In Conversation with Mr Jamshed Mistry | Independent Counsel | Founder Internationallegalalliance.com

Mr Mistry, you started your career in law with safety and disability matters at the Bombay High Court and are now also a member of the Canadian Bar where you have handled many media and entertainment matters. How did your illustrious career start?

I started my career as a labour and service lawyer. I specialised in it post my LLB. Mumbai University had a very good Diploma in labour laws. So I studied almost 18 or 20 papers in labour laws for one year, I stood second at the University. And then I lost my place in the law firm where I had done my internship, so I studied the first second, the third year and worked all three years as an intern. Fortunately, in those days, it was permissible. We had early morning college so I was able to work all three years as an intern, then, when I went back to that firm, my place was gone, because there was a gap of one year, but I was very fortunate. I got a position in another law firm in the labour law department. 

So, I worked there for one year, and that is where I met my senior Mr Talsania. Mr. Talsania was also designated, Senior Advocate. He was working under Mr Feroz Damania, a very famous labour lawyer. And he was also the chamber colleague of the late former Chief Justice of India, Justice Sarosh Kapadia. So, that was his background. I was very clear that I did not want to become a solicitor. So I was fortunate, we did one case together, and I then requested him, I said, can I join you? And he said, Yes, why don't you do that. In those days my senior would encourage me to take up whatever work that came my way from other branches of law. Although labour and service law is a huge specialised field in itself, it gives you a good mix of trial court work as well as appellate court work so it is a good area to begin with. And then in fact, what happened was, my senior Mr Talsania and were briefed by the Bombay electricity supply and transport department (B.E.S.T). to appear in a very interesting case where Advocate Mehta had filed for the removal of the bus fleet that was causing a lot of pollution. Someone had filed a similar case in Bombay and that was my first tryst with public interest litigation in 1998. 

The matter opened my eyes completely to this area called public interest litigation, of course, in those days, even that litigation was filed as regular writs. and then later on, of course, now, it is filed as public interest litigation. I must add that in those days, as a junior lawyer, you actually got chances of getting to argue or matters And so, after that, as I told you that the case on air pollution, I suddenly started getting briefed with matters concerning public interest. You are also on the advisory board of the Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival. Please tell us more about this illustrious journey across jurisdictions. How did the transition from labour practice to film festivals happen? It's really interesting. So, these things happened simultaneously. I have to go back in time. While I was studying law, I was also doing backstage for fashion shows, we had organized one of the longest-running fashion competition in Mumbai for colleges called Catwalk. All the people who are names in the business now had taken part in the competition either as models or as choreographers. You had somebody like Vikram Fadnis, Sheetal Malad, Parizad Zorabian so many of them were in college at that point of time. How that also started was remarkable, because Benetton has come to India to open its operation. And of course, they had their main show in at the Oberoi. But they also wanted something for college kids. Now, the group of us were just out of college and then we were all doing, you know, other things, like I was studying for my cost accountancy at that point and law was nowhere in the picture. a friend was a choreographer, so we helped him and then this is how all this started. 

And we became very professional about it. in fact, when I was doing my internship with a law firm in Bombay, I even did backstage when Bryan Adams had come down to India for the first time. so the one the other interesting thing was at that point of time, you know, former Miss India, Meher Jasia used to come to the partner of the firm I was interning, and I suddenly saw this connection between the entertainment business. And, you know, that, oh, that there can be problems with the entertainment business as well. That was one. The second area was at that point of time, We had a very strong regime where they would collect entertainment Tax on fashion show Western dance, cabaret, and puppet show. They actually used to come and stop shows, and ask if we have paid entertainment duty. So that was actually one of the reasons why I had at the back of my mind. I said, you know, we need to know about the law on this aspect. And also, another interesting thing that used to happen, while I was studying for my law, a lot of persons at that time, including models and others, they would actually come to me and asked me for help and advice.

And entertainment law as a subject was never taught in law schools so whenever these shows used to happen, I would go to the promoters and ask them to show me their contracts. I had collected copies of Michael Jackson's contract. I also used to read up a lot om the Bryan Adams court case happened. I also had the opportunity to travel for a show called Gushishta with Mr Bismillah Khan. I was absolutely fascinated by the simple lives these artists live. You know, studying and doing this on the side, that actually helps. So basically, Shamak Davar is my client. And he asked me to go to Canada because they have their offices and work there. So I went there. And just prior to that, increasingly, 

I've just become a member of the Indo Canadian business chamber in Bombay. I didn't realize how important that would turn out to be. so when I went there, I visited the University of British Columbia. And I also visited the Law Society, The same building housed the Canadian Bar Association. The lady in charge there was very helpful. She put me in touch with Arbitrators, lawyers and judges over there. She had asked for my CV, I shared and completely forgot. A few months later, she wrote an email to me and invited me to become an associate member of the Canadian Bar. First, I thought it was spam. Then I checked with the people over there and found out that it was not a prank. In fact, this is my 10th year as a member of CBA. And in that process, we did a couple of very interesting things. The Times of India held its Film Award in Canada in 2013. So they actually appointed me as one of their legal advisors for that. 

