Legal Desire Media & Publications organises its Annual Legal Desire Summit, 2018 which concluded with a great success with a solemn gathering of members of the legal fraternity who graced the occasion and shared their views and insights on issues like importance of legal fraternity, upcoming new laws; it’s prospective challenges, arbitration, privacy, patent, cyber laws and sexual harassment of women at workplace. The summit was organised with the objective of taking an initiative to commence a dialogue on various burning issues of law and society in our country. Such deliberations, discussions and brainstorming is the need of the hour for the progress of our society and country. The event was followed by Awards ceremony to felicitate the Legal Fraternity Stars.

The event was supported by Youth for Human Rights India, Ambedkar Research Forum, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and sponsored by Digital School of Law & Myadvo etc.

The summit began with the lighting of lamp by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Mukundakam Sharma (Former Judge, Supreme Court of India), Dr. Lalit Bhasin (President Bar Association of India, SILF & Managing Partner, Bhasin & Co.), Anuj Kumar (Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Legal Desire Media & Publications), Ankit Gupta (Co-Founder, Legal Desire),  Dr. P. Lakshmi (Acting Dean, School of Law, Ansal University), Mr. Joseph Aristotle (Standing Counsel, Govt. of Karnataka) and Mr. Pranav Mehra (Principal Legal Counsel, Snapdeal). After seeking the blessings of God, all the guests of honour were presented with a token of respect in the form of a sapling. Thereafter, Mr. Anuj Kumar, Mr. Ankit Gupta & Dr. P. Lakshmi welcomes all the esteemed guests and gave their brief introduction.

 Justice Mukandakam Sharma was requested to address the gathering and he elucidated on the need of new laws as dynamism is an unchanging principle of a society and prevailing laws. He also made the gathering contemplate on the need for a balance between socialism and globalisation in our country. Sir Joseph Aristotle also graced us with his views on the role of legal fraternity in maintaining and promoting justice in the country.  Dr.  Lalit Bhasin explained the significance of law and role of legal fraternity in bashing social evils and upholding the rights of individuals. All of them highlighted the need of continuous updation of laws, as it can never be stagnant. Also Mr. Pranav Mehra emphasized on the various legal industries in our country and their contribution to the Indian economy. Legal Desire Core team then presented the guests of honour with mementos. This marked the end of inaugural of the summit.

The event began with Panel Discussion Session 1 which was on the theme “New Laws and Challenges”. The panelists for the same were Mr. Joseph Aristotle, Standing Counsel at Govt of Karnataka,  Mr. Subhash Shete, Senior Legal Manager at Walmart India, Adv. Kanchan Khatana, Managing Partner at Kanchan Khatana & Associates and Mr. Pranav Mehra, Principal Legal Counsel at Snapdeal, Miss Tejaswini Ranjan, Associate at Ernst & Young moderated the panelists. They were felicitated and presented with saplings and mementos by the Legal Desire Team. Various key points raised included new patent law, the requirement of stringent legislative action to impose the law, the extent of practical application of the laws relating to sexual harassment at workplace among other major issues were discussed by the panel.

In Parallel, there were 4 technical sessions where the research scholars and law students presented their research papers.

Next up was Panel Discussion Session 2 that was on the theme “Emerging Trends in Arbitration and Role of In-House Counsels”. The panelists for the same were Dr. Vijay Kumar Singh, Head at School of Corporate Law, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Prof. Vaibhav Goel Bhartiya, Dean at Subharti Law School, Mr. Abhijeet Tople, Dy Director-Legal at Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Mr. Ashish Bhakta, Founding Partner at ANB Legal. Again Miss Tejaswini Ranjan was the moderator for the session. They were felicitated and presented with saplings and mementos by the Legal Desire Team. The speakers highlighted the importance of alternative dispute resolutions, it’s  practical applicability, future scope, advantages, third party funding etc.

This was followed by Panel Session 3, which was on the theme “ Law and Technology”. The panelists for the same were Miss Puneet Bhasin, Cyber Law Expert and Ms. Vasundhara, Legal Head at Myadvo.in. They emphasized on the growing need of cyber laws, the extent of it’s practical application and its scope in India.

Last session of the summit was Legal Desire Awards. It was graced by the presence of Mr. Ram JethMalani who shared valuable insights of his career and the landmark cases which he argued, that highly motivated and energized the audience. To felicitate the awardees the panel along with Mr. Ram Jethmalani consisted of Mr. Santosh,Advocate at Supreme Court of India, Mr. Subhash Shete, Senior Legal Manager at Walmart India, Mr. Anuj Kumar, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at Legal Desire, Dr. Anjumand Zaidi, President at Youth for Human Rights iNdia. The top-notch point of the event was when Lifetime Achievement award was handed to honourable Mr. JethMalani. Finally, giving away awards in various categories to their well-deserved winners concluded event. Following is the list of winners in their respective categories:

Law firm

In-House Counsel

Lawyer

Law School

Law Student

Law Faculty

Social Change Maker Award

Ranjan Tomar, RTI Activist

Shivakshi Bhattacharya & Swaranjani Agarwal, Law Students for their initiative of organising legal aid campaigns.

Academic Leadership Award: Prof. Renu Luthra, Vice Chancellor, Galgotias University

Best Team Member of Legal Desire: Vishal Kumar Singh

Writing for Courage Award: Vidhi Koolwal & Ankita Srivastava for outbreaking stories on Jiah Khan and Ram Rahim Case.