LexisNexis Butterworths of Britain merges with Wadhwa Publishers

J. Venkatesan,    The Hindu

NEW DELHI: LexisNexis Butterworths of Britain has merged with leading law book publishers Wadhwa of Nagpur to play a crucial role in judicial and legal reforms in India.

Speaking at a function here to celebrate the recent merger of the two firms, Justice Altamas Kabir of the Supreme Court said that with the development of information technology industry and globalisation of laws, the legal and judicial fraternity in India frequently refer to legal developments and literature from abroad.

“There are different demands on the Indian legal system to cope with the changes and the content suite of LexisNexis Butterworths- Wadhwa Nagpur will aid in this process,” he added.

The Chairman of the Law Commission, Justice A. R. Lakshmanan, called the merger a significant development in the Indian legal industry. “Mergers and acquisitions sometimes happen between sick units but it is one of the rarest of rare events where two giants of the publishing industry have merged creating an entity that will be able to provide the best local and global content to the Indian legal industry,” he said.

Access to information

Delhi High Court Chief Justice A. P. Shah said, “As the Indian legal industry is expanding and the volume of cases and arrears in cases are increasing at a rapid speed, there is a need for easy access to information from various sources for providing speedy justice to the people. In Indian courts where case precedents are important, systematic and comprehensive archives and efficient law reporting can help lawyers and the judiciary to serve the people better.”

Commenting on the mega-merger, Robert Rigby-Hall, Senior Vice-President (Human Resources), LexisNexis Group and Managing Director of LexisNexis Butterworths-Wadhwa Nagpur said, “The combined company will help to provide richer, more comprehensive solutions to the Indian legal industry including integrated content from key markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.”

Significant value

The Wadhwa Brothers of Wadhwa Nagpur said, “The merger will add significant value to the Indian legal market and enable us to serve the global legal community’s interest in India more effectively.” Senior Supreme Court advocate K. K. Venugopal offered his felicitations to the new entity.

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