The Police

July 12, 2013

Today was my last day at Novus. I am going to miss the incredible people, engaging work environment, and collaborative approach to document review that I have come to know over the past 3 weeks. Working with an office staff comprised of young, but experienced lawyers who were all excited to be a part of Novus was a truly great experience. With backgrounds ranging from lower court litigation to government employment, my colleagues brought a wide range of expertise into their work. They all were easy to adapt to Novus’ collaborative approach, many times working together to find the direction to client needs, rather than taking directions from a direct overseeing manager. Overall, with such a helpful and open environment, I felt I knew what direction I needed to take my work throughout my entire time at the company.  

                My last week I worked in Relativity software to tag documents, make notations on key documents, and participate in online discussions on different documents from the case. Novus works both in the Relativity program to tag documents, but then also has its own online platform for communication and collaboration on the overall project.  Through this online platform, employees can do the basics like post questions, view central issues, and organize findings, but also can communicate with the client up front to clarify what product they should produce. This client centered communication allows Novus to constantly improve on quality, ensuring that the customer is not only satisfied, but that Novus will go beyond primary expectation. I suppose this reflects a new trend in the legal market. Whereas before law firms produced services behind a veil, it seems now transparency is key to law firm success. Novus ensures that the client not only knows what they are paying for, but ensures that throughout the engagement, when needs adapt, Novus adapts. Along these lines is key business efficiency and quality strategies designed from Six Sigma; a course that all of my colleagues had to some degree gone through. True to its design, the Novus process was cutting costs and improving quality, as evidenced by their continuing success. Overall, I believe that Novus’ client centered and transparent approach to litigation preparation gives the company an incredible advantage and I was happy to be a part of their team.

                As for the actual work itself, document review to me is like detective work. Each new document presents a possible new clue to the important case at hand. In a batch of 100 documents, many of them might not be relevant, but there is always a scandalous or noteworthy few that make the hunt worth the extra scrutiny. Further, organizing documents is like piecing together parts of a story. Slowly overtime, one comes to understand the minute details to the overall plot that makes an otherwise gray storyline colored with scandalous twists and intriguing themes. Viewed in this way, I was able to enjoy document review and truly gain a unique professional experience throughout my time at Novus. 

                In other news, I have of course been adventuring in my free time. And with so much adventuring, I have been able to cover many famous parts of the city. But when anyone adventures so much, there is always the risk that something will go wrong and as much as I’ve travelled, I’m surprised nothing went wrong sooner. But last weekend, I had my iPhone stolen right out of my pocket. Luckily, I can say that was all that happened. Further, I can blame myself for not taking precautions, instead having my headphones in at the busiest metro stop where signs everywhere warn of pick pockets. But I’m stubborn and I like my music.

 The thief simply stood behind me, waited for the sea of men to push onto the train, pulled on my headphones, and grabbed my iPhone. Of course, by the time he grabbed it, I was already being sucked onto the train and couldn’t push the crowd back, so he easily made off with it. As the train started to pull away, it seemed like everyone was trying to help me find it. We all searched in vain on the floors and even at the next stop when I got off to go back, someone came off with me and gave me the information for the police and a private company that tracks lost phones. So it was nice to know that everyone was willing to help. 

When I got back to the first station and went to the police, they told me, through a little charades and a few words of English, that I had to go halfway across the city to report the theft in another police station. I couldn’t go to the one across the street, I had to specifically go to the one across town. So I ventured by Metro to the police station where they wanted me to go. The police station was right in the metro stop and consisted of one room, probably not larger than your bedroom, with one desk, one bookshelf, four chairs, and four policemen talking over a cup of tea. I walked in and one of the policemen motioned to a chair. I waited for about five minutes before they finished their conversation. It seemed when they were ready to start work, one reached over to the bookshelf and pulled out a large, dusty tome and opened it to the last blank page. Another officer sat next to me, handed me a piece of paper and a pen and said, “Write down what you tell me, and I will believe you.” “Comforting,” I thought, and after a second though a little disconcerting, but nonetheless I told him my iPhone was stolen. He motioned toward the paper. I wrote down my exact words and he shook his head. He crumpled my paper and grabbed a different form. This one was an example that had the format of a letter, including the formal salutations of “dear respectful officer” and concluded with “respectfully”.  Through trial and error, I was able after about twenty minutes have a good copy of what he wanted in writing. Known as a FIR, I essentially wrote the police a letter, describing what had happened. The police officer did his best to copy my English down in his dusty book. He made sure after he was finished that my letter and his copied inscription matched perfectly. Once confirmed, he grabbed his official stamp, and with an overenthusiastic pound, formalized both documents with all of his government bestowed powers. With a copy of my letter, he sent me on my way and told me he would let me know if he was able to track my phone. 

