Ish Jain is a very well known advocate, Senior Partner of a leading law firm and an arbitrator in the field of law. His profile is decorated with numerous awards like
Indian Law Watch in Conversation with Senior Partner Regius, Ish Jain with an inspiring revelations unfolding his legal journey to making a great lawyer.
Question: You have a highly decorated profile as an advocate and an arbitrator. You have completed your LL.B. along with 3 Masters (LL.M.) and are currently pursuing your Ph.D. How has this helped you shape your career as an arbitrator?
There is no substitute for knowledge. I believe knowledge and technical education provide strong roots for every professional. They provide you with not only academic depth but also exemplary research abilities, which are the bedrock of a successful lawyer or an arbitrator. A masters in law programme provides an in-depth understanding of the practice areas and the exposure one gets from multiple International Professors, colleagues and jurisdictions isn’t something that you will receive during your LLB programme. Personally, keeping knowledge at par with practical experience has helped me shape my career not only as a lawyer but also as an arbitrator. It has given me the exposure to holistically understand issues from a 360-degree view.
Question: In addition to India, You have been empanelled as an arbitrator in various jurisdictions such as the UK, UAE, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. Based on these experiences how do you see the evolution of India as an arbitration hub and do the amendments in the Arbitration and Conciliation act encourage the creation of the Arbitration eco-system?
The Arbitration law in India has not only been evolved by the legislation but the judiciary has also played an important role, which leads to a promise of a brighter future for India becoming the arbitration hub. Though the Indian Judiciary has been taking significant steps toward making the country pro-arbitration the major challenge faced today is the latest Amendment of 2020-21 to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act that has increased the judicial intervention in the Arbitration process and fails to provide finality to the Award. In fact, India has seen a drastic shift in international parties choosing India as the seat for Arbitration, however, the Indian Arbitration regime is still going through the stage of “two steps forward one step backward”. As we say, changes don’t happen overnight but consistent and persistent efforts make the change. I am definitely optimistic that India will soon become an Arbitration hub and the many of the amendments that are being introduced are definitely creating an ecosystem for Arbitration.
Question: How do you see the development of emergency arbitration in India, especially in light of the recent tug of war in relation to the Amazon Future dispute?
The Supreme Court has finally paved the way for Emergency Arbitration by allowing the enforcement of the award passed by the emergency Arbitrator appointed under the SIAC Rules. In fact, the 246th Law commission report had also suggested an amendment to the Arbitration Act to recognize emergency Arbitration proceedings so that Institutional Rules which permitted the appointment of the emergency arbitrator would have been given statutory recognition in India. The Delhi International Arbitration Centre, the Mumbai International Arbitration Centre, the Madras High Court Arbitration Centre, and the International Commercial Arbitration (ICA) all recognize emergency arbitration proceedings and provide for such appointments. However, the 2015 amendment did not see any changes to section 2 (d) of the Arbitration Act. So, the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Amazon Future dispute has opened the gates in India and allowed Indian Arbitration institutes to be amenable to International Arbitration.
Question: As a common question in various panel discussions. It would be interesting to know your view on who according to you makes a better arbitrator- lawyers or non-lawyers and why?
There’s no standard answer to this. One of the key advantages of Arbitration is party autonomy. One has the freedom to choose an arbitrator who can be a lawyer and a non-lawyer as well. An arbitrator’s role is to resolve a dispute in a fair, timely, legally sound, cost-effective, and result-oriented manner. As there is no compulsion in choosing a lawyer as an arbitrator it is recommended as at the end of the day the award which is delivered shall be affecting your rights, and the award shall be legally sound. On the other hand, having strong business acumen and relevant industry experience in the subject matter of the dispute also becomes an important factor to choose an arbitrator. Having said that, at the end of the day it is most important that the Award passed must also be able to stand to the scrutiny of a court of law, or else the entire exercise is futile.
Question: How do you see the growth of arbitration institutions in the state of Maharashtra?
The Indian government’s support for institutional Arbitration may be motivated as much by a desire to relieve pressure from the Indian courts as well to increase the efficiency of the onshore Arbitration system. Such an initiative was seen by the establishment of the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (“MCIA”). The MCIA is the result of a collaboration between the domestic and international business and legal communities. It now has a comprehensive set of institutional norms, an Indian and overseas-led Council, and a world-class Arbitration centre with hearing facilities in Mumbai. This will led Mumbai to become one of the main centers for Arbitration.
Question: How do you think we can see that the present legal system can resolve the time and cost concerns for the litigants in India?
The legal system can be entirely turned around by digitizing a large part of the court process e.g. Filings, Case Management Hearings, Hearings before the Registrars, Chamber Application hearings, etc. As we all saw during the pandemic, the Courts had shifted to virtual courts and this had saved a lot of time for the litigants. Lawyers were able to appear in various jurisdictions at the same time without traveling. Virtual hearing for litigants was an easy way to witness proceedings even from smaller cities. However, due to insufficient infrastructure and lack of training, there were a lot of drawbacks. Many Lawyers and Judges were unable to comprehend and utilize technological advancement and therefore, in order to reach their maximum potential, there’s a dire need to have training camps in High courts and District Courts to train lawyers and Judges to gain training and education of Lawyers and Judges in using these technologies. Having said that, not everything should be digitalized e.g. Trials, Ad-interim, and interim hearings cannot be held through Virtual platforms. I think one of the most digitized Courts in India is the Delhi High Court because of which the fresh cases are listed for hearing within a matter of few days itself without any need to mention the case for urgent hearing.
Question: Work-life balance is difficult in the legal profession and especially as you are a lawyer as well as an arbitrator how do you strike a balance between your work and life?
Undoubtedly the legal profession requires a lot of time, dedication and effort and to balance your work and life looks like there aren’t simply enough hours in a day. Initially, I also used to struggle with the same. However, with time I realized that efficient time management and discipline it’s easier to manage your time because you can easily see all your tasks laid out in front of you and when they are due. I soon realized that you need to allot specific hours for your family. So, I am meticulous in terms of seeing what my day looks like and what I need to set as a priority. Every Sunday, I spend at least 15-20 minutes planning my week which has actually given me results in terms of keeping a balance in my professional as well as personal life. Also remember to take up any one sport/activity as a stress reliver. It could be Dancing, Cricket, Football, Tennis, etc. Make sure you dedicate yourself seriously to this one sport/activity religiously and you will suddenly find yourself out perform in all other aspects.
Question: Last but not least, what is the most motivating quote of your life and your message to law students and especially to those young legal minds that are building their practice in arbitration and aspiring to do great in the profession?
I don’t follow any particular quote but I believe my mantra and message to all the students is that there is no substitute for merit and perseverance. Nowadays, students feel that one should be doing smart work instead of hard work, which I disagree with. In the legal profession, unlike in business, there is no overnight miracle. It is constant hard work and dedication that will help you swim to the surface.
In terms of practice in Arbitration specifically, I would suggest to young lawyers to find experience in Trial cases and Litigation as this would lay down their foundation to practice in the field of Arbitration. Arbitration is more in that sense an expedited litigation. The misconception today is that Arbitration is different than litigation and trial. In fact, only those lawyers who have trained in Trials have found success in conducting the entire the Arbitration proceedings. The unfortunate part is that most want to skip learning trial and litigation and are jumping to Arbitration directly without realizing that they are trying to build a tower without laying concrete foundation.