Then I also got the opportunity to work on the audiovisual co-production treaty between India and Canada through the Indo Business Chamber. And in fact, the Indo Canadian business chamber has got the Governor General's medal in 2014, for this effort. I went there and they asked me to be on the advisory board of the Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival along with the South Asian Fashion Week. 

Tell us about your most interesting case in Canada 

The most interesting case I have done so far is the case of Mr Satinder Dhillon. I met him on the sidelines of the South Asian Film Festival. There was a panel discussion, and I was speaking about entertainment law, the regime in India and Canada. After that, the gentleman comes up to me, he says, Do you do IPR related matters? I said the next day and he explained his case. He was being sued under an 800-year-old law for Criminal contempt of court for writing a blog. I did my research for his case in India and even appeared for him on a couple of occasions in Vancouver. 

You’ve worked extensively in the domain of extending access to justice to the differently-abled? Would you please shed some light on the topic?

Again coming to how transcription is important. Section 12 of the Rights of Disabled People Act talks about equipping disabled people with maximum benefit. Another thing of great importance was what happened for disabled people, if a person comes to court he doesn't know what's going on. Unless there is no sign language interpreter in our courts. At least he can get a transcript to understand what’s happening. In one of my articles also I had pointed out how the International Court of Justice uses the system of transcription to its benefit. We gradually worked on this. And the good thing was, of course, in 2018, the court allowed our interlocutory application. And then subsequently, of course, now we have submitted all the information to the committee of the Supreme Court and from what I've heard that the rules, of course, both for live streaming, and legal transcription are in the pipeline. 

The pandemic today has forced everyone to consider virtual hearing a part of the system. The courts are supposed to be a court of record so what you say in courts should remain in courts, but it doesn’t. This anomaly can be ironed out easily, Nowadays there are speech to text transcription software available. The important aspect is that there is like how you in architecture, the concept of universal design, the important thing is to bring them into the mainstream practice and so integrate them into the system. 

The Legal Tech domain around legal transcription is evolving, So things will only get better from here are all evolving laws. So things can only get better from here We know that live streaming of court proceedings is a topical issue these days. Would you please shed some light on this and share with us your thoughts and predictions as regards the rules being framed for live broadcasting of court hearings? While appearing for my case in Canada, I saw the use of legal transcription in courts for the first time. They used to transcribe a full day’s recording which is fantastic. Then, when Indira Jaisng and a few other lawyers approached the Supreme Court filed the case for live streaming in the Supreme Court. We said that, apart from that, one of the most important aspects is digital transcription. It meant investing in our systems so we did a lot of research. We came across legal transcripts that existed as early as 1908 regarding a case pertaining to Bal Gangadhar Tilak. But it disappeared along with the disappearance of the Jury System. During our research, we also found its traces in the legislature. Earlier there was a system of engaging with stenographers in the pre computerization era. You see everything today in our parliament today is not only audio but also video recorded. So why can’t it be used in the Judiciary. 

Mr Mistry, you have created a unique network of lawyers with members in each continent of the world through your firm ILA—International Legal Alliance. Interestingly the network works on a best-friend relationship as against a referral fee model. How did you make this happen and where did you get the idea for this initiative? 

This was an idea which actually came about. I like this guy's tell you how it was germinated today, basically, as you know, I realized one thing especially after appearing outside of India and dealing with foreign lawyers Indian Supreme Court basically says that foreign law firms are not permitted to practice in India. Absolutely no problem. Other countries have also done similar things. Now, the question was how do lawyers connect in today’s globalised age, especially if one considers the impact of the pandemic. How does someone reach out to colleagues around the world? 

I met with some colleagues in Goa and had a discussion in the company of former union law minister about setting up a global network of lawyers. So I started to connect with my network of lawyers in Canada and reached out to lawyers across 180 countries with the intention to create non-binding and best friend relationships with them. I was elated to receive a response from 104 countries in a matter of a week. Today we have a representative in every continent. You have also ventured into legal tourism, tell us a bit about the interesting concept. Lawyers generally like to travel a lot for work. But they take their vacation quite seriously. On my trip to Sri Lanka in 2018. I realized that as an individual, you have to do your own planning. Getting in touch with colleagues over there and I felt that surely this is something that I suppose as lawyers, there is a need for there are so many people travelling. 

