DIBYENDU GANGULY, ET Bureau | 14 Feb, 2014, 04.41AM IST
Scheduled for one hour, our interview withCyril Shroff stretches to one-and-a-half hours and then to two hours, with the photo shoot. If law firms charged newspapers for their managing partner's time, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff would have billed us several lakhs.
But if he's concerned about the time we're taking, Shroff shows no signs. Like several other CEOs we've met, he has this uncanny ability to stay focused on the person he's with. "People think we lawyers are only in the business of talking," he says.
"Unsophisticated clients might say, what's the value it that? Only sophisticated clients understand the value and are willing to pay for it as a service." For the past 20 years, ever since he took charge of the firm his grandfather founded in 1917, Shroff has been on a mission to make his clients — and the practice of law in India — more sophisticated.
In the process he's grown what was a boutique firm of 25 lawyers into India's largest law firm, employing over 600 lawyers. By the time the firm's 100th birthday comes around in 2017 (see box: Birthday Party), Shroff expects the firm to have over 1,000 lawyers, with a pan-Indian presence. "I always had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. I want Amarchand to be a national champion, the largest, most influential law firm in the country," he says.
When he first joined the firm under the tutelage of his father in the 1980s, Amarchand's business came from litigation and the young Cyril spent much of his initial years in court. But the period gave him opportunities to travel and visit law firms in the US, Europe, Singapore.
He may not have gained in-depth knowledge of their functioning, but he was certainly floored by their decor. One of Shroff's first big decisions after becoming managing partner was to move his offices out of Dalal Street into the new age spaces coming up in Parel.
"Most firms were not interested in investing in world class office infrastructure at that time. But I believed physical space, IT infrastructure were very important. I wanted to change the mahol of the law firm," he says. In 2002, Amarchand took up a floor in a brand new building in the Piramal Group's Peninsula Corporate Park, which has since been expanded to four floors.
"Most legal firms were then in the Fort area, so it was quite a pioneering move," says Ajay Piramal, who later engaged Amarchand as advisor for his Rs 9,000 crore deal with Vodafone. "One reason Cyril has been able to grow as fast as he has is because he been able to attract talent. He's created a very strong second line of lawyers."
The plush working environment was certainly a lure for bright young lawyers but Amarchand's growth also coincided happily with the establishment of high-grade law schools in the country. At a time when other law firms would only conduct interviews at their headquarters, the firm decided to follow the corporate world's practice of going to business school campuses.
But if he's concerned about the time we're taking, Shroff shows no signs. Like several other CEOs we've met, he has this uncanny ability to stay focused on the person he's with. "People think we lawyers are only in the business of talking," he says.
"Unsophisticated clients might say, what's the value it that? Only sophisticated clients understand the value and are willing to pay for it as a service." For the past 20 years, ever since he took charge of the firm his grandfather founded in 1917, Shroff has been on a mission to make his clients — and the practice of law in India — more sophisticated.
In the process he's grown what was a boutique firm of 25 lawyers into India's largest law firm, employing over 600 lawyers. By the time the firm's 100th birthday comes around in 2017 (see box: Birthday Party), Shroff expects the firm to have over 1,000 lawyers, with a pan-Indian presence. "I always had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. I want Amarchand to be a national champion, the largest, most influential law firm in the country," he says.
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He may not have gained in-depth knowledge of their functioning, but he was certainly floored by their decor. One of Shroff's first big decisions after becoming managing partner was to move his offices out of Dalal Street into the new age spaces coming up in Parel.
"Most firms were not interested in investing in world class office infrastructure at that time. But I believed physical space, IT infrastructure were very important. I wanted to change the mahol of the law firm," he says. In 2002, Amarchand took up a floor in a brand new building in the Piramal Group's Peninsula Corporate Park, which has since been expanded to four floors.
"Most legal firms were then in the Fort area, so it was quite a pioneering move," says Ajay Piramal, who later engaged Amarchand as advisor for his Rs 9,000 crore deal with Vodafone. "One reason Cyril has been able to grow as fast as he has is because he been able to attract talent. He's created a very strong second line of lawyers."
