About Advocate Panchanand Shaw

How this practice is organised

The office runs as a two-part practice: advisory work, which is almost entirely documentary and can be handled remotely, and litigation, which is tied to court listings. Advisory instructions — title opinions, contract review, compliance queries, replies to notices — are turned around on documents sent by email. Litigation instructions are taken on after the pleadings, the order sheet and the earlier correspondence have been seen, because the first decision in any case is which forum has jurisdiction and that cannot be guessed from a description alone.

Every matter is handled by the advocate personally. There is no layer of case managers between the client and the person who signs the pleading, and the same person answers the questions that arise between hearings.

What the practice covers

Working with clients abroad

A significant part of the practice is NRI work, and it is the part where the paperwork matters most. Documents executed abroad usually need notarisation in the country of execution, apostille or consular attestation, and sometimes adjudication in India before an instrument can be used. Where a client cannot travel, a properly drawn power of attorney, executed before the appropriate authority and stamped in India within three months of its receipt, allows the case to proceed without their physical presence. Getting that sequence right at the start saves a wasted trip later.

Consultations are held by phone, Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp video, and times are held across time zones for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Gulf and Singapore.

Fees and engagement

The first conversation is free. After that, fees are quoted in writing and depend on the forum, the volume of material and whether the matter is advisory or contested. Nothing is charged before an estimate is accepted. Where the matter goes to more than one forum — a civil suit and a criminal complaint arising from the same transaction, for instance — the two are quoted separately so that the client can decide whether to run them in parallel.

What to send with a first enquiry

For most matters the useful bundle is short: the notice or order received, the agreement or title document, the transaction record or statement, and a dated chronology of what happened in the client's own words. Email these to advocatepanchanand@gmail.com or reach the office at +91-9007000603. A first assessment is usually given within 24 hours on working days.

How a matter is run, from the first call to the final order

The work follows a fixed sequence, and knowing it in advance removes most of the uncertainty a client feels at the start.

1. First contact. A short conversation establishes the area of law, whether a deadline is running, and what documents exist. No fee is quoted at this stage because the facts have not been seen.
2. Document review. The papers are read in full — the notice or order, the agreement or title chain, the correspondence and the earlier order sheet. This is where the real assessment happens, and it is usually done within two working days of receiving the papers.
3. Written assessment. The client receives a short note setting out the forum, the route, the realistic timeline, the documents still needed and the fee estimate. The note is deliberately short, because a long one tends to bury the two or three points that matter.
4. Filing and interim stage. The pleading or application is drafted, circulated to the client for approval, filed, and then mentioned for listing where urgency justifies it. Defects raised by the filing department are cured and the matter is taken on the board.
5. Hearings and reporting. After each effective hearing the order is read, its effect explained and the next date recorded. Where an order needs to be appealed, the client is told at that point rather than after the appeal period has run.
6. Conclusion and execution. A decree or order is not the end. Execution, compliance, mutation, or the recording of a compromise are separate steps, and they are taken up as part of the same engagement.

What this office does not do

It does not take instructions on the strength of a telephone description alone, because a defence or a claim planned without the documents is usually planned wrongly. It does not promise outcomes, because the facts and the forum decide them. It does not accept a matter where a conflict of interest exists with an existing client, and that check is made before the first consultation. And it does not hold original documents longer than the filing requires, since originals are returned once the purpose for which they were taken is over.

How documents and evidence are handled

Papers are digitised on receipt and stored against the matter, so that a document sent once does not have to be sent again. Where originals are needed for filing, they are taken against an acknowledgement and returned after the filing is complete. Clients are advised never to send originals by ordinary post and never to send passwords, one-time codes or account credentials by any channel, because no legitimate step in a legal matter requires them.

Confidentiality

Everything disclosed in a consultation is confidential, including the fact that a consultation took place. Information is shared outside the office only where the client authorises it in writing, where a court requires it, or where a statute obliges disclosure. Where a matter requires an expert — a forensic accountant, a valuer, a handwriting expert — the client is told before any material is shared.

How to raise a concern

Where a client is unhappy about the handling of a matter, the concern should be put in writing to the office so that it can be addressed on the record. Complaints about professional conduct are separately dealt with by the Bar Council of West Bengal, whose procedure is published and independent of this office. Raising a concern internally first is usually the faster route, but it is not a precondition to approaching the Council.

To discuss a matter, call +91-9007000603 or write to the office. The first consultation is free.

Experience, and what it means in practice

Five years of continuous litigation practice in Kolkata is not a long career, but it is long enough to have seen the same mistakes repeated across matters. It means the office has run bail applications at night before the remand court, argued interim injunctions on a day's notice, filed writ petitions on a representation that was never answered, and taken dishonour complaints from the notice stage to conviction. It also means the office knows which of those steps can be done without the client travelling and which cannot.

Claims about experience are easy to make and hard to check. The check available to a client is the work itself: ask what happened in the last three matters of this kind, and what the realistic timeline and cost were. That is the answer given in a first consultation, and it is given in numbers rather than in adjectives.

What the practice deliberately does not claim

The office does not claim specialisation in every field, it does not publish client names or outcomes as testimonials, and it does not describe itself as the leading or best firm in any category. Those claims cannot be verified and they do not help a client decide. What can be verified is the forum, the route, the documents needed and the fee, and those are what a first consultation sets out.

To discuss a matter, call +91-9007000603 or write to the office. The first consultation is free.