From his childhood days, Mr Ranganath Mysore was fascinated with the law and had an immense passion for science fiction. Hence, he always wanted to explore software technology and combine software with legal aspects. And when cyberspace was brought into the ambit of law, cyber privacy laws emerged.
It was the time to follow his lifelong passion and Mr Ranganath Mysore, the Founder, decided to practice full time as an Advocate in the Cyber space. And it is his passion towards the law that made him venture Roots Cyber Law Firm, to create legally safe environments for all of its clients.
“Believing that prevention is better than cure in cyberspace, the word ‘Roots’ emerged, telling our clients, we will fix issues and provide legal solutions, by finding out the root of the issues,” Mr Ranganath Mysore divulged to our team of Insights Success, who were on the quest to find out ‘The Most Trusted Law Firms in India, 2022’.
Roots cyber law firm was formed to protect all its clients, to be compliant in their day-to-day operations, and adhere to compliance. Onboard of Roots are the leading cybercrime lawyers in Bengaluru. They suggest privacy by design, secure coding, providing awareness for the larger population to keep them safe and much more. While the Roots team is passionate about each stream of operation, Mr Ranganath Mysore is their trump card.
Ace of the Agency
Mr Ranganath Mysore comes with a unique educational combination and experience in computers, management, and law with degree/s in MBA, PGDCA & LL.B. And he has a post-Graduation degree in Cyber Laws and Cyber Forensics from National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and has also undergone CHFI (Cyber Hacking and Forensics Investigator) form EC-Council, PMP (Project Management Professional) from PMI (Project Management Institute) and certified as a DCPLA® (DSCI Certified Privacy Lead Assessor) from DSCI (Data Security Council of India).
He is an Ex-IBMer with over 20 years of industry experience, a strong leader who works well under pressure. During his industry tenure he has handled master service agreements, SOW, contracts, project management, managed large projects, developed software, etc. With his varied roles and responsibilities, he understands business transaction and the complexities of the legal system and fill the GAPs for compliance.
He has been part of many panels and media discussions on the subject of cyber laws. He is on the panels of leading Banks and caters to over fifty start-ups and corporates for cyber corporate compliance. And he had also handled numerous cases related to cyber laws.
He was a visiting faculty at NLSIU and Cyber forensics to post-Graduation students during 2020-2021.
The Leading Cybercrime Firm
Predominantly, the agency provides services related to cyber, privacy laws and corporate compliance such as drafting terms and conditions, cookie policies, privacy policies and vetting contracts, agreements, and all other allied services to the corporates. It also represents its clients, in the court of law, in various cases.
For individuals, it helps in lodging cyber fraud complaints in police stations and also handles cases related to the Information Technology Act (ITA) in the court of law. It provides awareness programs related to cybercrimes, through online and offline modes.
Solving Issues
The agency’s first challenge was how to get clients and answer the question why should clients come to it? The firm solved it, by providing online solutions which reduced turnaround times. It further innovated the way those solutions are offered and specialized its other cyberlaw offerings, which made clients believe in the agency and they started to engage with it more and more.
The next challenge was to understand various legal processes, build a team that can deliver with passion and understands cyberspace, that is, how the technology and legal aspects go hand-in-hand.
Another big challenge was getting adjusted to the paper culture, after coming from a paperless corporate culture. In corporate offices, the team was used to working paperless and all approvals, communication, meetings etc. would take place over email, conference/video calls.
But in courts and advocates offices there were no emails, no online filings, not much use of technology. Almost everything required physical presence and hard copies. In short, the Roots team met with bundles and bundles of papers.
At that time, Mr Ranganath Mysore felt that the courts can operate online. They can have video calls for hearings. Filing new cases can be online. According to him, getting scanned certified copies to email rather than prints, service of summons via WhatsApp, email etc. will save a lot of time and money for all stakeholders. Because currently, to get a summon served to an accused in a cheque bounce case it takes a minimum of 2-3 months from the date of filing the case.
He says that when he suggested this to his colleagues, they laughed at him saying it will not happen here, as it is only for corporate offices. In fact, Mr Ranganath Mysore wants to pen down his thoughts for easing the current process of cyber law for various cases.
Winning Over the Pandemic
According to Mr Ranganath Mysore, pandemic time was both a curse and a boon. A curse because it had affected many lives globally and businesses went for a total loss. The economy collapsed and courts were also shut down for a considerable time and they were not able to attend courts as well. Of course, their profession was affected with no income or a minimal income. It was a horrible situation and the Roots team lost a few of its member’s nearest and dearest friends, colleagues, and family members.
But it was also a boon because the pandemic forced courts to adopt to online filings, virtual hearings etc. Somewhere it had started, and the courts are changing their processes to use the technology more. And at this juncture, Mr Ranganath Mysore said that the firm had an upper hand with technological know-how. During this time, the firm was able to help many advocates in filing online cases, helped them in online hearings, and also conducted online arguments.
With its corporate clients being onboard, the firm was able to minimize its damages. It had worked towards executing and setting up many of its client’s business from offline to online, drafting terms and conditions, executing online contracts etc.
“Moreover, we can’t forget our corporate clients who kept us as a retainer and helped us survive by reducing the damage,” Mr Ranganath Mysore pointed out.
The Legal Advice
As per Mr Ranganath Mysore, there is a saying that ‘legal profession is a noble profession’ and he witnessed it first-hand after going in as a practising advocate at the Bar. Thus, his advice for the young generation is to enjoy the profession and understand that this is the only profession which is ‘jack of all and master of none’. It means, as an advocate, one needs to touch all the subjects, based on the case, he/she handles, like it may be medicine, business, technology, engineering, pharma etc. And the challenges here will sharpen the individual’s problem-solving skills.
According to Mr Ranganath Mysore, in legal space, there are many specialized laws like ITA, POCSO, the Consumer Protection Act 2019 etc. Commercial courts are already functional for commercial disputes. This introduction makes it a specialized subject matter and thus it narrows down to specialization. Hence, he thinks that one needs to learn at a quicker pace to cope up with these new developments.
Roots Future Goal
Mr Ranganath Mysore also has no doubt that this profession, which has in the past created and, in the present, is creating great leaders to lead the human society, will keep doing so in the future as well.
Roots Cyber Law Firm wants to secure all of its clients, with preventive measures and minimized litigations. Mr Ranganath Mysore expects that in the next ten years, the firm would be serving globally, with its existence in all the places. He concludes with the belief that change is inevitable and they are ready for that change, with a technological edge.