So, if somebody's coming in from the US, is visiting, the Bombay High Court, he might be interested in visiting the finely curated museum inside Bombay High Court. Surprisingly, a lot of people are unaware of such sightseeing options. The idea is to make a person’s visit to India far more worthwhile. It also gives a person a chance to come with his family and mix work and leisure together. He can take advantage of local knowledge and get an idea about the travel expenses involved along with the budget requirement. We would like to take the concept forward post the pandemic. The objective is to encourage cultural exchange and create a global network of lawyers. If we can do it in an organized manner, it will give the legal fraternity from all over the world a chance to interact with among themselves. Your stay and travel concerns can be looked after by an agent but imagine someone helping you out with fixing appointments with attorneys and leading members of the legal fraternity in an unknown country. 

ODR, ADR, Mediation, Litigation Where does the perfect dispute resolution mechanism lie? of course

I completely agree that every dispute can and should be resolved. for example, in the entertainment industry, that a lot of these cases that have to do go to court really shouldn't be in court, I mean copyright disputes and other things can be very happy than through a very good alternative dispute resolution mechanism now, what can that be? Yes, ODR is also an amazing platform. Because similarly, the big benefits that it gives and I mean, I've seen platforms and even platforms in India, where for example, they permit you to use ODR. You can get onto the platform in case you have a problem. It saves 1/10th of the cost along with being flexible. Suppose, the other side has his or her lawyer in Japan, who wants to join you know, it can be done online and you can use the Indian Arbitration Act, you can use foreign rules, you can do whatever you want. These platforms are now available. It also saves massive cost. 

I think ODR is absolutely essential, but then it should be standardized. The other interesting thing that you know I learned while interacting with some very interesting international mediation experts is that a commercial dispute of very high value can be resolved in three days. Fascinating. I think some people use mechanisms like mediation almost become like a science. In India, we haven't really kind of accepted or thought about these things very, very seriously. We are more reactive. Now, because of the pandemic, so now, I think we should look at it from a broader lens. I'm not saying you do a cut copy paste job of what is available in the west. You evolve your own mechanism, but the important aspect is that it should be global. That is absolutely paramount. And I think it is important that most of our practices now in the industry should be at par with global standards. 

How do you foresee the legal landscape of India evolving with the emergence of legal tech and AI? 

I am really very clear that AI and other technologies are only meant to assist and are not meant to replace the legal mind. The second aspect is that yes, as far as a system is concerned, it is in a state of flux and evolving. For example, you can get up to 85% accuracy using AI. My point is that anything that helps the process of lawyering must be adopted. The other great thing about technology is the more you use it, the more economical It becomes. One more important thing I would like to briefly touch upon is that all this should now become a part of legal education as well. The Next Gen Lawyer should be a global law student and should know all that is available and he should utilize it so that when he comes out of law college he knows the changes in technology that are happening and becomes accustomed to working with it. 

Please allow us a peek into your life outside of law. What keeps you busy when you’re not working.

I love listening to music. That’s something that has always helped me. Travelling is also good because that’s when you connect with people. Family wise, I also read up a lot on spirituality nowadays. It is one area I find fascinating. 

Your message to the new crop of lawyers wanting to make a mark for themselves in this industry. What other than hard work is a mantra to success? 

I think it's really important to know and realize that you are a global student of law. You may be in India, wonderful, But just remember that you are preparing yourself so that you're more aware. And you must always remember that you are in no way inferior to any other lawyer anywhere around the world. One great thing about our legal system is that it teaches you to think on your feet. Other countries may be technologically advanced, but we are catching up. Even if you're in a small town or city it is fine. Become a great District Court Lawyer. Become a great Small Causes Court Lawyer. Specialise. Remember, there's always a vacuum at the top. So there is always a need for good lawyers. And of course, be honest to yourself. It is important to keep your head on your shoulders and not get carried away, 

What would be your favourite success and your worst failure? What according to you is the best way of tackling failures in life? 

I think one of the finest moments was when we were able to help this German boy to find his mother in a very famous adoption case. finally, after so many years, he was able to locate his mother, I thought that was one of the most satisfying cases that I have sort of forced into a, you know. I think the worst failure turned out to be one of the best lessons. Once I had gone on the instructions of a lawyer from a solicitor firm and withdrawn a case. And my senior implored me to take proper instructions. So I filed a review petition application myself and got it restored. I think that was very important for a lawyer on how to in case, even if you know, it is human to Err, how you can actually get a matter restored back. That was a great lesson for me. 

The best way to tackle failures is keep your head on your shoulders without getting carried away.

A favourite book or series recommendation! Anything that left a lasting impression on you? 

There's a very interesting book on spirituality called the laws of the Spirit World. and the other one, which I always enjoy dealing is Sherlock Holmes.