Inside the Research and
Innovation Engine of Nishith Desai Associates: A Blueprint
for Building a Driverless Organisation
By Ashima Ohri, Managing Editor, BW Legal World
This article was first published
in bwlegalworld.com (6th November, 2024). Click here to read
BW Legal World’s Ashima Ohri gets talking with the NDA Team to find out how the firm looks at Research & Development and Thought Leadership, including their project management system, the structure and significance of the Continuing Education (CE) sessions, and the firm’s outlook toward the investment that goes into it all. An interview and an explainer, this piece captures keen insights from
Dr. Nishith Desai and
Milind Mundankar that you wouldn’t want to miss.
With rapid advancements in AI and technology, shifting
macro- and microeconomic conditions, and complex international
geopolitical factors impacting business, client expectations
are evolving at an unprecedented pace, prompting law
firms worldwide to rethink how they attract talent,
enhance client interactions, develop practices, and
integrate technology. India’s legal industry is
no exception. Today’s clients are tech-savvy and
selective, who seek efficiency and round-the-clock accessibility
from their legal partners. They expect agile, tech-advanced
teams that are rapid in response and have business enabling
solutions available at a moment's notice. To meet
these evolving demands, a firm commitment to structured
research and innovation is essential.
We spoke with Nishith Desai Associates (NDA), an
India-focused global law firm widely regarded as one
of Asia’s most forward-thinking firms, to understand
the inner workings of their 'innovation engine.'
Known for pioneering thought leadership, knowledge management,
and unique training models, NDA has set new standards
that many in the legal community now look to as a guide.
Here, we delve into the philosophy and systems that
fuel NDA’s innovative approach.
The Driving Force
NDA, is driven by the philosophy of staying ‘nano’
thriving on its lean but power-packed braincount, with
about 80 lawyers (150 members firmwide) spanning multiple
global offices. It is the firm’s unique approach
that has helped bolster its position as a pacesetter
law firm in today’s world that requires more than
legal expertise. The firm spends around 35%-40% of its
time on research and innovative projects. At its core,
it ensures a culture of growth with continuous learning
and the ability to blend knowledge with innovation.
For over three decades, NDA has crafted a dynamic ecosystem
that integrates practice development, content creation,
and cutting-edge technology to keep the firm off and
running.
The Ignition Point
Started in 1989, by Dr. Nishith Desai, a renowned
international tax lawyer, the firm developed its three-dimesnsional
philosophy:
to innovatively solve complex legal problems,
to foster the next generation of
socially conscious
lawyers and
to shape the future of law.
With an equal 33% importance and weightage given
to each of these aspects.
Insights gained from speaking with NDA underscore
how the firm sees itself as more than just a law firm;
it positions itself as a research-focused global organisation
offering strategic legal and tax services to clients
that aim to be global leaders. Their unique research-to-knowledge-to-intellectual-property
strategy—coined NDA’s DNA—enables
them to stay ahead of the curve. The firm’s research
methodology follows a simple yet powerful formula: Anticipate,
Prepare, Deliver. Their routine has evolved
into anticipating new trends, especially where technology
and social change meet the law and prepare for the future
well in advance. By nurturing a culture of continuous
learning, research and specialisation, NDA stands transformed
into a globally recognised firm.
Project Allocation: Crankshaft of Collaboration
One of NDA’s standout features is how research
projects are managed. Typically, four to five members
work on each research project, collaborating to develop
content that is peer-reviewed within the firm alongwith
senior leadership, which includes professor Dr. Mihir
Parikh, Futurist and Strategic Thought Leader at the
firm and then finalised for production by the firm’s
internal IT and digital content teams. For each new
project, firm lawyers called the ‘members’
are free to nominate themselves based on their expertise,
interest and the nature of the subject. This self-nomination
system not only empowers members to take ownership of
their work but also ensures that the best-suited individuals
are working on each project. Firm members are also encouraged
to work with members from the other practices and industries,
to enhance the quality of the thought leadership.
Once the teams are formed, the content development
process begins and is completed basis the subject matter
in record timelines. Members are encouraged to select
topics that are timely, insightful, and of significant
relevance to clients and learners across a wide range
of industries, including technology, finance, healthcare,
and entertainment.
With the integration of AI and advanced technology,
NDA has moved from traditional SQL modules to sophisticated
systems to streamline the retrieval of past case studies,
precedents, and important research materials. This technological
advancement has made the firm’s data easily searchable
from a vast knowledge repository of video, audio, and
written content for all its members.
