In Conversation with Anandaday Misshra

Anandaday Misshra is the Founder & Managing Partner, AMLEGALS, a multi-specialized law firm. He is a practising High Court Advocate with two decades of experience in litigation and arbitration. He specializes in GST, Contractual Laws, Arbitration, Business Laws & Insolvency Laws. Mr Misshra has authored a book on GST- Law & Procedure (Taxmann). His other two upcoming books are on Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code and Arbitration.

Q. Tell us about AMLEGALS, the areas of practice and your clientele. 

AMLEGALS is a highly research driven specialized Law Firm with offices in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru & Kolkata. 

Our clients are basically from India and almost 50% of the clients are from abroad. We cater to the requirements of clients from diversified industries.

Q. What is a typical day like for you as a Managing Partner of AMLEGALS?

Learning, encouraging team members, meeting clients and attending hearings where I am required by the client or a matter requires me to do so.

I am a team player so always there for my team as another team member rather than a managing partner. But, I always ensure in the evening that my quota of learning is well taken care of in my daily schedule.

Q. You started your own firm way back in 2005 and it is now doing really well. Initially, I am sure you would’ve had apprehensions. What hurdles did you face and most importantly, what kept you going?

I started my firm after having a brief instinct as an in-house counsel for 5 years in the well-known brands of India.

Thereafter, I worked at my own independently in the areas of arbitration, contract and indirect taxation from day one when hardly any person of my age would even take indirect tax and arbitration as a career choice.

Initially, clients were very reluctant whether to hire me or not for big matters in indirect taxation as my age acted as a hurdle. But, results led to some good word of mouth publicity and we evolved gradually as a multi-disciplinary specialized law firm.

Many a times, clients confessed that due to my age they could not believe me & even after hiring were afraid, but after the results they started advocating for me. Those moments are still quite refreshing and encouraging for me as an advocate having gone through such phase.

I took everything in a positive manner as their apprehensions were natural and my quest was to justify my standing and learning. It always worked.

Q. Your firm is known as strategists in law. How imperative do you think it is to form a strategic dimension of the law?

In Court, both the sides study, read and refer to the same provisions of law, what differentiates is the strategy.

It is the strategy which matters the most in every dispute or litigation. Companies have strategy for business, finance, sales, production, marketing, branding, etc., then why not legal strategy for dispute or litigation.

Strategy in any business transaction is at par with deploying strategy in any dispute or litigation.

Q. How do you keep yourself updated with the latest legal developments?

As a student of law, it is as normal as breathing to learn on a daily and constant basis. Reading relevant case laws and research in matters where I have to deliver, helps immensely to update myself.

Further, our law firm being highly research driven, we release maximum white papers on diversified laws and this also makes every team member including myself learn on a regular basis while sharing knowledge in law with our clients.

Above all, I am passionate about law and hence, learning is a natural process to me without any extra effort put at any given point of time.

Being an academic first, when GST was being introduced, I had my first book released on GST in August, 2017. Further, IBC and Arbitration always fascinated me and it also resulted in authoring on these areas of laws which are awaiting publication after the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

Q. You have a lot of publications in your name. LegitEye has also been publishing your columns. How do you pick a specific topic to write? 

We attempt (to write) on new laws and cases besides what can be useful for businesses at large. We never write merely for the sake of it but what we can learn and also make others learn. This is the main motto behind every paper we publish in diversified areas of law.

We published on force majeure on 1^st March, 2020 when no one was even whispering on the same. We have released approx. 70 white papers on various laws during Covid-19 as we felt the need to educate our clients on those issues.

Q. Do you think the coronavirus-induced lockdown has been a blessing in disguise for the initiation of bringing technology into courts, which could in the long run make the judicial system more efficient?

Yes, it is going to be a game changer. Evolution of new system, jurisprudence, mindset, technology, procedure, etc. is part of any judicial system. 

The challenge of Covid-19 has brought compulsions of making judiciary move and we all have got to bank upon technology to take the baton of justice ahead. 

It will take time for all of us to adjust and move with it. Over the years, it will be an additional or optional way of attending hearings at least where voluminous documents are not to be referred or where procedural or regular orders are to be passed, but no one knows how it can shape for the betterment of the judiciary at large. 

Q. These days, a lot of young lawyers are starting their own practice/law firms. Is there any piece of advice for them?

Everything takes its own time. There is no short cut. The process has to be passed with best ethical practice. Believe in yourself and learn on regular basis, success will come at its own pace.

Enjoy work and handle every assignment with 100% heart and never attempt anything just for attempting. You should be passionate for learning and working in law otherwise law is not meant for anyone.

“Simplicity” is the evergreen golden rule to enjoy the professional life as a lawyer.

Q. How would you describe your professional journey so far? What motivated you to choose Law as a career?

I enrolled myself for a dental course after clearing the All India CBSE PMT but could not convince myself for pursuing it as I always wanted to do something where creativity or challenge lies ahead. Had I got myself enrolled for a course in medicine then I would have gone abroad for some research rather. 

Finally, I did not join the dental course and opted for the legal profession. My father is a lawyer and at that time he was with the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. So somewhere in the back of the mind, it always pushed me for a legal career.

I visited the Supreme Court with my father for the first time when I was hardly 8 years old. I still remember, while my father was discussing with Mr. P. Chidambaram, Sr. Advocate, I was asked to sit quietly outside his chamber.

While people there were staring at me, my eyes were curious to see different books and files everywhere. It was a strange world at that time but now I see things as an academic person first and then a lawyer.

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