Adv. Juilee Ghadge is a first-generation Advocate enrolled with Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa having expertise in the niche area of handling property succession matters at Bombay High Court (especially for clients who are Non-Resident Indians or Overseas Citizens of India) and property related documentation.
Since you are a first-generation advocate, what motivated you to pursue law?
Juilee: Honestly, Law as a career was not my first preference. I was pursuing my Company Secretary (CS) professional course before I joined Law. After I completed my 12th exam, I enrolled for a CS course as I wanted to have one professional degree in addition to my B.Com degree. I joined Law thinking that CS and LL.B is a good combination and it will give me better opportunities for my career as a Company Secretary. But after completing my CS course and doing my mandatory CS internship, I thought of doing an internship with my professor in Law college, who was a practicing Advocate specialising in redevelopment matters and property documentation and I realised that I liked doing legal internship more than CS internship. So I decided to take up Law as my career.
What drives you to practice some of the relatively niche areas of law such as succession and NRI matters?
Juilee: My specialisation in the niche area of property succession matters, focussing more on NRI clients has evolved over the period of time. In the initial days of my practice, I did litigation matters at City Civil Court, Small Causes Court, High Court and realised that I do not like doing litigation. I always enjoyed drafting property documents and was passionate about drafting a perfect draft, but I did not want to limit myself only to chamber practice and not appearing in court at all.
I was looking for a sort of balance between court appearance and chamber practice. When I handled property succession matters i.e. testamentary matters at Bombay High Court like Probate, Legal Heirship Certificate, Letters of Administration (LOA), Succession Certificate etc., I realised that these matters are mostly uncontested i.e. all legal heirs are in consent to conclude the succession of their parental properties. Only in a few cases, there are disputes between legal heirs.
These uncontested matters get concluded in a specific time period if handled systematically and these matters involve property related documentation as well. I found the balance which I was seeking and decided to focus on these matters only to develop my specialised practice..
Could you elaborate on the field ‘Redevelopment’, as an area of practice? What services do you offer under this?
Juilee: Redevelopment is an interesting topic. I stay in Mumbai and redevelopment is happening in almost every corner of the city. Basically, redevelopment is when an old, dilapidated building will be demolished and a new building will be constructed in its place. All the existing occupants of the old building will get permanent alternate accommodation in the new building in lieu of their old premises. Plus there will be new premises in the new building, which the Developer/Builder will sell to new people.
Sometimes the old building can be a co-operative housing society involving its members, other times it can be a tenanted building wherein there is a landlord and tenants. Developer/Builder is also an important part of the redevelopment process. All parties have their lawyers like Developer will have its own lawyer, Society or Landlord will have their own lawyer, Tenants will have their own lawyer.
Lot of negotiations are involved in one redevelopment project as existing occupants are going to leave their homes and will be dependent on the Developer to handover them a new home in an agreed period of time, plus there are other crucial aspects like payment of rent, corpus amount, parking facility, other amenities etc.
I provide drafting services like drafting of initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between all parties, drafting of Development Agreement (DA) between Developer and Landlord or Society, drafting of Permanent Alternate Accommodation Agreement (PAAA) for individual members/ tenants.
Redevelopment process can conclude without litigation, if all parties honour their respective obligations agreed upon. However, in case there is any breach, or dispute, it can get converted into legal battles. I don’t handle the litigation part of it and generally suggest counsel if it gets converted into a legal battle.
Since you show a knack towards the subject of Philosophy, do you incorporate that in your legal profession?
Juilee: Yes. Of Course. I am a Member and Volunteer of the School of Practical Philosophy called- New Acropolis, where we focus on Living Philosophy i.e. Philosophy as a way of life and not just intellectualising the concepts. The word Philosophy means ‘Love for Wisdom’, seeking to understand mysteries of life and I believe ethics, virtues are the foundation of Living Philosophy.
One of the main reasons I chose not to continue hardcore litigation was because it was not aligned with my work ethics, my perspective towards life. (I don’t mean all litigation is like that, I also handle limited part of litigation where I am convinced of the merits of the testamentary case, but I mean litigation which is malicious or which does not have any merit but are based on ego clashes). I always wanted to work in a way which will have a constructive impact, I wanted to see the bigger picture. Just getting paid for my court appearance and continuing litigation for years was not what I wanted to do. That’s why I have chosen my niche area of practice in succession laws where I help families to navigate succession of their parental properties smoothly. 3 main principles on which my practice is based are- 1. Simplified Legal Solutions, 2. Client-Centric Approach and 3. End-to-End Support.
I completed 60 hours of mediation training as I truly believe in resolving conflicts through discussions rather than being involved in legal battles. I run my legal practice with transparency and honesty. I keep my clients informed about every stage of matter. If a succession matter is going to get complicated at a later stage, I inform clients in advance and take up the matter only when the client knows the whole picture and is ready to tackle those complexities. I maintain high quality in drafting my petitions, applications and property documents.
I also actively volunteer with an all India organisation of Advocates called Adhivakta Parishad. Volunteering helps one to know how to serve others, how to think beyond self. So yes, my legal practice is aligned with my aspiration of Living Philosophy.
Since you have had the role of a professor of law for almost three years, how different do you feel the approach has to be for the fields of academia and litigation?