Continuing Education (CE) Sessions: The Bedrock of
Innovation
When asked what embeds learning so deeply into the
firm’s culture, NDA pointed to its daily CE sessions
as a defining element. Every morning, from 9 AM to 10
AM, team members—spanning from interns to senior
leadership across all global offices—convene for
these sessions. Initially, some found it challenging
to balance these with client responsibilities, yet over
time, the sessions have become an essential part of
firm life. This emphasis on structured learning stands
out in an industry where few firms prioritize learning
beyond traditional 'on-the-job' training.
Founder, Nishith Desai underscores:
“We have painstakingly cultivated the spirit
and discipline of brainstorming, churning unusual ideas,
and introducing unheard-of methods and practices (among
law firms and beyond) for long term strategic impact.
This culture is possible only by nurturing a compulsive,
participative and flourishing ‘learning’
culture. And that’s what we chose to do.”
Describing the meticulous approach to its CE sessions,
NDA emphasized that these daily sessions the same level
of rigor as the firm’s broader research initiatives.
Each session is carefully crafted with detailed PowerPoint
presentations, which serve as the foundation for in-depth
discussions and debates. After the session, materials
are shared, and recordings are uploaded to an internal
platform for future access. Topics range widely, from
complex legal matters and case studies to essential
skills like creating impactful presentations, drafting
professional emails, and mastering Excel. The firm also
brings in external speakers, including industry experts
and academics, to broaden perspectives and enhance the
learning environment. NDA’s leadership likens
their training approach to that of pilots: just as passengers
place their trust in pilots who commit to rigorous daily
training, clients recognize the value of NDA’s
lawyers dedicating 10% of their working hours every
day—1 hour out of every 10—to skill-building
and knowledge enhancement. This commitment, they believe,
allows each team member to develop competencies ahead
of the curve, achieving a broader skill set and greater
capacity.
Read more on NDA’s Weekender titled
Rocketing Value with Continuing Education.
In addition to CEs, the firm shares that it has developed
other ‘learning’ programs such as ‘Yearn
to Learn’ (training of fresh, early stage talent)
or ‘Read to Lead’ (exploring books), or
NDA’s regular ‘Globalization Retreats’
(fostering management education) and International Tax
Crash Course (where top 15 law students across the world
are selected for special 80 hours long training at its
Alibaug research campus).
Image: NDA’s EduRetreat to Estonia and Finland
2019
Furthermore, responding to the demands of the COVID-19
pandemic, NDA initiated the 'Client Continuing Education
Program (cCep),' which opened up its internal daily
training sessions to clients for the first time. Through
cCep, clients were able to engage in 300 sessions over
three months, gaining resources to manage certain legal
processes independently—a shift that reflected
the firm’s adaptation to the challenges of remote
operations and client needs.
Networked Leadership Model
NDA’s leadership structure is based on a 'Networked
Leadership' model, described by the firm as one
in which 'everyone is a leader, and everyone is
a follower.' This approach, they believe, fosters
a culture of shared responsibility and collective growth.
Image: The relationship between networked organizational
structure, organisational behaviour and an efficient
workforce
NDA's designation system departs from traditional
legal titles, instead grouping its professionals into
two main categories: members with up to five years of
experience and leaders. Advancement at the firm is based
solely on demonstrated expertise, with no titles like
junior associate, senior associate, or principal in
place. Nishith Desai explains: “The hierarchy-based
model creates a command-and-control system, which often
leads to inefficiencies and internal politics. We believe
in freedom with responsibility and creativity with discipline.”
Read more on NDA’s Weekenders titled Our
Limit To Growth Is... and Networked
Leadership and Beyond
Partnership to Networked Leadership: A New Model for
Law Firms?.
Notably, many of NDA's
practice area and industry leaders bring diverse expertise
from fields beyond law, with backgrounds in electronics
and computer engineering, surgery, chartered accounting,
cost accounting, and management, among others. This
multidisciplinary foundation informs their approach
to legal practice, adding depth to the firm’s
capabilities.
The Research and Innovation, along with Strategic
Consulting Practice, is spearheaded by Dr. Mihir Parikh
from the Silicon Valley office in Palo Alto, California.
