When any professional individual, group of professionals, or business and corporate entities seek legal counsel, along with best-in-class practices, the highest quality of services, a strong emphasis on ethics, and outstanding legal solutions, what they need above everything is a personal touch provided by VM Legal Advocates’ Managing Partner, Mr Vishal Maheshwari and his committed and dedicated team of legal stalwarts.

A boutique litigation and dispute resolution law firm VM Legal is committed to providing practical legal solutions to its domestic and international clients. Vishal says, “We do this by blending professional expertise with a personal touch, developing a strong sense of our client’s business and building trusted relationships with their people.”

Built on Values, Trust, and Ethics

Since its inception, VM Legal has always endeavoured to offer its clients the best legal services. “Our commitment and dedication are what makes us stand out, and the testimonials of our clients vouch about their unwavering trust in us,” believes Vishal.

The Firm, being registered as a Partnership, was founded in 2017 by Vishal and Ms Sheetal Kotecha, who have hands-on experience of 20 years of practice at the Bar. Vishal says they take pride in combining the expertise and diversity of experience from the large firm with the personalized attention and responsiveness at the boutique firm.

He adds, “Our mission is to provide outstanding legal solutions with a practical approach in our chosen practice areas with a strong emphasis on ethics.” Their clients benefit from the expertise and experience of a large firm while still enjoying the privilege of a mid-size firm’s personal attention and responsiveness.

The Privilege of Special Attention

Their advice is delivered by knowledgeable, accessible, partner-led teams which strive to provide the highest quality of service to their clients. Vishal says, “We understand the client’s needs, respond promptly and live up to the commitments made.” VM Legal works for clients in Mumbai and also provides legal services and assistance in the major cities in India with its network of lawyers/law firms.

The firm practice extends across various industry and services sectors, such as Banking and Financial Services, NBFC, Power Sector, FMGC, Food, Drugs and Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals and Health Care Industry et al.

At VM Legal, they understand and appreciate the different challenges their clients face due to the changes in the business environment due to evolving government regulations and economic pressures in the market. Vishal shares, “Our aim is to provide a diverse set of legal services to our clients and assist them to meet these challenges successfully.”

The Firm is a unique mix of reputed, experienced professionals and young talented, whiz kids. The Partners have always deemed it important to encourage young lawyers and have striven to add creativity and innovations in their counsel to clients.

A Well-Versed Legal Leadership

Vishal has twenty years of experience in dispute resolution, including company/ commercial litigation, arbitration, and Real Estate Laws in India. Vishal was admitted to the bar in the year 2002. Vishal has handled all types of litigation matters, including criminal matters across India, and has appeared in almost all the Tribunals and High Courts in India, including the Supreme Court of India. Vishal handles complex commercial disputes and civil litigation and has represented several large Indian and multinational Companies in contentious matters across all business sectors. Vishal has also handled various corporate and real estate matters involving advice on selling and purchasing immovable properties, title investigation of properties, and advising societies and developers in development/re-development projects.

Vishal is well-versed in the procedures of all the Tribunals, High Courts, and the Supreme Court of India. Vishal has been advising foreign clients on international arbitrations, the execution of foreign decrees and arbitration awards in India, and leading Indian companies on dispute matters in India and abroad.

Vishal believes that a dynamic environment and evolving legislations continuously provide for new challenges, and it seems to evolve with every passing decade. As part of the responsibilities of the lawyers towards their clients, the lawyers need to master the overwhelming legal system and master new technology.

Vishal, being a person who likes facing challenges, believes that the Legal field is fascinating and intellectually challenging in itself because of the dynamic laws, therefore with a keen interest in providing justice to clients through his articulate skills along with a solution-oriented approach, Vishal ventured into the legal space.

The Best in Law Solutions

The plethora of services provided by VM Legal includes,

• Civil, criminal, and corporate laws with a focus on domestic and international dispute resolution, including commercial litigation and arbitration.
• Civil, Consumer, Banking, and Property Laws with a focus on customer dispute resolution, including commercial litigation and arbitration.
• Real Estate,
• Project Finance and Banking Infrastructure.

VM Legal provides services in the field of Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Real Estate and Corporate and Project Finance and handling all types of litigation matters and arbitration matters, including criminal matters across India at High Courts, Tribunals, and the Supreme Court of India.

“Our USP is providing result-oriented and practical solutions to the client,” mentions Vishal.

A Golden Period of Opportunities

According to Vishal, when he entered the Legal Field, the technology prevailing at that time was not that advanced. Advocates and Solicitors practising before various Courts used to do their legal research by accessing the High Court Library, where they read the commentaries issued by multiple publications such as SCC, AIR, etc.

Traditionally, when technology and tech gadgets were not that advanced, Advocates used to hand-write their pleadings and thereafter used to type them on typewriters. Furthermore, since display boards did not exist, Advocates had to be on their toes running from one Courtroom to another to check the ongoing serial number in the Courtrooms.

After that, when technology advanced, Advocates shifted from their traditional method of drafting their pleadings on typewriters and started to use Computers and Laptops. Since the upgradation was a huge change for the Advocates, it took them some time to get acquainted with the new method.

But on a lighter note, Vishal believes, “They should not be termed as ‘Challenges’ but rather the ‘Golden Period’ wherein the Advocates had the practice of reading books, maintaining a record/diary of the updated laws, etc.”

Tech-Integrated Legal Evolution

As per Vishal, technology has played a significant role in the Legal Industry since a vital point in time. Traditionally, when computers did not exist, research was done by looking up factual similarities in books, and lawyers had relatively limited access and abilities. But since technology has evolved, lawyers have adapted to such technological changes and shifted from traditional gadgets to Computers and Laptops.

The adoption of technology is also facilitating the functioning of judicial institutions, and the same is accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, during the lockdown, almost all court proceedings shifted online. Filings, hearings, and all other aspects of litigation proceedings have been digitized. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we at VM Legal maintained the efficiencies and client work did not suffer because of effective use of video conferencing, collaborative working tools, cloud services, secure document signing, internal communication channels, and other technologies,” recollects Vishal.

Furthermore, there are multiple instances of the Legal Industry adapting to technological advancement; one such instance of using technology in the field of law was the digitization of case laws and other legal documents. For example, traditionally, case laws could be looked into only through books and journals. But due to technological advancement and digitization, one can simply look for judgments from various online platforms such as SCC Online, Manupatra, etc. The cloud and data centres are slowly replacing physical libraries in law offices. Implementing machine learning and artificial intelligence in research tasks can greatly increase efficiencies and accuracy and reduce costs.

Resolute Wisdom for the Whiz Kids

In his advice to the young generation of legal enthusiasts, Vishal says that Legal departments are subject to the same forces for change that have led companies to transform structures and processes in product development, operations, sales, and more. The changes in the legal ecosystem include unprecedented technological advancements, a new wave of corporate litigation, evolving legislation, etc. Therefore, Vishal believes that to attract and retain talent, the young generation or legal enthusiasts should operate efficiently, stay updated with the evolving laws and technology, and support the organization’s motto.

The Testament of Unwavering Trust

About envisioning VM Legal, Vishal says, “My vision is to provide the best legal advice and service to the clients. I want the Firm to have substantive growth. I want the Firm to be a full-service law firm providing services in all the major sectors.”

And sharing his future goals, Vishal concludes, “My goal is to increase the client’s base. I also want that the juniors working in the Firm should grow with the growth of the Firm and become a partner in the Firm.”