As one of the top legal minds in the country can you share a moment in your career that you consider a true highlight or milestone?

I have been at the forefront of Indian economic liberalisation by representing overseas businesses and negotiating and structuring their inbound investments. Having pioneered the representation of major international companies I  advised major US corporations’ foray into India like General Electric, General Motors, AT&T, Power Gen, McDonald’s, Timex and 3M Corporation amongst others. I also represented the initial influx of major companies from Japan including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba and Mitsui & Co. I have also been credited with introducing the concept of corporatization of law firms with equity holding partners – a model which has been widely adopted and emulated by all leading law firms in India subsequently.

How do you perceive the role of lawyers in addressing broader societal issues in today’s time? Are there particular instances you believe when the legal profession contributed to positive social change?

Lawyers are in a position to serve as advocates, advisors, educators, and catalysts for societal change. Their expertise in law and understanding of legal systems position them as crucial agents for advocating broader societal issues, striving to create a fairer, more just, and inclusive society.

Given your exceptional expertise, what strategies do you employ to stay at the forefront of legal innovation and thought leadership? Are there any specific routines that have contributed to your continued success in the legal field?

Through my   active engagement, the firm continues to retain its leadership position in uncertain and challenging environment nationally and internationally. To setting strategic direction to ensuring the organization fully realizes its potential by empowering the firm’s professionals, to engaging with internal and external stakeholders, monitoring trends I have been serving as the company’s helmsman-in-chief. I  leverage my experience and expertise in a broad range of practice areas including corporate and commercial law, governance, compliance and ethics; foreign investments and collaborations and mergers and acquisitions to sustain the growth momentum while strengthening domestic and international network of alliances with professionally recognized bodies in keeping with well-established practices in the fields of law and policy formulation.

In your experience, what do you see as the most pressing challenges facing the legal industry today? And what advice would you offer to the next generation of lawyers entering this field?

The role of technology has thrown up challenges as well opportunities for the legal profession. AI for instance could be a great enabler allowing a lawyer to do more with less, thereby rendering him/her more agile and more cost-effective. Similarly use of IT solutions, chatbots etc. could be effective tools, but the challenge is to recognize it as aids and not as substitute for lawyers as well as a more multi-disciplinary workforce with different skill sets.

The challenges that I and my peer group faced during my early days are very different from those that next-gen lawyers today face. The tremendous growth and emergence of new trends in business giving rise to new practice areas, but also intensified the competition for the very large number of lawyers joining each year.  So my advice to the next generation of lawyers entering this field is  – carve out a niche for yourself, stay abreast and be more agile in responding to opportunities.

Mentorship is often cited as a key factor in professional success. Can you share insights into your own experiences with mentorship, both as a mentee and a mentor?

I have mentored several professionals at the firm – primarily instilling innovative and strategic thinking, to help them keep pace with the rapidly evolving business and legal environment. My aim as mentor has always been to empower and encourage professionals to innovate with out-of-the-box solutions and push boundaries.

When I first started practicing law, my  mentor motivated me  to act on my career goals, transforming  my career anxiety into positive energy. Essentially as a mentee, my experience has been that a mentor helped in filling the gaps and one gains from the guidance and broad directions one receives for accelerating  professional development and growth.