Dr. Parikh also leads the firm’s initiative to
establish PACER, a Centre of Excellence for thought
leadership at the crossroads of technology, law, and
strategy. In addition, he serves as an adjunct professor
in the Management of Technology and Innovation department
at New York University, where he teaches in graduate
programs. NishithDesai notes:
“Also, we had identified a ‘Horizontal
H’ approach, where apart from the core area of
specialization, firm members are encouraged to learn
management and leadership skills. This helped every
member develop a wide enough understanding of ‘other
practices’ to be able to expand their delivery
capability and proffer integrated strategic advice.”
Image: T-shaped skills, combined with strong management
abilities, creates a path for becoming visible expert
At NDA, leadership is defined by both legal expertise
and the ability to inspire. Leaders are expected to
conduct themselves in ways that encourage others within
the firm to follow. The firm’s growth framework
outlines five levels of professional recognition: the
first level is to be known within the firm, followed
by recognition within professional circles, then the
industry, then nationally, and, ultimately, globally.
Image: The concept of Level 5 Leadership was created
by business consultant, Jim Collins. He wrote about
it in a well-respected 2001 Harvard Business Review
article, and published his research in his popular book, "Good
to Great.
Balance Scorecard
Their balanced scorecard (BSC) is another technological
solution that keeps all the firm members aligned with
their strategic goals and core values.
Nishith Desai explains:
“We are now trying to develop a model called ‘Driverless
Organization’ – something on the lines of
a driverless car. How does a driverless car work? Every
piece or part, be it hardware, software, sensor, dashboard
does its job. We give our people, a dashboard week-on-week,
and we review their performance in the form of Balance
Score Card.
In a profession or business, there are 4 dimensions –
a) your clients – you take care of them; b) your
people - clients are served by people – so you
take care of people; c) your processes - you have good
clients and good people, but if you do not have good
processes, things will fail; d) your finances –
unless you harmonise clients, people and processes,
finance will not be right. This is the philosophy behind
Balance Score Card. What you want to balance in your
business (or profession) is your prerogative alone.”
The BSC has three categories:
One is Financial (e.g.,
revenue by practice/industry/member, etc.) while the
second is Client (e.g., number of products/services
delivered per existing client, number of new inquiries
converted to assignments, etc.). To strengthen and monitor
elements of culture, essential to both firm’s
competitive positioning and employer proposition, NDA
has introduced a third category of metrics, Learning
and Growth. Part A of which includes measures of value
creation such as article writing, research, thought
leadership, podcasts, etc. – these can be objectively
measured. Part B is behavioural and subjective –
which include month-on month meetings, where the mentor-mentee
are encouraged to sit together and discuss their BSC.
Nishith Desai adds:
“Most law firms work till 2:00-3:00 am - people
take pride in saying they work till 1:00-2:00 am; once
in a while that’s okay, but it should not become
a norm. Remember, life is never straightforward, there
are always ups and downs.
Balancing life or harmonizing work and life is very
important to us. In our firm, 80-90% of our people leave
at 5:30-6:00 pm. A typical day starts at 9:00 am –
with one hour of Continuing Education Program –
everyone attends this, no exceptions – I attend
too. From 10:00 am, for the next 6-7 hours, we do billable
work; the remaining hours are devoted to research.”
The Role of Technology in Innovation
Technology is woven into every aspect of NDA’s
operations. From Thomson Reuters Practice Management,
Elite 3E, iManage, Luminance likeplatforms, the
firm has invested in top-tier tools to enhance workflow
efficiency and ensure secure, organised information
retrieval. In addition, platforms like
Nishith.TV(for
videos) and
Nishith.Radio (for podcasts) facilitate the creation
of digital content such as webinars and other informative
pieces, making the firm a leader in tech-driven legal
services.
From strategic planning, decision-making, monthly
leadership meetings, client relationship management,
time spend record, work flow management, management
information system (MIS) usage, to knowledge management –
the firm has processes for most things.
In January 2024, NDA became the first Indian law
firm to develop and implement
NaiDA, firm’s in-house AI Bot exclusively
designed for its lawyers. ‘Being the first’
has been a pivotal force for the firm. Built on the
advanced GPT-4 model from OpenAI and hosted on Amazon
Web Services servers, NaiDA has been designed to empower
NDA’s lawyers with intelligent insights in their
daily workflows. The current dataset comprises multiple
cross-industry research papers, M&A labs, hotlines,
podcasts, videos, and other content developed by the
firm over the past decades.
