Who is the fairest of them all……Part V…. Eliminate the element of “disconnect”.

Some Indians suffer from a mental “disconnect” when ever it comes to issues about foreign countries. Everything that is “foreign” seems to be like rocket-science to them. This mindset is particularly present in people who have not been groomed up in the comparatively bigger cities in India. I would not take it as a fault on their part; it is just that they never got exposure to bigger things of life and it does not necessarily mean that they cannot adapt themselves to the bigger picture.

Even bright young law graduates who have done well in their law examinations in India, tend to feel that they are just not being able to grasp anything while attending training session/s about the basics of FRCP or CPR. It is not that they do not have the capacity to understand, but the very feeling of dealing with civil procedural codes of US or UK brings in an element of disconnect in their minds. This sense of “disconnect” prevents them from grasping even the very basics of legal theories which are more or less the same as between CPC and CPR or CPC and FRCP.

As a lawyer who has been in practice for more than 14 years in Indian courts, I feel that if someone has been able to grasp the theory and provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure of India, there is no reason why he/ she should not be able to grasp the basics of the FRCP or CPR. It is just that the sense of “disconnect” stands as a major barrier in the way.

This necessitates the curving out of a well laid training manual. As a foreign Attorney, if you are in charge of training Indian lawyers, please do make sure that you involve the participation of senior Indian lawyers while creating the training manual. Draw analogies between Indian law and the foreign legal theory on which you are training the Indian lawyers. This will help them to comprehend things in an easier manner.

It is also a good idea to spend some informal-time with the lawyers in the LPO to which you have off-shored your work. May be a tea-party or a short cocktail; you get to know them better and they get to understand you more. This leads to the germination of a bond and a relationship. Talk to them as a friend and gain their confidence, show them that you care for them and you are done.