Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Aligns with the 'Future of Work' and Adopts a Permanent Dynamic Working Policy

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), India’s leading law firm, announced the adoption of a permanent Dynamic Working Policy which allows teams to work in a combination of onsite (WFO), and offsite (WFH/WFA) that is focused on enhancing talent and client experience.

The world is undergoing a fundamental transformation of jobs and the workplace. Keeping in mind the evolving aspirations of talent, the digital transformation of the ‘office’, and the criticality of diversity for success and growth, the Firm has delved deeply into the future of work and re-imagined its processes to be future ready. This follows extensive consultations and deliberations over the last few months. The Dynamic Working Policy sets out 5 models ranging from ‘work from office’ to ‘work from anywhere’ and even introduces ‘Flexi Lawyering’.

Managing Partner Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas said, “We have adopted dynamic working models that are aligned with the future of work, built on a world class digital infrastructure and aimed towards enhancing productivity and our talent experience. We are ready to bring in the transformative change to lead the legal industry.”

In multiple surveys of our lawyers and future lawyers (including law students from 16 Law Schools) and other stakeholders, we found that a significant majority expressed a strong preference for flexibility in ways of working. With diversity as a central pillar of our organization, we have opted for a policy that recognizes that “no one size fits all” and enables an environment that sets our talent up for optimal productivity and success.

Rishabh Shroff, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas said, “I am delighted with the new policy. With this model, we continue to nurture and protect our diverse talent and also caters to millennial expectations.”

The new working model is built on physical and technological infrastructure that preserves the firm culture, furthers our ‘ahead of the curve’ mindset, promotes collaboration, continues the apprenticeship model, and protects the personal space of our staff. The Firm will progressively strive towards operating on a paperless basis and has increased its confidentiality and cyber security protocols.

Reeba Chacko, Partner and Head of Corporate, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas said, “This is a new mindset which we will internalize by innovative and progressive practice and alignment of all stakeholders.”

L Viswanathan, Chair – Finance, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said, “This dynamic policy is a massive leap and facilitates a working environment that meets the preference of our talent and the needs of our clients.”

At the start of the pandemic the Firm transitioned overnight to a remote-only model and has seamlessly advised clients through this model for over 7 months. Pending the resolution of the health crisis, the Firm will continue the current work-from-home arrangement till March 31, 2021. The new long term dynamic working policy will become effective in due course thereafter. We believe we are the first law firm to announce this and expect that this will set the benchmark.

Model Focus: Transitioning from Traditional to New model

1. The Office Model - Work from office (WFO), except when out-of-office for client work

2. The Hybrid Model - Work from Home (WFH) for at least 1 day per week, and WFO at least 1 day per week.

Model Focus: Increasing flexibility for firm and lawyers

3. Short term Work from Anywhere (WFA) - WFA for 6 continuous months. Can be used once every 5 years

4. Longer Term WFA - Lawyers may work in select locations without CAM offices.

Model Focus: Increasing the talent pool

5. Flexi Lawyer - Flexibility to hire lawyers for specific projects on short term contractual basis

About Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

India’s Leading Law Firm, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas was founded on May 11, 2015 and takes forward the values going back 103 years, of the erstwhile Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co. Tracing its professional lineage to 1917, the Firm has over 750 lawyers, including 137 partners, and offices in India’s key business centres at Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad. The Firm advises a large, and varied client base that includes domestic and foreign commercial enterprises, financial institutions, private equity funds, venture capital funds, start-ups and governmental and regulatory bodies.

The firm received “Law Firm of the Year” award at the Asian Legal Business (ALB) India Law Awards 2020 and “Law Firm of the Year, India” at the Asialaw Regional Awards 2020. The firm was also named as the “Most Innovative National Law Firm of the Year – India for 2020” at the IFLR Asia Awards and voted as the “Employer of Choice for 2020” from India, by the Asian Legal Business.