20 Jan 2012

Online Legal Due Diligence In India

Legal due diligence in India is passing through a transformation stage. Concepts like electronic legal due diligence in India and technology related due diligence in India are frequently heard in India these days.

Till now legal due diligence in India is mainly performed in a traditional manner. Physical storage of information and documents in the data rooms is the traditional method of making available information for due diligence and various legal purposes.

However, virtual data rooms (VDRs) have changed the entire scenario. Using data rooms for legal compliances and mergers and acquisitions in India and abroad is giving way to using VDRs for the same and many more legal and non legal purposes. Clearly, virtual data rooms and legal compliances in India are increasingly seen as inseparable and more stress is given to perform online legal due diligence in India these days.

VDRs and online legal due diligence in India would also facilitate e-discovery in India. Presently, e-discovery services in India are still grooming. Some recent episodes have shown the importance of e-discovery for social media in India.

However, we need privacy laws in India, data protection laws in India and data security laws in India to make online due diligence a success in India. Similarly, use of is also not desirable at this stage unless there are sufficient procedural, legal and technical safeguards at place. Cloud computing in India is still not trusted and most of the clouds computing service providers in India are not aware of the stringent laws of India that they frequently violate.

The cyber law trends in India 2012 by Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have clearly projected that cyber law due diligence in India would going to increase. In fact cyber law due diligence for Indian companies has become so important that it must be made a part of their policies and corporate strategies. One thing that is inevitable in India is the use of online legal due diligence in India in the coming years.