Fortune Legal: Evolving as a World-Class Law Firm

A new era law firm, Fortune Legal is a dedicated to provide pioneering solutions to its clients. In an interview with Insights Success, Pankaj Mehta, the Founder and Managing Partner of Fortune Legal Advocates and Legal Consultants have shared some insightful views and highlighted the influences made by their company to be the most recommended law solution provider.

1. Kindly brief us about your company and its initial journey.

The Firm, Fortune Legal Advocates and Legal Consultants, was incorporated in the year 2013. Ever since its inception, the firm’s professional team of lawyers work tirelessly to secure justice in a time bound and cost effective manner. The initial years of running the firm was an arduous task as it involved a lot more than just knowing the law or possessing business acumen. It taught me a lot about sacrifice, prioritizing and resilience. It was a challenge to maintain a balance between making court appearances and also staying afloat while doing this. No big client would trust a new Firm like ours but the passion for the profession kept us going. There were times when I did not draw a salary as I had to make sure that my staff was paid and all the overheads were met but looking back at it now, it’s all worthwhile. The firm used to handle a lot of small litigations back then most of which were pro bono as the clients were not in the condition to pay but we made sure that whether the work was pro bono or paid handsomely, the quality should be exceptional and that’s what got us to where the firm stands today.
The firm’s fine work was slowly getting attention with every passing day. All the effort, determination and resilience were paying off. Then in 2013, the firm filed a Public Interest Litigation captioned Shweta Singh Vs Union of India &Ors, WP(C) 383 of 2013, before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi and got the Court to constitute a committee of 3 district judges to formulate guidelines on protection and preservation of judicial records and further direct the reconstruction of court files in a 20 years old rape case. This was the case which put the name of the firm on the map and got us on the radar of big clients. After the PIL, Clients came flooding in with varied problems and even more varied areas of litigation. This enabled the firm to learn and grow and gain expertise in several areas which were hitherto unknown to the team. This was the time which also led to the expansion of the team at the Firm.
All this while, the firm also used to handle a few small corporate clients, taking care of their agreement vetting and drafting and handling their legal compliances, Beumer Group approached us to handle their Corporate Compliance and other related work. After being engaged by Beumer Group, the firm did not stop. Litigation work was ever increasing and so was the corporate portfolio of the firm. After Beumer Group, the firm got engaged by many corporate portfolio such as Deepak Builders, M&C Saatchi February Communications, Gasotech Engineering, Dynamic Staffing Service India, Datar Security Group, World Bank, Delhi Government, Decathalon, Ralph Lauren, Siemens India, Espire Infolabs, Alf Engineering, Rai Foundation, Wazzeer Consultancy, Taction Software, Double AA Restaurants Private Limited, Tabula Beach Restaurants, Vijohn, Wembley Systech Private Limited, Keventers and the clientele kept growing.

2. Brief us about the Founder/CEO and the motivation behind choosing Law as a profession.

The Founder and Managing Partner of the firm, Mr. Pankaj Mehta is a passionate lawyer and an inspirational leader. He strongly believes in the concept of teamwork and is always encouraging the team to learn. He makes sure that people at the Firm are learning. He strongly believes that mistakes should not hinder anyone from making an attempt but ensure not to repeat the mistakes by learning from previous mistakes.
Mr. Mehta ensures that every Associate at the Firm has the liberty to express his opinion and show their personality when assigned a task. Any corrections, if needed, are made by Mr. Mehta in a respectful and educational manner. His motivation behind choosing Law as a profession springs from his ideology of ‘justice for all’. He strongly believes that the money is not important but client satisfaction and justice is. He is enrolled with the Delhi Legal Service Authority and takes up pro bono cases for those less fortunate and ensures that they get the relief they desire in law. He finds the legal profession to be comparable to what superheroes do; the superpower that lawyers possess is that of knowledge and determination. He strongly believes that the black robe puts a lot of responsibilities on the shoulders of the one who wears it and he makes sure everyone at the firm understands the gravity of the work done at the firm and how it impacts lives of the parties involved.

3. What kind of ethics, principles and manner of working does company follows while running the business?

The firm and its advocates have attained sterling testimonies from its clients for their integrity, honesty, trustworthiness and cohesion. Our firm deeply believes in the principles of ethics and integrity, and the firm has always promoted and contributed to the well-being of the society by fighting for justice by using every single legal remedy at our Client’s disposal and handling each and every matter with responsibility and accountability as if the firm has a personal interest in every case. Other undertakings of the firm which separates us from the rest are as below:

• Associates are deputed to work with different teams of firm for their all-round development so that they have the knowledge in every field.
• Workshops, conferences and seminars for employees to keep them update and familiar with the legal developments and to ensure that employees should never be made to falter because their knowledge or exposure is restricted.
• Work from home: Our firm makes all endeavors to increase productivity of its people and also giving them the space to maintain a healthy personal life. This also provides for greater flexibility with work schedules and reduces the stress of juggling work and personal life.
• Motivating and supporting the Employees to participate in seminars, conferences and research work.
• Recognize Efforts and Reward Laudable Contributions of the Associates: At our Firm, the Associates are given the liberty to take initiative and convey their ideas and decisions to the Partners, making them feel confident and also to reward them for the initiatives taken for the betterment of the Firm. This instills in the Associates the reassurance that their thoughts and opinions are valued and appreciated, making them all the more likely to work for the Firm as its own.
• Independence:  At our firm, every individual is allowed to take some independent decisions in the case/task allotted to them. This enables them to take ownership of their work and also increases accountability for the effects of their own decisions. Through empowerment, the individual is capacitated or warranted to conceive, function, perform, and control work and determine the course of events independently.

