The advisory board will include managing partners from Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co, AZB & Partners and Luthra & Luthra, as well as one of the legendary co-founders of Infosys and a host of other prominent industry figures.

NLSIU vice-chancellor Venkata Rao (pictured) said that while international expansion will be on the agenda, decisions would only be made once the new board is fully constituted and has had its first meeting in July or August of this year.

“Some of our members worked from Hong Kong and Singapore – it is quite possible we’ll examine the feasibility of [international chapters] and spread our wings,” he said.

Rao only took up the five-year appointment as vice-chancellor on 11 May 2009, succeeding A Jayagovind. Commenting on his vision for his new role, he told Legally India: “People take pride in the fact that Bangalore law school is the Harvard of the East - we will work continuously to make people say that Harvard is the Bangalore of the West.”

The advisory board could play a significant role, he said, particularly in improving the infrastructure and facilities and in withstanding the “fierce competition” in the global legal education sector. The board could also play a significant role in securing financing for NLSIU’s growth plans.

The idea for the advisory board came about during the organisation of NLSIU’s Focus India conference, which took place last week and discussed the emergence of India as an economic power.

Final year NLSIU student Sandeep Uberoi co-founded and organised the conference and will be joining US law firm O’Melveny & Myers’ Singapore office in September.

“It is about getting perspective and getting prominent people to advise law schools to take a different approach in India,” he said and added that the board was modelled on a similar body at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

NLSIU’s advisory board will include Amarchand joint managing partners Cyril Shroff and Shardul Shroff; former Amarchand equity partner and academic V C Umakanth; AZB & Partners co-founding partner Zia Mody; Luthra & Luthra managing partner Rajiv Luthra and Luthra & Luthra capital markets head and NLSIU alumnus Madhurima Mukherjee.

Prominent industry figures such as Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy and Jugnu Uberoi, owner of Uberoi Trading, will also sit on the board. It is understood that Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has also been approached to join.