Ideas of India Akshay Jaitly on the Making of a Modern Indian Law Firm
Jan 29, 2026
Akshay Jaitly, co-founder of Trilegal and author on building a modern Indian law firm, reflects on founding amid 1990s liberalization. He discusses specialization, delegated legislation and regulatory capture. He explains partnership models, lockstep growth, scaling challenges and how Indian legal practices adapted to new markets and cross-border opportunities.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Liberalization Created The Opportunity
- Liberalization created demand for new corporate legal services that simply didn’t exist before.
- Trilegal’s founders were overtaken by the moment rather than deliberately seizing it.
Professionalism Beats Seniority Alone
- New deal types meant many firms were learning on the job and the law still mattered.
- Operational professionalism (deadlines, responsiveness) proved a decisive edge.
Y2K As A Stealth Growth Engine
- Y2K work brought massive outsourcing to India and built credibility for broader services.
- That credibility helped Indian firms scale capabilities beyond simple coding tasks.