3. State the vision and mission of the company.

The firm deeply believes in the latin maxim servimus, which means simply ‘We serve’. Our lawyers are compulsive about client service, and at any stage never compromise with the quality of client satisfaction. The vision of the firm that is deeply imbibed in the undertakings and functioning of the firm and from the Partner level to the Associate level, is to ensure efficient, sincere and unhindered delivery of top notch legal services to the clients.The firm strives to provide for the all our clients’ legal needs and ensure so at reasonable costs. The firm also believes in giving back to the society and helping those in need. Assisting start-ups right from their incorporation to their functioning and compliances, the firm does it all and at extremely reasonable costs so as to make sure that these new companies can grow and contribute to the economy, not just in taxes, but also by creating employment. The firm’s mission is to ensure that every individual has access to justice, that the fear of approaching a court of law wanes away gradually and people can approach courts as matter of right and not because of desperation and helplessness.

4. What are the distinct areas of practice of the company?

Corporate and Commercial laws, foreign investment in India including joint ventures and collaborations, handling complete portfolio of the companies from incorporation of the company, handling all the statutory compliance, agreements pertaining to various services and all the related work, trademark, copyright, patent related registration and litigation, civil and criminal law, opinions on various compliances required under laws of India, banking sector, retail, energy, education, IT, media and entertainment laws, cross-border transactions, theft/ fraud/ embezzlement, matrimonial laws/ divorce, child custody/ adoption, immigrations laws, due diligence,  infrastructure and construction law, consumer protection and labour laws in India.

6. Kindly highlight your achievements. Please mention your awards and accreditations.
   
7. The Managing Partner of the firm, Mr. Pankaj Mehta is recommended as preferred lawyers by Embassy of United States in India;
8. The Managing Partner of the firm, Mr. Pankaj Mehta is empanelled with Delhi Government for advisory and litigation; and

iii. The firm has contributed for ease of doing business in India for World Bank for year 2016, 2017 and 2018.

1. The firm was awarded the Social Impact Initiative Law Firm of the Year Award2016 by IDEX Legal
2. The firm won the Law Firm Innovative Award at the India Legal Awards, 2018
3. The firm qualified amongst the Top 3 Criminal Law Firms of the year at the Asia Legal Business Awards, 2019.

vii. The Managing Partner of the firm has been nominated as Young Achiever of the Award by Legal Era Award, 2019

7. Share with us the challenges that start-up law firms face in India.

Start-up law firms face the challenge with the trust factor and the reliability as there are already established law firms who are already in the profession and have made a mark for themselves. Ensuring clients that the quality deliverable with confidentiality is the focus of the firm and once they rely on us, our attorney’s will do every needful required to ensure they get the desired results. Another challenge is regarding the fees, initially clients are reluctant to pay higher fees as the firm is new and don’t have much experience but as they see the quality and the results, the trust factor spirals and clients are also happy to compensate for the professional services.

8. How does the firm intend to handle its Societal Responsibility? Please mention any special charity or educational program as such.

The firm is already very aware of its Social Responsibility and is actively discharging it. Not only some lawyers being empanelled with the Delhi Legal Services Authority but also the firm take up pro bono cases outside of their time at DLSA. The firm also actively supports various NGOs and provides legal services to those under privileged who the NGO send to the firm for legal services free of cost. The firm and its Managing Partner, Mr. Pankaj Mehta, deeply believe that justice should be accessible to all and they do everything they can to ensure that justice is delivered even to those who cannot necessarily afford the process of it.

9. Share your views on the current ‘Corporate and Commercial Law Solution Provider’ in India.

One has to keep himself apprised of the various judgments given by Hon’ble Supreme Court and High Courts on varied issues pertaining to the corporate structure and liabilities of the corporate houses. While drafting contracts and even for the compliances part, the law of the land which is continuously evolving and changing has to be taken incorporated. Updated attorneys deliver the quality services.

10. What would be your advice for the budding start-ups and entrepreneurs in the industry?

Focus on the quality of work and ensure you do justify your professional commitment. Money will follow for sure for those deserving and ensuring timely and quality services.

11. Brief us about the company’s future perspectives.

Our firm is looking to expand to other cities in India like Mumbai and Bangalore and hope to grow bigger and better in the coming time with a name valued by its clients and attorneys.