Juilee: I was teaching ‘Mercantile Law’ to CA students in a private class while doing my practice, so I do not have experience of being a full time professor in a law college. From my limited experience, it is my perception that litigation is more dynamic and challenging than being in the field of academia. In academia, you choose your particular subject and the syllabus is mostly standard whereas while handling litigation, you have to do research in various laws as you deal with multiple cases in different courts. In addition to research, one has to learn court craft (i.e. how to address a judge, how to put forth one’s contentions, how to deal with an opponent lawyer in arguments, how to do examination, cross-examination of witnesses etc.) which is a different game altogether. Delivering a lecture of law will involve mastering public speaking, but convincing a judge about your client’s merits is very different from delivering a lecture in front of, say, even 100 students.
As an advocate yourself, do you feel there is a practical divide between NLU and non-NLU grads?
Juilee: I am a non-NLU grad myself. I don’t have personal experience of the divide between NLU and non-NLU grads, but I have heard that some Tier I Law Firms hire only NLU grads. I want to share my practical experience here. I wanted to get admission in Government Law College (GLC), Mumbai; but I could not. I did my Law from New Law College, Mumbai. Also, I have heard that some firms accept only GLC students. I was disheartened in the beginning but I was determined not to let this affect my legal practice. I was always inclined to do my own practice rather than working for a big law firm. So I worked in that direction. Now I work for some law firms who engage my services to handle their testamentary matters. Me being non-NLU or non-GLC student did not affect my potential to develop my own practice. I want to tell law students, new law graduates who are reading this- please don’t get disheartened if you don’t get admission in your preferred law college. Focus on developing practical skills and capabilities, honour your commitments, learn sincerely and that will be the game changer.
On what basis do you recruit an intern or an employee at your chamber?
Juilee: I mainly look for sincerity, keenness to learn and accountability in an intern. One must take charge of the assignment, task given. Doing mistakes is understood, but one should be ready to learn from mistakes.
How far do you think aspects such as client counselling and a client-centric approach is necessary in bringing the best solutions to the table?
Juilee: I believe client counselling and a client-centric approach is absolutely necessary to provide simplified and holistic legal solutions, therefore my legal practice is based on these principles.
I deal with property succession matters from one generation to another , which inevitably involve dealing with clients who are coping with the death of a dear and near ones. Sometimes I just have to provide them safe space to express themselves, their grief, before dealing with technical and legal aspects of obtaining Probate of Will or Letters of Administration etc.
When I am drafting a Will, I have to be sensitive to the client who is thinking about making arrangements that will take effect after his death. Sometimes clients don’t understand the legal implications and think based on ego, temporary feelings. At such a time I have to make them realise the practicalities, see the whole picture.
Sometimes people, like witnesses of the Will, do not want to file an affidavit in Court thinking it’s some legal battle, in such cases I have to ensure that witnesses understand the correct nature of the uncontested matter, they understand what affidavit they are signing and the whole process is least bothersome to them.
Most of the time, clients need my end-to-end support, especially NRI clients or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI Card Holders), so I take their power of attorneys and admit registration of documents in India, signed by them abroad. I coordinate for registration associates, notary advocate home visits at elderly clients’ places. These aspects are crucial in a legal practice and go a long way in helping you develop your practice.
With the progress in AI, do you think the skill of research and drafting original content is getting overshadowed?
Juilee: I think original content has to come from real life experiences, reflections of a human being. AI can be used to create better structure for the presentation/expression of original content and it can definitely be supportive in legal research.
How do you think volunteering often influences your outlook at the workplace?
Juilee: It helped me immensely. As I mentioned earlier, volunteering makes one think beyond self and serve others selflessly. Of course I want to make good money from my profession, but with volunteering experience, money is not my only focus. My main focus is resolving my clients’ issues. I am happy when my client’s problem is resolved and to make this happen, I am okay to go an extra mile in my legal services. I understand people come to a lawyer only when in pain or any difficult/demanding situation. Volunteering helps me to think from my clients perspective, and it’s my experience that when you go an extra mile for your clients, most of the clients acknowledge that and you become their trusted family lawyer, similar to the concept of family doctor.
Your YouTube channel is growing. How do you manage time between work and making videos?
Juilee: Honestly, I lack consistency in making videos. I am planning to post one video a week in 2025. It’s my new year’s resolution and I am hopeful to fulfill it. I think analysis paralysis is the main issue. I started my channel without thinking much about making a perfect edited video. I focused on delivering quality content. I believe the expertised knowledge I have is the need of the hour. Many senior citizens, co-operative housing societies need to understand property succession laws. Making a crisp video in easy language is what is important and that doesn’t take much time when you know your subject well.
How do you envision the future of your practice?
Juilee: I envision myself as a counsel having expertise in testamentary, succession matters in the Bombay High Court. At present I have handled almost 100 succession matters at Bombay High Court. I want to reach the point of handling at least 100 matters a year in the near future, because property succession is a matter of concern for every family. I want to systemize my legal practice with help of SOPs, standard requisition lists and other knowledge resources for my existing clients. I also want to focus more on networking, making more people aware of the succession laws, so that people can make informed decisions about succession of their properties. Also, want to contribute substantially in the field of mediation. I want to continue creating a positive impact with my work.