Further, recently the firm undertook an interesting
research project called ‘Sprinting
to the Future of Law Series’ spearheaded by
Dr. Mihir Parikh, where lawyers across diverse industries
are analysing some of the top just-over-the-horizon
technologies (such as Cyborgs, Digital Twins, Hoverbikes,
Space Internet and NetZero Buildings) and their future
legal considerations. Additionally, in September 2024,
the firm’s US Team undertook a US Study Tour across
various cities in Texas and San Fransisco and interacted
with some of the leading organisations in this space
to further deepen their expertise.
Milind Mundankar, Chief Technology Officer shares:
“As technology continues to reshape the world,
NDA has embraced it as a core driver of innovation within
our legal practice. By investing in cutting-edge platforms
of Ai, we are empowering our lawyers to deliver superior
client service with enhanced efficiency and precision.
The launch of NaiDA marks a significant milestone in
our journey, providing intelligent insights and automating
workflows to support our team. Our commitment to exploring
emerging technologies ensures that we remain at the
forefront of legal innovation, anticipating the future
and preparing our clients for it. At NDA, we believe
that technology is not just a tool but a strategic enabler
that shapes how we work and the value we bring to our
clients.”
Global Inspiration, Local Impact
While NDA has drawn inspiration from global best
practices, particularly from AmLaw firms, they have
successfully adapted these strategies to the Indian
market. The firm has created a niche for itself by blending
global innovation with local expertise, allowing it
to provide tailor-made legal solutions while maintaining
a global outlook. The firm has international offices
across New York, Palo Alto (Silicon Valley) and Singapore.
This specialised approached recently made NDA to
feature as a case study law firm in the book, ‘The
Visible Expert® Revolution: How to Turn Ordinary
Experts into Thought Leaders, Rainmakers and Industry
Superstars’ authored by distinguished thought
leaders Lee Frederiksen, Ph.D., Liz Harr and Karl Feldman.
Image: The Visible Expert Revolution: How to Turn
Ordinary Experts into Thought Leaders, Rainmakers and
Industry Superstars, authored by Lee Frederiksen, Elizabeth
Harr (Author), Karl Feldman (1 August 2013)
Costs and Investments in Continued Excellence
Running such an intricate system, from daily CE sessions
to managing a research and publishing division, requires
significant investment. However, NDA recognises this
investment as essential to remain a leader and stay ‘distinctly
different’. Whether it’s the cost of building
a research infrastructure, developing internal
platforms to manage research project materials, the
firm has committed substantial revenue allocation towards
research (around 25%-35%) to ensure that learning, innovation,
and quality remain at the core of its operations.
Image: Blue Sky Thinking Research Campus known by
the name of Imaginarium AliGunjan (in Alibaug, near
Mumbai, IN) Google
location
Their Blue Sky Thinking Research Campus known by
the name of Imaginarium
AliGunjan (in Alibaug, near Mumbai, IN) is dedicated
to stimulating and cultivating the imagination. AliGunjan
is the first-of-its-kind and an IOT driven unique state-of-the-art
campus to think, ideate and change the world for better —
and together.
At the heart of this legal powerhouse lies a systematic
approach that mirrors the operations of a newsroom.
NDA’s internal technology, media and publishing
team ensure that the firm stays agile and at the forefront
of legal thought. Every knowledge report, legal update,
and paper produced by the firm goes through a tech-enabled
peer review collaborative process (crowdsourcing of
ideas) where lawyers, video editors, and designers work
together to create high-quality, insightful content.
Conclusion: A Blueprint for the Future of Law
By blending talent development, a self-driven research
project management model, continuous education, and
cutting-edge technology, NDA has built an ecosystem
that nurtures both innovation and excellence.
The firm describes its approach as one that reaches
beyond standard legal services, focusing on shaping
the future of legal practice. As the industry adapts
to new challenges, NDA’s model offers one example
of how firms might navigate an increasingly competitive
landscape.
Related and referenced readings:
Management by Trust in a Democratic Enterprise:
A Law Firm Shapes Organizational Behavior to Create
Competitive Advantage
From Knowledge Enterprise to Creative Enterprise
Our Limit to Growth Is...
Toss The Target, Toast the Potential
Scrapping the Leave Policy
Pursue Your Calling – And the Rest Will Follow
Your feedback welcome on
concierge@nishithdesai.com.
Disclaimer
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using various artificial intelligence (AI) tools or
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tool,
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