Ikigai Law advised on the design of an AI-powered lawyer discovery platform in India, one of the world’s strictest environment for lawyer advertising and solicitation. Lawyer discovery in India raises complex legal and ethical constraints arising from the Bar Council of India's advertising, solicitation, and professional conduct rules. We had to navigate these while preserving the commercial viability of a technology-led product built on data, analytics, and algorithmic recommendations. A central challenge is assessing whether automated lawyer listings, rankings and analytics could be characterised as a facilitation of prohibited lawyer solicitation or referral. This required a first-principles analysis of BCI rules, constitutional free speech considerations, intermediary liability doctrines, and comparative regulatory approaches to legal-tech platforms across jurisdictions.
We conducted a detailed review of the client's platform flows, user journeys, content design, and presentation layers to mitigate regulatory exposure. This included advising on the framing of lawyer profiles, visibility mechanics, disclaimers, search and filtering logic, algorithmic outputs, and the separation between informational content and any features that could be perceived as promotional or referral-driven.
We also advised on risks arising from the use of public court data and legal records for analytics and insights. This involved analysing data protection implications, permissible use of judicial information, profiling concerns under emerging privacy frameworks, and potential liability arising from accuracy, interpretation, and reputational impact. Particular attention was paid to AI-driven outputs, including ranking logic, recommendation systems, and inference-based features, given the absence of clear regulatory guidance on algorithmic evaluation of legal professionals.
The result was a product design in which professional-conduct constraints were built into the platform's structure from the outset, rather than added afterward as disclaimers.
"The exercise required translating abstract professional ethics restrictions into implementable product design constraints without diluting user experience or platform utility. This mandate was significant because it sat at the intersection of legal ethics, platform regulation, data governance, and AI product design." – Aman Taneja, Partner and Lead (AI Practice Group) at Ikigai Law.
The Ikigai Law team advising on this matter comprised Anirudh Rastogi (Founding Partner) Vijayant Singh (Principal Associate), Abhigyan Tripathi (Associate), and Akshat Tenneti (Associate).
Frequently asked questions
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Can a law firm or lawyer advertise in India?
In India, advocates are subject to restrictions on advertising and solicitation under the Bar Council of India Rules. The relevant provision is Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules. The prohibition is not absolute. For example, an advocate or firm may maintain a website and furnish specified, factual information. In practice this means that Indian lawyers and firms may provide accurate, informational content about themselves and their practice, but may not solicit work or advertise in a promotional or comparative manner.
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Is an AI-powered lawyer-discovery or legal services platform legal in India?
An AI-powered platform that lists, ranks, or recommends lawyers operates in a legally complex space in India, though it is not prohibited as such. The main considerations are: the Bar Council of India's rules on advertising and solicitation, which restrict how lawyers may be promoted and raise the question of whether automated listings, rankings, or recommendations could be seen as facilitating prohibited solicitation or referral; intermediary liability and the platform's responsibility for the content and outputs it hosts or generates; and data protection and the permissible use of public court records and judicial data for analytics, profiling, and inference-based features. Because there is limited specific regulatory guidance on the algorithmic evaluation of lawyers, the legality of such a platform depends heavily on how it is designed, in particular the separation between neutral, informational content and any feature that could be characterised as promotional or referral-driven. Ikigai Law has advised on the design of such a platform to align it with these constraints.
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What are the rules on lawyer solicitation and referrals in India?
Under the Bar Council of India Rules, advocates are restricted not only from advertising but also from soliciting work, whether directly or indirectly. The relevant provision is Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules. This restriction extends to indirect solicitation, which is why arrangements involving third parties, referrals, or platforms that channel work to particular lawyers require careful analysis. Whether a given arrangement amounts to prohibited solicitation or referral depends on its specific structure.
