Super Lawyer

Author: Team Research

  • Tapan Chauhan, Legal Manager, Nestlé India, on starting out with litigation and work as in-house counsel in FMCG

    Tapan Chauhan, Legal Manager, Nestlé India, on starting out with litigation and work as in-house counsel in FMCG

    Tapan Chauhan graduated from Himachal Pradesh University after completing the three-year LL.B course and started his career by practicing in the various district courts, tribunals and High Court in the state. In 2011 he joined Mondelez India Foods Ltd. as Legal Manager. After four years there, he recently joined Nestle India Ltd. as Legal Manager.

    In this interview, he talks about:

    • How to overcome the intial jitters associated with litigation and build a clientele
    • His work profile and responsibilities at Mondelez India
    • The essentials of making it big in the FMCG industry

     

    Please tell us a little bit about your childhood and your background.

    Hi, it’s a pleasure for me to introduce myself to everyone on this forum. I am a legal professional having a diversified PQE of 8 years in the realm of law. I have my roots in the hill station of Shimla and was born and brought up there. Presently, I am based out of Gurgaon and work for a multinational as an in-house legal professional.

     

    How did you gravitate towards law?

    My inclination towards the subject dates back to my childhood, when I started following famous personalities and found a large chunk of them making up the ladder through their knowledge of law. Gandhiji’s autobiography was one of the best motivations for me and persuaded me further.
    Like everyone else, I was apprehensive about how well legal education could cater to my needs and support me through the initial years of my life but there were many other motivating factors which kept me going. For all those who believe that this profession is not rewarding enough, must rethink, as the rewards are manifold and fulfilling.

     

    Tell us a bit about your days at Himachal Pradesh University

    It started off well as I got through the entrance exam with flying colours. The 3 year LL.B. course at the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) was a great learning experience for me. The HPU in many ways is an exceptional institution with an outstanding faculty. The institution offers a peaceful environment for one to dwell and progress, with plenty of great scholars associated with it. I enjoyed every day I spent at HPU and owe a lot to the institution.

     

    Soon after graduation, you started practicing before Himachal Pradesh High Court. What were the major challenges faced by you in the initial years of your practice?

    Soon after graduating, I joined the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and started practicing. I assisted a senior counsel for 4 years and embraced the profession. I was fortunate enough to get multiple opportunities to handle and argue sensitive matters before courts ranging from the High Court, State Consumer Commission, District & Session Courts and Consumer Forums etc. However, it all came through with lots of challenges and tough times. The biggest challenge for any new entrant to the Bar is to find out how courts function, that too, as quickly as possible, notwithstanding the fact that even hurry takes some time. Those who intern at law firms should utilize their time to learn how courts function to further expedite their learning when they join the profession real time. Learning in this profession never stops but once you get hold of the procedure, things are a lot easier to understand.

     

    How did you overcome your initial jitters in a courtroom full of experienced lawyers and judges? Tell us about the highs and lows.

    I was jittery and was embarrassed more than once. It takes time for one to get conversant with the court procedure and people more often than not, tend to question you more than necessary. But the key is how well you prepare yourself to face that and never get dismayed with humiliation. It has been a part of everyone’s life, lest they never reached a high! I remember once having a close dialogue with a veteran judge, who while narrating his initial days of practice said that the key to practice is confidence and knowing what’s written in the rule book! Of course, one cannot discount experience, but rule book gives you a chance to garner experience in the right direction. “Be prepared, always!” were his words which I want to emphatically share with everyone here.

     

    How did you build up your clientele?

    I did well for myself and have managed a small clientele within these 4 years of practice. I also advised a couple of private companies because of which I got exposed to corporate and labour laws. I found it interesting, however, the opportunities to grow further were getting restricted and though the practice was great, a desire to venture out grew within me strongly.

     

    How did you get an opportunity to work with Mondelez? How would you describe your experience? What kind of challenges did you face during this job?

    In 2011, I was interviewed at Mondelez (Cadbury) and after three intense sessions, was successful in getting an offer for a job. I was conscious of the fact that it would be a paradigm shift for me but the urge to learn more bridged the gap for me. It turned out to be a rewarding decision, eventually. The span of 4 years that I spent working at Mondelez changed me as a person and a professional. I learned how the industry works and what value an in house legal professional can add to business. And if you were to trust me, it’s way too much!

