Legal consultancy services for businesses and individuals

What is legal consultancy, and how is it different from litigation?

Legal consultancy is advice and drafting that does not need a court. Litigation asks a judge to decide a dispute that has already happened; consultancy tries to make sure the dispute never happens, or that if it does, your papers win it. The skills overlap, and that overlap is the point. A contract drafted by someone who has argued contract cases in the Delhi High Court is written with the courtroom in mind: who has to prove what, which clause the other side will attack, what evidence will exist when memories fade.

The economics are also different. A consultancy job has a defined scope and an end: a draft agreement, a registered company, a filed trademark, a signed settlement. That makes the cost predictable, which litigation never quite is. For a small business, a few hours of advice at the right moment can be worth more than a year of hearings.

Consultancy is not only for companies. Individuals use it before buying property, signing a job offer with a restrictive clause, giving a loan to a relative, entering a partnership, or settling a family dispute. The common thread is a decision with legal consequences that has not yet been made.

Our consultancy services at a glance

Each service has its own page with the law and process in detail.

Retainer and on-call advice for businesses

Many small and mid-sized businesses do not need an in-house lawyer but do need one they can call. Our corporate law consultancy service covers that: questions answered as they arise, legal notices sent and replied to, written opinions on specific issues, workplace policies, and a compliance calendar so that ROC filings and licence renewals are not missed.

A retainer works best when the business sends things early. A supplier's new terms, a customer's threatening email, a resignation from a key employee who may take clients along: each is easier to handle in the first week than after a notice has been answered badly by someone in accounts. We would rather read ten short emails a month than one urgent file that should have come six months ago.

Contract drafting and vetting

Most disputes we see in court began with a contract that was copied from the internet, signed without reading, or never written down at all. Our commercial contracts and agreements service covers drafting and vetting of NDAs, service and supply agreements, leases and leave and licence agreements, franchise agreements, shareholder agreements and employment contracts.

Vetting means more than correcting the English. We check what happens if the other side does not pay or does not deliver, whether you can terminate and on what notice, where a dispute will be decided and how (an arbitration clause or the courts at a named city), whether the document needs stamping or registration to be admissible, and whether any clause is unenforceable under Indian law, such as a post-employment restraint, which section 27 of the Indian Contract Act 1872 generally makes void. We mark up the draft and explain each change, so you can negotiate from it.

Company registration and choosing a structure

The choice of structure decides your liability, tax position, ability to raise money and the paperwork you will live with for years. Our company registration and firm incorporation service helps you choose between a sole proprietorship, a partnership firm, an LLP, a one person company and a private limited company, and then completes the registration.

Each structure suits a different situation. A private limited company, incorporated through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' SPICe+ form with at least two directors and two shareholders, suits a business that will take outside investment. An LLP under the LLP Act 2008 gives limited liability with lighter compliance. A partnership firm is simple to set up, but should be registered with the Registrar of Firms, because an unregistered firm faces restrictions on suing to enforce its contracts under the Partnership Act 1932. The founders' agreement between the owners often matters more than the registration itself.

Insolvency and bankruptcy advice

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 is used by creditors to recover money and by companies to restructure, and it has become one of the most effective pressure points in commercial disputes. Our bankruptcy and insolvency advice service covers petitions by financial creditors under section 7 and operational creditors under section 9, a company's own application under section 10, pre-packaged insolvency for MSMEs, personal guarantor cases and settlement through withdrawal under section 12A.

Advice before filing is where most of the value lies. An operational creditor's demand notice can be defeated if the debtor shows a pre-existing dispute, so the correspondence before the notice decides the case. A petition needs a default of at least ₹1 crore against a company. And a creditor should ask whether it wants the company revived, liquidated or simply made to pay, because the IBC is not a debt collection forum and the NCLT will say so. Contested cases are argued before the NCLT New Delhi benches, as explained on our NCLT lawyer in Delhi page.

Mediation, conciliation and other ADR

Alternate dispute resolution means settling a dispute without a full trial: through mediation, conciliation, arbitration or a Lok Adalat. Our alternate dispute resolution service covers representation in mediation, pre-institution mediation under section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act 2015, Lok Adalat settlements, and drafting settlement agreements that hold. For contested arbitration proceedings under the 1996 Act, see our arbitration and conciliation page.

Mediation is often dismissed as a formality, and treated that way it fails. A well-prepared mediation has a clear opening position, a realistic view of what a court would award and when, and a written settlement that covers every pending case between the parties, including any FIRs and complaints. A Lok Adalat award is final and cannot be appealed, which is a strength if the terms are right and a trap if they are not. The Mediation Act 2023 is being brought into force in parts; check the current position for your type of dispute.

