New Delhi: From alimony debates to dating disclaimers, India’s legal professionals are turning into social media influencers—one reel at a time. But bar councils aren’t amused.
Take advocate Umar Ali from Uttar Pradesh. He regularly appears on Instagram in his black robes, often in court corridors, dishing out advice in Hindi on a host of relationship-related legal matters from a “girlfriend’s rights to maintenance”, when saying a simple “I love you” could land you in jail to a husband’s rights when the wife is in an extra-marital affair.
Ali’s handle, legal.baatein, has close to 10 lakh followers, a blue tick and a steady stream of videos on laws related to relationships, marriages, life partners and divorce.
He is not alone. Dozens of such lawyers are now doling out quirky relationship tips, maintenance hacks and case law in memes. They wear black coats, shoot reels in court corridors, and explain various sections with trending audio in the background.
Legal content is trending like never before. From prenups to ‘I love you’ jail clauses, legal influencers are reshaping how young Indians understand the law.
But Bar Councils are not amused. With the line between public legal education and personal brand-building becoming increasingly blurred, they are now cracking down on what they call “unethical canvassing”.
On 4 August, the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) issued a notice warning lawyers against using social media to solicit work or advertise services, describing such activities as “unethical canvassing” and violative of professional ethics.
The BCD particularly flagged concerns over “self-styled legal influencers” who may not have the proper credentials and yet post content that spreads misinformation on critical legal topics
Earlier this year, on 17 March, the Bar Council of India (BCI) issued a similar directive, strongly condemning legal advertising through social media, influencer marketing and short-form video content.
Citing the proliferation of misleading information on subjects like matrimonial disputes, taxation, intellectual property and privacy rights, the BCI urged state bar councils to initiate action under the Advocates Act, 1961.
“These reels are complete violations of the rule of professional conduct laid down by the Bar Council. This amounts to attracting and alluring people to come to you and hand over their briefs to you, which is not allowed,” Ved Prakash Sharma, co-chairman of the Bar Council of India since 2019 and a former chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi, told ThePrint.
“The BCI had issued a notice to all state bar councils to warn all advocates enrolled with them against indulging in any kind of publicity, advertisement, reels on Instagram, Facebook,” he added.
According to him, under the rules, an advocate is only permitted to write his name, address, telephone number, email ID, enrollment number, date of enrolment, name of the state bar council where he’s enrolled, name of the bar association of which he is a member, his professional and academic qualification, and areas of practice on websites and letterheads.
He said that posting successful bail or injunction orders for clients is prohibited.
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Black robes and blue ticks
Supreme Court advocates have also jumped on the social media bandwagon.
Amish Aggarwala, an advocate with 13 years of practice under his belt, often uses his Instagram handle, amish.adv, to post on his cases of dowry, divorces, rape, maintenance and live-in relationships, pointing out the mistakes made by clients and “injustices faced by men”.
With over 379,000 followers, he often finds humour in SC rulings and also delves into philosophical and professional advice for men and lawyers representing them in cases filed by women against them.
If Aggarwala focuses on advice for men, another lawyer, Tanya Appachu Kaul, looks at the other side and routinely posts philosophical and real-time guidance to women about relationships, maternity benefits, toxicity, pre-nuptial contracts and traditional wife culture. Her handle, yourinstalawyer, has over 241,000 followers.
Satyaki Roy, a West Bengal advocate who runs the Instagram account legalbysatyaki, has a stream of posts that include breaking down “divorce grounds” in a minute, going into Hardik Pandya’s divorce case or explaining the consequences of smoking marijuana under the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 – all in Bengali.
One video by Roy—who has almost 30,000 followers, a blue tick and collaborative details in their profile—even offers “relationship advice” in advocate attire with a disclaimer that it’s meant for entertainment purposes. The post has over 6,500 likes and 355 comments.
Advocate Likitha Avare’s Instagram account, legalshotswithvakeel, has 27,000 followers and calls herself ‘The QUEEN of Law Memes’. She makes routine videos and memes about the everyday lives of law students or practicing lawyers with trending audio.
What does the law say?
The crackdown by bar councils this year isn’t the first time.
In July 2024, a Madras High Court ruling cautioning against the commercialisation of legal services prompted the BCI to tighten its stance and crack down on legal advertisements, especially against advocates listing themselves on online platforms like Justdial, Sulekha, Quikr and Grotal.
Similarly, the State Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana followed suit with a notice on 31 July, warning against social media endorsements.
The legal basis for such disciplinary action lies in Sections 35 and 36 of the Advocates Act, 1961. Section 35 empowers State Bar Councils to initiate inquiries and impose penalties on advocates found guilty of misconduct. Section 36 grants similar authority to the Bar Council of India.
In addition, Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules explicitly prohibits lawyers from advertising, whether directly or indirectly, through any medium. This rule forms the ethical backbone for the profession’s long-standing aversion to self-promotion.
A violation of this rule can lead to penalties under Section 36 of the Advocates Act, ranging from suspension, removal or a reprimand depending on the degree of the misconduct.
Legal educational content vs promotion and advertisement
With short-form legal content now populating many social media feeds, especially for those following legal news, experts are raising questions about when such content crosses into unethical promotion.
Many lawyers and law students who create reels that explain legal rights, marriage laws and divorce procedures claim they are offering public legal education.
Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) President Advocate Vipin Nair explained the problem.
“By definition, advertising is prohibited. Earlier, it was surrogate advertising through directories or magazines. Now with platforms like Instagram and Twitter, the lines blur. Sharing personal opinions is one thing, but when personal contact details start flashing, that crosses into promotional territory.”
He emphasised the need for clear regulation, suggesting the creation of dedicated social media monitoring cells within bar councils to examine complaints.
SCAORA also submitted its recommendations to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the last week of July, flagging concerns over the use of videos of courtroom proceedings and requesting a comprehensive set of guidelines from the top court prohibiting the use of courtroom photographs and videos on social media to solicit work.
But Nair said that the CJI can only issue guidelines concerning the Supreme Court complex. Regulation at a national level would require proactive action from Bar Councils.
Various lawyers submitted a similar letter to the Supreme Court, drawing notice to the creation of content in court premises and the compromise of security as the court complex is a high security risk zone.
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Calls for clearer guidelines
SCAORA Secretary Advocate Nikhil Jain supported the BCI’s notice, stating, “There is sanctity attached to court proceedings. We must not allow social media to become an indirect way of flouting rules. The rising trend of young lawyers promoting their work on Instagram or LinkedIn should be discouraged.”
Lawyer and founder of Pink Legal and Partner at Numen Law Offices, Manasi Chaudhari, also backed the regulatory concerns, warning that turning legal advice into a business risks eroding the ethics of the profession.
She acknowledged that many advocates do post content with the intention of spreading awareness, but noted that issues arise when these posts include direct solicitation, consultation or booking links, or spread false information.
She suggested a middle ground—allowing educational legal content without any “call to action.” That means no links for consultation, no promotion of legal services, and no overt solicitation of clients.
However, she cautioned that any new guidelines must be clearly worded and developed with an understanding of how online content creation works to avoid further confusion.
Another content creator and Advocate on Record, who did not want to be identified, called for clearer guidelines on the issue.
She warned of the risks faced by people who shared their lives online, and criticised people who described this as “advertisement”, urging them to “grow a spine and take on trolls”. According to her, much of the backlash stems from “jealousy”.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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