Previously viewed as a department solely focused on expenses, legal teams have undergone a significant shift. What are the key factors that have propelled legal teams from a cost centre to a strategic partner within organisations?

The key factors are –

(i) recognition that in-house counsels are sound advisors who understand business and risk and offer balanced advise;

(ii) the ever increasing complex laws and regulations mushrooming across the country and the world; which require dedicated legal experts to analyse and interpret and keep the organisation they represent on the right side of compliance;

(iii) being given a seat on the table as part of leadership deals and business plan meetings; such that they know how the organisation is thinking and what its risk appetite is, even before they get to legal analysis; and lastly

(iv) the legal teams also help represent organisations at key legal only forums and become part of the conversation on ongoing and upcoming laws and regulations. 

Can you share the impact mentorship had on your professional journey? In your current role, what are the opportunities you get to mentor young talent?

Mentorship plays a crucial role on one’s professional journey. Personally, I feel the right mentor (there is no good or bad) can make or break your career. It is so critical for young talent to get the right guidance and direction from the very start, such that they can make the most of the opportunities they are presented with and thereby setting themselves up for success. 

Personally for me, I have always had great mentors through all my professional working years and in my current role as Partner at YVLC, I get to mentor a lot of young talent through the robust YVLC Internship Program and even outside of it. 

With the recent surge in data privacy regulations (e.g., Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023), many companies are struggling to comply. Do you think in-house legal teams in the technology industry might benefit from adding specialists in data privacy to effectively address these challenges?

Most in-house legal teams already have counsels who specialise in Data Privacy and work on the same. At Wipro, Google and Airbnb, there are exceptionally talented data privacy subject matter experts, who handle all issues relating to the myriad of privacy laws in India and across the world. There is no taking away from the fact that the requirement of such SMEs is here to stay. So yes all organisations stand to benefit from adding such SME’s to their existing in-house legal teams.  

How do you think technology is helping you excel and drive more efficiency in your team? Beyond existing tools, are there any specific legal tasks you find most time-consuming or frustrating that you think future technology could solve to make in-house legal teams more efficient? 

Technology and Law intersection is key and well understood and off late even well documented. It is important to embrace this new normal and remember that some tasks would be aided well with technology and some not. Some tasks which come to mind, where technology can save time and effort are

(i) contract management; and

(ii) inventory management.

Organisations have and should continue to invest in robust contract management tools, which automate these tasks to a large extent and maybe only require a high level oversight on an ongoing basis. 

Having said this, there are tasks like

(i) risk analysis & management; and

(ii) contract negotiation;

which can’t be automated and will always require first hand involvement of in-house counsel. 

What do you think are the three most important skill sets that both recent law graduates and seasoned professionals need to develop in order to excel in these dynamic in-house legal environments?

The most important skills one needs to develop are – 

(i) willingness to learn & grow,

(ii) embracing change positively, however hard it may be;

(iii) thinking out of the box and offering balanced legal advice keeping in mind the requirements of the business;

(iv) a sound risk advisor alongside being a lawyer;

(v) being friendly and approachable but knowing one’s professional boundaries; and yes “loving what you do”!