    At Mondelez, my profile offered me exposure to industry litigation, food laws, compliance and contract management. I also partnered with the supply chain by virtue of which I could understand the nuances of the FMCG business. Overall, I transformed as a professional and today consider myself lucky to have experienced two sides of the profession.

     

    What does your current work profile at Nestlé consists of? How is a typical workday like? How has been your experience at Nestlé so far?

    In my current profile, I handle Food Laws, Marketing and Consumer Laws. It’s a very challenging profile especially considering the sensitivity around food laws and enhanced focus of good companies towards compliance of the same. A normal day at work is exciting, challenging and brings to me loads of learning, thereby being completely rewarding.

     

    You’ve recently joined Nestlé India Limited as Manager-Legal. How did the switch from Mondelez take place? Did you get an offer or did you apply for Nestle?

    I have recently joined Nestlé, and about two months of effective working here, I have learnt a lot of new things. It is a great organization with strong values embedded in the people working here and I look forward to progress further both at a professional and personal level. Recruitment at Nestlé happens through a well-defined process with different levels of interviews for different positions.

     

    How well do you think your education at law school prepared you for real world practice?

    Well, like all other courses, there is immense opportunity for law courses to be customized as per the need of the hour. The way business is happening in the country with increasing globalization, academicians need to match the pace. It’s only going to help speed up the learning and would produce world class efficient legal professionals in the country.

    I compliment every young aspirant of the legal profession and would encourage them to pursue it. I have my credentials and coordinates on the networking sites and should anyone wish to contact me, I would be happy to be of help!

  • Pearl Boga, Associate, Rajani Singhania & Associates, on LL.B after B.Com and work experience

    Pearl Boga, Associate, Rajani Singhania & Associates, on LL.B after B.Com and work experience

    Pearl Boga completed her B.Com degree from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai in 2007 and went on to study the three-year law course from University of Mumbai. She graduated in law in 2010. She was part of a number of committees and societies in college and after graduation, she also holds a Diploma in Tourism and Travel Management.

    Pearl started working at Advani & Co., Mumbai in the corporate department of the firm. After four years at Advani, she currently works at Rajani Singhania & Associates and is also actively pursuing her masters in law from Mumbai University.

    In this interview, she talks about:

    • Pursuing LL.B after B.Com
    • The advantages of being part of organisational work in law school
    • Maintaining a work-life balance in the corporate sector.
    • Work experience at Advani and Co.
    • Appointment and work at RSP

     

    Though it’s one of the most asked questions but yet, why law?

    Well, to be absolutely honest, law was my back-up career option, post my graduation in commerce from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics. I was inclined towards travel and tourism and looking for an alternate degree. However, once my course was ending it seemed to be a lucrative career choice.  So here I am!

     

    Tell us about your college life. What all activities did you participate in?

    College life was a mixed bag – from attending and participating in moots to participating in extra-curricular college activities andperforming arts and the jazz. My college life extended from my B.Com graduation to an Advanced Diploma in Tourism and Travel Management to a post -graduation degree in Law. I only happened to intern in my final (third) year of law.

     

    What were your areas of interest during your graduation? How did you go about developing expertise and knowledge in these areas?

    Initially, I was more interested in litigation and also interned at Vigil Juris in the litigation team. My work there involved a lot of reading of drafts of plaints and understanding the way the written statement was to be drawn. I gained a lot of experience seeing how the courts actually function as compared to simply reading about it. Also, interactions with the counsels helped me understand and be updated about the stage at which the matter currently was.

     

    At Mumbai University, you were associated with a lot of student committees. What skills did you acquire while serving various committees?

    During my graduation years, I was involved in extra-curricular activities like performing arts, moots and environment protection. Participating and preparing for moots usually helped me in the way I carry out research pertaining to my matters. Also, being a part of the organising as well as participating committee was a wonderful experience as it helped in building team spirit. This trait has proved to be very important now as being a part of a corporate M&A team, it is important to work with your team on a transaction and the same involves a lot of understanding on how your team mate works and the thought that goes behind the work put forth. It is much simpler to work when you know how the people in your team think!