So even though I’ll never see my phone again, my aunt says that if it makes a good story, it was worth it in the end. It’s always interesting to have a police story while visiting a foreign country, and I’m fine with this being my only one.

July 5, 2013

July 5, 2013

(Sorry! I meant to post this last week!)

                Another week in India! After a month, the culture shock is officially over, my stomach is well acquainted with the foreign tastes and spices, and my haggling skills are modestly improving. From exploring the city, I have already picked out a few favorite areas that offer escapes to an otherwise stressful city. I have become familiar with the protocol in entering Sikh Gurdwaras and Hindu temples, and find the somber recitations of prayer relaxing. The city slowly is becoming less foreign and I’m starting to understand life here in Delhi.

                One of the most interesting topics that I have learned the most about has been politics. As compared to western democracies, Indian politics is quite different.  Corruption and populism are inbred into political parties; without either it seems a major party wouldn’t survive. While major parties have flagrant flaws, minor parties never seem to reach out to a majority of the vote to shift the balance of power in the political system. Parties are less divided on rigid political stances and ideology and more on personality. As is true in America, Indians are likely to vote the same way their parents did. As such, major parties have both used and abused these loyal voters; often serving them before an election year to ensure their retention on power. Just recently Congress passed another food subsidy bill. This bill will add billions of dollars more to the already expansive food subsidy program in India. It seems almost a last ditch effort to garner votes for the Congress party after recent news that the economy has been weaker than expected; decreased growth rates and a very weak rupee spell trouble for the new emerging Indian market and even more trouble for the Congress party.

                While the outcome of the next election remains unclear, what is clear is that the ailing political system in India is beleaguering the great potential this nation has. On the one hand, the government is extremely bureaucratic and complicated. A massive and inconsistent application of regulations has drained confidence in the state system. Complex regulations encourage corruption. But while the government is complex and expansive, it does not adequately serve some of the main interests that would be expected of a public entity.  Lack of water lines, power lines, sewage drains, adequate roads, public schools, and public health initiatives breeds inequality across Delhi. Further, with only 3% of Indians paying taxes, the government remains almost helpless to put any service program into place that could adequately serve the billion people that live in the country. This backwards bureaucracy and inadequate social aid and infrastructure have left many people distrusting of the government and more importantly has halted Indian growth. Even as India continues to make huge strides forward, the political system remains not a help but a hindrance in many ways to the development of the country.

                I gave a presentation at Novus today about myself and then my perspective on politics. I compared what I had learned in the brief time here about Indian politics with what I knew about American politics, drawing similarities between problems and solutions for both nations. I think it’s important for any government to realize that there are key elements needed in a functioning government regardless of culture, history, or tradition. One of these key elements a government needs in fostering a progressive country is the trust of the people. As India faces this issue, so too does America. From NSA security issues to bipartisanship wrecking any hope for political action in Washington, mistrust in government only undermines a common cause in an otherwise powerful organization. Governments can seek to appease citizens with subsidies, but it’s the larger issues and the long run that will win the trust of the people. On this issue, perhaps Indian and America could learn from each other.

                Besides politics, I have also continued to adventure around Delhi! To celebrate the 4^th of July, we went to the American Embassy last weekend. The embassy party had all kinds of American food, live music, games, and of course a bar. A speech by Ambassador Powell was followed by fireworks and live music. Overall it was a great night. On the actual fourth, we met with some other expats and had a small party on a rooftop with smaller fireworks. It was nice to hear the boom of a firework off in the distance that night and know that we weren’t the only Americans in the city.

                At Novus this week, we worked on a new and exciting case the company just began. While weeding through documents can be tedious, I learn something new every hour! Furthermore, the office makes understanding the issues very easy. Communication is key and as such takes place on many different platforms. Overall, it’s interesting to be a part of such a large case!  

                This weekend I dive into the old city! Hopefully I’ll have some good stories for next w