Trademark and copyright registration

A brand name that is not registered is hard to protect and easy to lose. Our trademark and copyright registration service covers a search before you adopt a name, filing the application under the Trade Marks Act 1999, replying to the Registry's examination report within the one-month window, handling oppositions filed within four months of advertisement in the Trade Marks Journal, and copyright registration for software, writing, artwork and designs.

Registration is valid for ten years and renewable, and it gives you a statutory right to sue for infringement. Without it you rely on passing off, which requires proof of reputation. Copyright exists from creation, but registration gives you a certificate that is useful evidence when a dispute arises. If someone is already copying you, the matter moves to our trademark and copyright laws practice, usually before the Delhi High Court's IP Division.

Do I need a lawyer to check an agreement before signing?

If the agreement involves a large sum, a long commitment, your home, your job or your business, yes. The cost of a review is small next to the cost of one bad clause. The clauses that cause most trouble are rarely the ones people read: the indemnity that makes you liable for the other side's losses, the personal guarantee buried in a company loan, the automatic renewal, the termination clause that works only one way, and the jurisdiction clause that sends every dispute to a city a thousand kilometres away.

If the agreement is a standard form you cannot negotiate, such as a bank's loan documents or a large builder's buyer agreement, review is still useful. You may not be able to change the terms, but you will know your exposure before you sign, and you may decide not to. Some builder-buyer clauses have been held unfair by consumer commissions and the courts, which is worth knowing before a dispute rather than after.

Employment contracts and workplace policies

Employers often treat appointment letters and HR policies as formalities until an employee leaves with the client list or files a complaint. The four Labour Codes, in force since 21 November 2025, changed definitions of wages, rules on fixed-term employment and gratuity, and a good deal of the paperwork employers must keep. State rules are still being notified, so appointment letters, standing orders and policies drafted under the old laws need checking against the current position.

Two documents deserve particular attention. First, a POSH policy and an Internal Committee: the POSH Act 2013 requires every workplace with ten or more employees to constitute an Internal Committee, and an employer without one is exposed the moment a complaint arrives. Second, confidentiality and non-solicitation clauses, which Indian courts enforce far more readily than blanket non-compete clauses after employment ends. Disputes that do arise are handled under our labour and industrial laws practice.

Mistakes that consultancy prevents

These are the problems we see most often in litigation that a few hours of advice beforehand would have avoided.

• Unstamped agreements. An instrument that should be stamped but is not cannot be relied on in evidence until the duty and a penalty are paid, which can cost far more than the duty would have.
• Unregistered leases and sale documents. A lease for more than a year and a sale of immovable property must be registered under the Registration Act 1908, and an unregistered document cannot generally be used to prove the transaction.
• Oral partnerships. Two friends start a business on a handshake, and when they fall out there is no record of capital, profit shares or what happens on exit.
• Personal guarantees given casually. Directors sign guarantees for company loans without realising that the bank can proceed against their personal assets, including under the IBC's personal guarantor provisions.
• Brands used but never filed. A business builds a name for years, then finds someone else has registered it, and has to fight on passing off instead of infringement.
• Notices ignored or answered badly. A reply to a legal notice written in anger can admit the very debt or fact that the other side needs to prove.
• No dispute clause. A contract with no arbitration or jurisdiction clause leaves the parties arguing about where to argue before the real dispute even begins.

Legal opinions and due diligence

A legal opinion is a written answer to a specific question: does this property have clear title, can this contract be terminated, is this claim within limitation, is this company exposed to a pending case. It is the document you take to a bank, an investor, a board or a family meeting when a decision needs a lawyer's view in writing. A useful opinion states the question, the documents it relied on, the law, the answer, and the risks that remain, without hedging every line until it says nothing.

Due diligence is the investigation behind an opinion. For property, it means checking the chain of title documents, encumbrances, mutation records, pending litigation and, for flats, the RERA registration and approvals. For a company, it means its ROC filings, charges, litigation, licences and key contracts. Advocate B.K. Singh usually reviews opinions on title and litigation risk himself, because those are the questions where years of watching how cases actually end matter most.

Legal notices: sending one and replying to one

A legal notice is often the first formal step in a dispute, and sometimes a required one. Before suing the government or a public officer, section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure requires a notice and a two-month wait, unless the court permits otherwise for urgent relief. Before a cheque bounce complaint, section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act requires a notice within thirty days of the return memo. In other cases a notice is not compulsory, but a clear one sets out your claim, starts the record and often produces a settlement.