     

    How did you fare in your academics? Would you say a great CGPA is a necessity to kick-start a good career in the legal profession?

    I was fairly above average in academics. To kick-start a career in any profession in India, I guess a good score is required. A great CGPA would definitely help securing decent internships during campus placements which would go a long way in determining the law firm you end up at.

     

    Do you think participating in co-curricular activities helps a student in the long run?

    Personally, I feel mooting does not help much if you are planning on taking up corporate law. However, it helps in developing certain skill sets which do help in your law career. Also, the research work undertaken in order to help you for a moot helps in understanding how one needs to prepare for a particular case. Mostly it is the recruiters’ discretion at the time of an interview to decide whether to lay emphasis on a particular candidate’s mooting experience depending on which legal field they are to be placed in.As I said before, my extra-curricular activity experience did help in building teamwork.

     

    What kind of internships did you do while you were a student?

    I only interned in my final (third) year of college at Vigil Juris in the litigation department and thereafter changed my field preference to corporate law.

     

    After graduation, you joined Advani and Co. as an Associate. What did you contribute towards this appointment?

    My main area of practise at Advani & Co. was corporate and commercial law. I was mainly involved in documentation for transactions pertaining to project finance, real estate, media and entertainment, intellectual property rights management. Further my scope of work included advising on miscellaneous issues relating to incorporation of companies, corporate governance, inbound and outbound investment, transactions related to equity market instruments, SEBI, etc. as well as conducting statutory compliance audit for various companies, specifically in relation to the labour laws as well as environmental laws and advising on the process for rectifying the lapses in compliances.

     

    After having worked at Advani & Co. for almost four years, how did the shift to Rajani, Singhania and Associates take place? Did you get an offer or did you apply for RSP?

    My experience at Advani & Co. was very fruitful; however I was looking for further exposure in the corporate field. The same being so diverse, I wanted to explore the other aspects of corporate law. So, when I got a call from RSP for an interview, I thought of taking the chance.

     

    What does your current work profile at RSP consist of? Tell us about the nature of work you’re entrusted with therein and what’s a typical day like?

    My current profile at RSP mainly involves a lot of M&A transactional work in varied sectors from the due diligence to the documentation, negotiation and finalisation of the deal stage. My scope of work also involves advising clients for drawing up schemes of arrangements for corporate restructuring, advising on issues relating foreign investment, corporate governance, etc.

    A typical day usually consists of reading emails received from the clients, having a team discussion pertaining to the same and allocation of the day’s work to the respective team members.

     

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    Corporate law comes with a humongous workload. What made you gravitate towards this field? How do you manage the workload and your personal life?

    A good balance is always essential for any healthy relationship. Prioritising your work and personal life in a balanced manner is a very important attribute one needs to possess in order to not get stressed out. I usually have self made targets and checklists for the work I need to complete. Whenever there is time for a breather between my work, I usually cut-off and have a small conversation over the phone or interact with my colleagues.

     

    What would be the one misconception you’d say you’d always held about real life legal work till the time you were an intern but changed once you started working as a lawyer?

    Whilst doing my internship I was assigned with very limited responsibilities. That definitely changes once you start working full fledged. You have to take responsibility for your work, for your juniors, working with a team or even working independently. It involves taking a lot of onus for the work you put forth and there is generally no scope for error.

     

    Would you say your B.Com degree has been helpful in your career?

    My B.Com degree has definitely helped me. Especially when it relates to conducting due diligence for M&A transactions, the review of a lot of the financial documents is much easier since I have a background in accounts. Also, my B.Com course had contract law as a subject which made it relatively easier for me to study the same for my law degree.

     

    RSP takes on interns as well. What do you feel makes an intern stand out and is very important for him to do to have a chance of getting a call back or even a PPO?

    A very important quality for an intern is to have impeccable research and drafting skills. Also a pro-active and go getter attitude would help them go a long way in the legal field.

     

    What skills would you say is a sine qua non for an intern who wants to excel at work?

    An important ingredient for an intern to excel would be to remain focussed and complete their work within the time frame provided in the manner and with the quality expected from them. Also their work needs to be backed by solid accurate research and they should be updated with the current changes taking place in law.