The plush working environment was certainly a lure for bright young lawyers but Amarchand's growth also coincided happily with the establishment of high-grade law schools in the country. At a time when other law firms would only conduct interviews at their headquarters, the firm decided to follow the corporate world's practice of going to business school campuses.
"We were the first to go in for campus recruitment. Amarchand recruited from the very first batch of National Law School Bangalore. We recruited purely on merit, regardless of the individual's background" says Shroff. While the new law schools took care of the supply side, the post-liberalisation economic boom created a huge demand for legal services.
Everyone benefited, Amarchand most of all, since Shroff already had all the systems on go. Lucien Wong, managing partner and chairman of the Board of the Singapore based law firm of Allen & Gledhill has known Shroff for ten years and has worked with him on the Tata-Singapore Airlines deal. He recalls a time when his was the larger of the two firms, with 330 lawyers.
"Today, Amarchand is bigger, since the Indian market has grown. The opportunity was there for all the Indian law firms, but none have grown as fast as Cyril. He's a good lawyer, a clear thinker and a very serious person, focused on his work," he says. Rapid growth of the kind Amarchand has witnessed can be difficult to manage but Shroff has handled it well.
"A professional services organization is very different from a company," he says. "Lawyers are ambitious, high strung, insecure. They need to continuously be inspired with a vision. The circle of people I know personally has become steadily smaller as we've grown, but I still communicate regularly with everyone through town hall meetings." Still, there have been growth pangs, especially in the firms's expansion into new geographies. The practice of law in smaller cities is less sophisticated than it is in Mumbai and Delhi and the firm has had to adjust its expectations to ground realities.
Three years ago, it brought in the Boston Consulting Group as a strategic consultant with a view to putting in place systems and processes commensurate with its growth. The challenge now will be to retain the agility and speed of response that clients say are the hallmark of the firm. ICICI Bank chairman KV Kamath has worked with Shroff for over 15 years and says, "Anything you ask Cyril to do, he gets done at enormous speed. You expect him to say it will take a week, but he says it will be done by tomorrow. He has enormous energy, coupled with a brilliant mind, which makes for a formidable combination."
Kamath first sought Shroff's counsel when ICICI needed advice on documentation on project finance, then a new field. Since then, the firm has been adding new practice areas at the rate of one per year, the latest of which is white collar crime, technology and sports law. Shroff himself remains the firm's leading lawyer for Mergers & Acquisition and says, "We don't give our clients convenient opinions.
Which is why consciously avoid getting too close to our clients. We need to be able to say 'no' when required and maintain independence." Shikha Sharma, managing director of Axis Bank, worked with Shroff in structuring the acquisition on Enam Secturities. "Cyril is the epitome of a trusted advisor," she says. "I can call him at 4 pm on a Sunday just to ask him 'do you think I'm doing the right thing here Cyril?' and I know he'll give me an honest, straightforward, answer. He goes beyond the legalities and understands the real world issues we face."
A lawyer's job is to keep his clients out of trouble (and occasionally get them out of trouble) and Shroff sees himself primarily as the good corporate doctor, who sometimes needs to go beyond the technicalities and give a moral judgement on the issue. "We are the repository of a million corporate secrets which will die with us," he says. "I always tell my clients that their reputation is their greatest asset. If they have a good reputation, they can get out of a dodgy situation as they have the benefit of doubt."
Everyone benefited, Amarchand most of all, since Shroff already had all the systems on go. Lucien Wong, managing partner and chairman of the Board of the Singapore based law firm of Allen & Gledhill has known Shroff for ten years and has worked with him on the Tata-Singapore Airlines deal. He recalls a time when his was the larger of the two firms, with 330 lawyers.
"Today, Amarchand is bigger, since the Indian market has grown. The opportunity was there for all the Indian law firms, but none have grown as fast as Cyril. He's a good lawyer, a clear thinker and a very serious person, focused on his work," he says. Rapid growth of the kind Amarchand has witnessed can be difficult to manage but Shroff has handled it well.
