14 Lawyers: Portraits from the Indian Bar

by Ramachandran, Raju

What makes a great lawyer?

Is it brilliance in the courtroom? Fearlessness in the face of power? Or the quiet discipline of a life devoted to the profession?

Set against the backdrop of landmark cases, political upheavals and the everyday life of the courts, 14 Lawyers is at once a tribute, a history and a deeply human account of the Indian legal profession. In these rich portraits, one of India’s most respected legal minds introduces us to 14 lawyers who embodied these qualities in very different ways. From the elegance of Tehmtan Andhyarujina to the firebrand idealism of Gobinda Mukhoty, from the intellectual subtlety of Lal Narayan Sinha to the moral clarity of V.M. Tarkunde, each chapter captures not just a career but also a way of being.

Set against the backdrop of landmark cases, political upheavals and the everyday life of the courts, 14 Lawyers is at once a tribute, a history and a deeply human account of the Indian legal profession.

152 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 12, 2026

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Reviews

[Enakshi J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up 14 Lawyers expecting a collection of legal biographies, but I found something much richer—a portrait of an era when advocacy was as much about integrity as it was about intellect. Raju Ramachandran doesn't merely recount careers; he captures personalities, principles and the values that shaped the Indian legal system. One line from the book stayed with me: "Each chapter captures not just a career but also a way of being." That, in many ways, is the soul of this book.

What I appreciated most was the author's conversational style. Rather than reading like a history textbook, the chapters unfold through anecdotes, courtroom exchanges and personal recollections. The account of Frank Anthony's confrontation with B.G. Verghese and the affectionate portraits of lawyers like Gobinda Mukhoty and Lal Narayan Sinha make these legal stalwarts feel remarkably human. The black-and-white photographs preceding each chapter are a thoughtful touch—they lend authenticity and allow readers to put faces to the names, making each profile feel more intimate.


Read the full review here: https://aliveshadow.com/review-14-law...

[Harini Sankar · Rating 4 out of 5]

my bosses Shruti and Siddharth gifted me this and I breezed through a non-fiction book, it was honestly fun!