Replying to a notice deserves as much care as sending one. A reply is evidence; it will be annexed to the plaint or complaint if the matter goes to court. It should deny what is wrong, admit nothing by accident, and put your own version on record. Silence is sometimes the right answer, but it should be a decision, not an oversight.

Stamp duty, registration and e-signatures in general terms

Stamp duty is a state tax on instruments, and the rate depends on the state and the type of document, so an agreement signed in Delhi and one signed in Uttar Pradesh can carry different duty. The duty must be paid before or at the time of execution, usually through e-stamp paper. A document that needs registration, such as a sale deed or a lease for more than a year, must also be presented to the sub-registrar within the period the Registration Act 1908 allows.

Most commercial agreements can be signed electronically. The Information Technology Act 2000 recognises electronic signatures, including Aadhaar-based eSign, and contracts formed electronically are valid under section 10A. Some documents are excluded from the Act's electronic-record provisions, including powers of attorney, trusts, wills and contracts for the sale or conveyance of immovable property, and negotiable instruments other than cheques. Stamp duty still applies to electronically signed agreements, and we tell you how it is paid for each document.

How a consultancy engagement works

Consultancy jobs follow a fixed pattern, so you know what you will get and when.

1. Send the question and the papers

   Write to us through the online enquiry page, by email or on WhatsApp. Attach the draft, the notice or a short note, and tell us if there is a date by which you must sign, file or reply.

2. Scope and fee in writing

   We tell you what the job involves, what you will receive, roughly how long it will take and the fee. Nothing starts until you agree in writing. Government fees, stamp duty and registration charges are listed separately.

3. Discussion

   We call or meet to understand what you actually want from the deal or the dispute. A contract that protects you perfectly but kills the deal is not a good contract.

4. Draft or opinion

   We send the draft, marked-up review, application or opinion, with a short note explaining the main points and the choices you need to make.

5. Revisions and completion

   We revise after your comments, then help with execution, stamping, registration or filing. If the matter later turns into a dispute, the file is already with us.

Fixed fee, retainer or stage-wise: which arrangement suits you

We do not publish fee amounts. The structure of the fee, though, is worth choosing deliberately.

Whichever you choose, the fee is agreed in writing before work begins, and you are told in advance if a job is going to go beyond its agreed scope.

What to send us for each kind of consultancy work

Copies are enough at the start. Send what you have; we will tell you what is missing.

Consultancy for individuals and families

A good share of advisory work is for individuals rather than companies. Before buying a flat or a plot, a title check and a reading of the builder-buyer agreement cost little next to the price. Before renting out a property, a properly drafted and registered lease or leave and licence agreement avoids the eviction suits that follow oral arrangements. NRIs selling or managing property in Delhi NCR need a power of attorney in the correct form, executed and apostilled abroad and stamped on arrival.

Family settlements are another common need. Where relatives are dividing property or a business without going to court, a family settlement deed, drafted so that it records an existing arrangement rather than creating a new transfer where possible, can reduce disputes and sometimes stamp duty. Advocate Sadhna Singh handles most documentation work of this kind and is usually the person you will deal with day to day.

When you do not need a lawyer

Not every legal task needs an advocate, and we will say so. A simple GST registration for a proprietorship can be done online by the owner or an accountant. A preliminary trademark search can be run on the public search facility of the Trade Marks Registry before you pay anyone. A consumer complaint for a small, clear claim can be filed by the consumer on the e-Jagriti portal without a lawyer. Standard rent agreements for modest residential tenancies often need nothing more than a reliable format and correct stamping.

Where you do need help is when the stakes are high, the document is unusual, the other side has lawyers, or the decision is hard to reverse. If you are unsure which side of that line you are on, a short consultation will usually settle it, and we will tell you if you can handle it yourself.

Who does the work

The firm's two advocates handle consultancy work themselves. Advocate B.K. Singh advises on structure, opinions, insolvency and disputes that may go to court, and his MCA background helps with technology contracts, software licensing and data protection clauses. Advocate Sadhna Singh drafts and reviews agreements, handles documentation and registration, and keeps clients informed as each job moves along.

Where a job needs a chartered accountant or company secretary, for tax structuring or statutory filings, we work alongside your own professionals or tell you what kind of specialist to engage. Where a matter turns into litigation, it moves to the relevant practice area, such as our corporate law practice, without starting from scratch.