI’s 2025 regulatory amendments regarding the entry of foreign lawyers and foreign law firms into India. Responding to this, BCI clarified:

“SILF functions primarily as a closed group dominated by a few large, well-established firms. Its stance and actions do not reflect the concerns or aspirations of more than 90% of India’s smaller or emerging law firms.”

The Council noted that many SILF-member firms maintain long-standing affiliations with foreign law firms, resulting in the creation of a “parallel legal services economy”. Such arrangements have limited opportunities for smaller Indian firms and young practitioners to participate in international legal work, further compounding the inequity in representation and access.

National Conference Scheduled : September 2025

As part of the broader initiative, the BCI has resolved to directly engage with law firms nationwide. A national-level conference of Indian law firms is planned in Mumbai in September 2025, where the perspectives of smaller, mid-sized, and regional firms will be formally heard and incorporated into the new representative framework.

This will mark a departure from past closed-door consultations and seeks to build a more democratic, transparent, and accountable governance structure for India’s legal profession.

Regulatory Context: 2025 Amendments on Foreign Law Firms

BCI’s push for structural reform is closely linked with its May 2025 amendments to the Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India. The amended rules were framed in alignment with the Bar Council of India v. A.K. Balaji judgment (affirmed by the Supreme Court) and clarify the following:

• Foreign lawyers and law firms are strictly prohibited from practicing Indian law or appearing before any court, tribunal, or statutory authority in India.

• They may engage only in non-litigious advisory work relating to foreign or international law, subject to prior regulatory approval and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Government of India.

• Participation in international commercial arbitration in India is permitted only under restricted circumstances involving cross-border legal elements.

• Conveyancing, title due diligence, and document filing before Indian courts are explicitly barred.

These regulations, as reaffirmed in the BCI press release, are designed to protect Indian legal sovereignty, promote structured international collaboration, and open equitable access to global opportunities.

Breaking Structural Monopolies in Legal Work

The BCI has also acknowledged the prevailing imbalance in how cross-border and high-value legal work is distributed in India. According to the press release:

“A small group of firms have monopolized corporate, transactional, and arbitration work in India... This has stifled the growth of smaller law firms and talented young lawyers.”

The upcoming registry and new representative body are intended to dismantle these entrenched monopolies and create a level playing field for legal professionals of all backgrounds and capacities.

A Moment of Legal Transition

At LawCite Advocates we believe this initiative represents a timely and thoughtful response to long-standing issues of exclusion and gatekeeping within the legal profession. The formation of a central registry and the transparent, national process surrounding it has the potential to redefine how law firms are represented at the highest policy levels.

We welcome the BCI’s call for broader consultation, and we strongly support the effort to ensure that every Indian law firm, regardless of size or affiliation, has a voice in shaping the future of the profession.

As this process unfolds particularly with the upcoming September conference in Mumbai we remain committed to actively contributing to a regulatory framework that upholds integrity, equity, and professional autonomy.