Corporate lawyers and in-house counsels to be “legal practitioners” under the Advocate Act, ET LegalWorld
The Union Government has proposed the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to expand the scope of the legal practitioners which now includes “doing legal work,” in any private or public organization. The amendment recognises corporate lawyers and in-house counsel under the Advocate Act, 1961.
The amendments are set to improve legal education, equipping lawyers to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world, and raising professional standards. The amendment proposes to broaden the definition of “legal practitioner” to include legal professionals apart from advocates practicing law before courts, tribunals, or quasi-judicial forums.
The proposed definition of ‘legal practitioner’ reads thus:
“Legal Practitioner” means any Advocate or law graduate engaged in the practice of law before courts, tribunals, or quasi-judicial forums or doing legal work in any private or public organization including but not limited to statutory and autonomous bodies, domestic and foreign law firms and corporate entities.”
The amendment has proposed changing the definition of ‘advocate’ as the proposals no longer list the other specific roles (vakil, pleader, mukhtar, revenue agent). This amendment tends to simplify the definition and provide clarity to the terms by phasing out of older designations.
The Union Law Ministry has announced the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to amend the Advocates Act, 1961 to address contemporary challenges and meet the needs of a growing nation.
The stakeholders are invited to submit their comments on the circulated proposal by the end of this month, February 28, 2025.