"A professional services organization is very different from a company," he says. "Lawyers are ambitious, high strung, insecure. They need to continuously be inspired with a vision. The circle of people I know personally has become steadily smaller as we've grown, but I still communicate regularly with everyone through town hall meetings." Still, there have been growth pangs, especially in the firms's expansion into new geographies. The practice of law in smaller cities is less sophisticated than it is in Mumbai and Delhi and the firm has had to adjust its expectations to ground realities.
Three years ago, it brought in the Boston Consulting Group as a strategic consultant with a view to putting in place systems and processes commensurate with its growth. The challenge now will be to retain the agility and speed of response that clients say are the hallmark of the firm. ICICI Bank chairman KV Kamath has worked with Shroff for over 15 years and says, "Anything you ask Cyril to do, he gets done at enormous speed. You expect him to say it will take a week, but he says it will be done by tomorrow. He has enormous energy, coupled with a brilliant mind, which makes for a formidable combination."
Kamath first sought Shroff's counsel when ICICI needed advice on documentation on project finance, then a new field. Since then, the firm has been adding new practice areas at the rate of one per year, the latest of which is white collar crime, technology and sports law. Shroff himself remains the firm's leading lawyer for Mergers & Acquisition and says, "We don't give our clients convenient opinions.
Which is why consciously avoid getting too close to our clients. We need to be able to say 'no' when required and maintain independence." Shikha Sharma, managing director of Axis Bank, worked with Shroff in structuring the acquisition on Enam Secturities. "Cyril is the epitome of a trusted advisor," she says. "I can call him at 4 pm on a Sunday just to ask him 'do you think I'm doing the right thing here Cyril?' and I know he'll give me an honest, straightforward, answer. He goes beyond the legalities and understands the real world issues we face."
A lawyer's job is to keep his clients out of trouble (and occasionally get them out of trouble) and Shroff sees himself primarily as the good corporate doctor, who sometimes needs to go beyond the technicalities and give a moral judgement on the issue. "We are the repository of a million corporate secrets which will die with us," he says. "I always tell my clients that their reputation is their greatest asset. If they have a good reputation, they can get out of a dodgy situation as they have the benefit of doubt."
Shroff understated style and general lack of vivacity actually comes in very useful when dealing with corporate clients. GM Rao, founder chairman of the GMR Group has sought Shroff's counsel on numerous occasions, including the drafting of his 'family constition and says, "Cyril possesses tremendous humility, a big asset for a lawyer. He creates trust in stakeholders. We know he will keep things confidential."
Chris Parsons, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills and Chairman of British firm's India Practice has known Shroff for 14 years and worked with him on Diagio investment inUnited Spirits. More importantly, Parsons is a friend who has attended the marriages of both his son Rishab and daughter Paridhi.
"I've seen the other side of him and he likes to have fun. He likes movies, musicals, Chinese food. He also draws very well and produced a little book of drawings for Paridhi's wedding in Goa." That explains why Shroff insists on concluding our interview with a little musical metaphor. "For me running a law firm is like conducting a orchestra," he says. "You can either produce a symphony or a cacophony. The conductor needs to have, have the musical score in his head and to extract the right music from the musicians with the right mix of intrusion and encouragement".
Chris Parsons, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills and Chairman of British firm's India Practice has known Shroff for 14 years and worked with him on Diagio investment inUnited Spirits. More importantly, Parsons is a friend who has attended the marriages of both his son Rishab and daughter Paridhi.
"I've seen the other side of him and he likes to have fun. He likes movies, musicals, Chinese food. He also draws very well and produced a little book of drawings for Paridhi's wedding in Goa." That explains why Shroff insists on concluding our interview with a little musical metaphor. "For me running a law firm is like conducting a orchestra," he says. "You can either produce a symphony or a cacophony. The conductor needs to have, have the musical score in his head and to extract the right music from the musicians with the right mix of intrusion and encouragement".
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