Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential elections has been one of the most key strategic turn points to define various realms of talks and relationships between Indian and the US. Amidst a lot of deliberation and thought points, Lex Witness happened to strike a conversation with Amy Hariani, Director and Legal Policy Counsel as well as the head of policy for the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) on some of the key points pertaining to the Indian Legal arena and way forward.
The relationship continues to move in a positive, progressive direction and this is unlikely to change with the Trump Administration assuming office. The U.S. and India have strong ties that bind us – economic ties, but also geopolitical and strategic ties as well as people-to-people ties. These shared commonalities have created a solid foundation upon which our bilateral relationship is built. Our two countries are now far more intertwined to let any trade or investment issue derail the relationship. The U.S. is working hard to encourage our international partners to welcome India into various international forums such as the Nuclear Suppliers Group or APEC. One only needs to look at big world-changing agreements like the Paris Climate Accord, to understand that the U.S. and India are together, headed in the same direction.
Prime Minister Modi has definitely had an important impact on U.S. investors who have business interests in India. U.S. companies continue to be very bullish on India as a market and as a long-term growth strategy thanks to Prime Minister Modi’s leadership that seeks to make it easier to do business in India. Because Prime Minister Modi also has energized and enthused the bureaucracy, many U.S. investors have noticed a distinguishable difference in how easily and quickly investment issues are resolved within the Central Government. Due to Modi’s vision of “cooperative-competitive federalism” we have also seen improvements at the State and local levels as well. Similarly, large Indian multinationals like Infosys, Mahindra, and Tata are significantly growing their operations in the U.S. The enthusiasm for the growing Indo-U.S. investment certainly deserves credit to Prime Minister Modi.
As Donald Trump is now our Presidential nominee, many believe he will strengthen the strategic relationship with India. It was, after all, under a Republican President, George W. Bush that the U.S. aggressively forged better relations with India. India is now a critical ally in combating terrorism and plays a leading role in the region to ensure that that bigger countries in East Asia do not encroach upon other’s borders. The U.S. – India geopolitical alliance is likely to strengthen as a result. Trade with India and the economic relationship with India is a bit more complicated and unpredictable under Trump Administration, but with a legacy of strong ties, is likely to grow.
USIBC’s legal services committee is designed to help our member companies get a grasp of the laws and regulations that impact their business in the U.S. and India. This includes, for example, in India, the new GST law, bankruptcy reform, changes in the Arbitration Act, and the new Maternity Leave Act, and in the U.S. substantive legal changes and legal precedent under transnational laws like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, data privacy laws and regulations, and immigration reform.
USIBC supports the free movement of professionals in all sectors between the U.S. and India, whether it’s in the IT sector, insurance, or legal services. Specifically on legal services, we support the liberalization of legal services in a phased-in manner and we also realize that it is a process that must be done in direct consultation with those lawyers that are to be most impacted. While we support a phased-in liberalization process, we also recognize that opening the market to foreign legal consultants (not practicing Indian law) is a practical first step that is not likely to have large disruption to the Indian legal industry. Already in the U.S. there are many Indian lawyers working for U.S. firms as foreign legal consultants and several Indian law firms have offices in the U.S. There are also a number of Indian lawyers that are dual-qualified and practicing both U.S. and Indian law in the U.S. Our member companies, the General Counsels are agnostic on the location of legal talent—what they want is the best access so the best legal minds and liberalization is surely to benefit that.
USIBC anticipates that if legal services were liberalized in India to foreign legal consultants, only a small handful of law firms would take advantage of the liberalization (e.g. 4-5 firms). That’s because opening a foreign office is expensive and, in many cases, new foreign offices do not make money for the law firm for more than 5-7 years after they are opened. Additionally, many U.S. firms are successfully running India practices with qualified Indian lawyers out of their Singapore offices. Just because the market is liberalized does not mean that a momentous shift is likely to take place. One only need to look at recently liberalized markets such as South Korea or China to see that if liberalization occurs, you will see foreign firms enter the market, but not at the mad rush and levels that the doubters would predict. The market will adjust, the lawyers will adjust, and the open competitive markets will benefit the consumer of legal services.
We are at a seminal point in history and very lucky to have seen where the sheer growth in the US-India ties. The U.S. and India are closer than ever before and I think we will continue to grow stronger together. Certainly, with Prime Minister Modi’s path toward liberalization in business and trade, barriers are being removed and we are moving closer to our shared goal of $500 billion in twoway trade. With rededication of these efforts, we will certainly get there in the next decade to come.
Amy Hariani serves as Director and Legal Policy Counsel as well as the head of policy for the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC). On behalf of companies, Ms. Hariani advises and advocates to the U.S. government and the Government of India on government policies and regulations impacting business in India and in the U.S. In addition to her responsibilities as head of policy, she leads the Food & Agriculture, Retail Trade and Legal & Professional Services Committee. She also works on intellectual property, international trade, and on legal issues for the Council. Prior to joining USIBC, Amy was an associate at the law firm of King & Spalding LLP. She focused her practice on international trade litigation by providing strategic, legal, and policy advice to domestic and foreign clients. She developed and led the international trade group’s work in India. Amy received her J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law. She received her B.A. in political science and philosophy from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She has knowledge of Hindi and Spanish.
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