NEW DELHI: As far as prayers go, this variety is the most rewarding. India’s superstar lawyers make a mini fortune every time they pray, plead or appeal, and the bar has now gone up by several notches thanks to the ongoing legal tussle between the Ambani brothers.
The Ambani vs Ambani battle is just the icing on the cake for the handful of India’s elite lawyers who are probably the country’s highest paid professionals. Harish Salve, Mukul Rohatgi, Ashok Desai, KK Venugopal, and Abhishek Singhvi are the notables in this essentially boys’ club.
These star lawyers charge around3-5 lakh for a five-minute appearance, and can manage up to 10 such appearances per day, said a lawyer who did not wish to be named. For outstation cases, the rate is even higher: from10-30 lakh, plus expenses.
The rates for the Reliance battle could be double that rate, said members of the legal fraternity close to the matter.
Not every case comes with a Reliance premium, but they said it’s not unusual for some of India’s top 10-15 advocates to earn over50 crore a year by way of legal fees.
That stacks up against the5-10 crore that CEOs of Sens*x 30 companies make per year as compensation on an average. For cash-rich clients the race to pocket one from this league has become even more tight as public affairs has already weaned away three other stars — home minister P Chidambaram, HRD minister Kapil Sibal and BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley — leaving the rest in high demand.
Then there are the veterans like formal solicitor general Soli Sorabjee, Shanti Bhushan and Fali Nariman who are said to be in the same income bracket. But they, like former law minister Ram Jethmalani representing the Anil Ambani group in the Reliance case, take cases selectively. “With the opening up of the economy and more foreign companies coming in, the landscape of corporate India has changed,” says Mr Rohatgi who represents Anil Ambani-promoted RNRL in the apex court.
Mr Rohatgi refused to comment on what he charges, while RIL’s face in the Supreme Court, Harish Salve, said disclosing his fees would be in violation to his clients’ right of confidence.
“I have no clue as to what RIL is spending per day — nor is it a matter of any interest to me,” Mr Salve replied to an ET e-mail.
Emails sent to Mr Desai, Mr Venugopal, Mr Sundaram and Mr Singhvi went unanswered.
The black gown-brigade has come a long way since the days of legal luminary MC Setalvad who fixed a standard rate of1,040 for special leave petitions (SLPs) and1,680 for final hearings three decades ago. When a senior SC lawyer wanted to charge7,000 per appearance, he had to retreat in the wake of a fraternity uproar.
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