     

    Where do you see yourself five years from now?

    I am currently pursuing my LL.M (Master of Laws) in Business Law from Mumbai University along with my work. As I have only finished 5 years of my experience in this field, I would want to continue in the same space for the next few years to gather more expertise in this varied field of corporate law since there is so much more to learn.

     

    Lastly, what would be your parting message for our readers?

    I would like to say stay focussed, follow your dream, have a passion and pursue it (be it law or otherwise). The more you like what you do, the more you enjoy doing it. Make your career choice your passion and there will be no looking back J

  • Reema Das, Legal Manager, Flipkart, on work of an in-house counsel

    Reema Das, Legal Manager, Flipkart, on work of an in-house counsel

    Reema Das graduated from the Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies in 2009. She started working with CK Nandkumar & Associates, but feeling the need for advisory and transactional work, she switched to Majmudar & Co. After working at Majmudar, she switched to Flipkart and currently works as Legal Manager.

    In this interview, she talks about:

    • Getting good grades in law school
    • Working in the corporate department of a law firm
    • The recruitment policy and her work profile at Flipkart

     

    How did you gravitate towards law? Tell us about your college life at Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies. What all activities did you partake in?

    I’d be lying if I said I always wanted to become a lawyer. Growing up, I wanted to pursue many a vocation but law was never one of them. It was only in the 12th standard, after multiple career counselling sessions, that I found merit in choosing law as a career. With a little apprehension, I decided to take that giant leap. However, my first year in Law College convinced me that I made the right choice. And since then there’s been no looking back.

    Based on my ISC (XII standard) results, I got admission in Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies. The college offered good faculty and a robust curriculum. As a student, I always focused on academics (honestly, that was my comfort zone). That apart, moot courts, cultural and literary activities, and towards the latter years, organizing seminars and working for the placement co-ordination committee, etc. kept me engaged during college.

     

    What were your areas of interest during your graduation? How did you go about developing expertise and knowledge in these areas?

    Company law and foreign exchange management laws have always interested me – right from the first time I was introduced to these subjects- till date.

    Internships at corporate law firms gave me hands-on working knowledge. Research and reading outside of text books and study material also helped me gain a fair amount of insight into these laws.

     

    You were one of the most exceptional students at Bangalore University. You bagged 4th rank among your batch mates in the B.A.LL.B course. Please give us a few actionable tips on managing higher grades.

    Apart from the cliché of understanding your subject well, I’d say the difference lies in stepping into the shoes of the examiner and delivering what he/she is looking for. Well-structured and precise responses are what examiners generally look for.

     

    You had started working at C.K. Nandakumar & Associates right after graduation, and thereafter you joined Majmudar & Co. International Lawyers. What led to this shift?

    At C.K. Nandakumar & Associates, I was offered a mixed profile of litigation and corporate advisory work. This gave me the much needed exposure to courtrooms. I appeared before various forums and handled arbitration suits, money recovery suits, merger applications, winding up petitions, etc. and at the same time vetted commercial contracts, technology contracts, and provided business advisory.

    I soon realized that my aptitude and inclination was more towards the business advisory and corporate law side. After weighing the choices I took a well-informed decision to focus on corporate advisory work. This led to my shift to Majmudar & Co. At Majmudar, I did corporate advisory and transactional work. It was a great learning experience; giving me first hand exposure to the subjects I loved the most.

     

    Thereafter, you left Majmudar & Co. to join Indus law. What motivated this shift? How did your appointment take place?

    I wanted to do more work in the PE/VC investment space and IndusLaw was the right place for this. I applied to one of the partners at IndusLaw. Thereafter, I went through a round of technical interview followed by an HR interview. During the technical round, my basic knowledge and understanding of transactions and the applicable law was tested. I was also required to submit a write up on a legal topic. I remember submitting an article on the twin Bombay HC judgments and transferability of shares in a public limited company.

    I would like to believe that my clarity on why I wanted to make the shift, my interest in the PE/VC space and knowledge of the why’s and how’s of the transactions that I had worked on, got me the job. At IndusLaw, my work profile consisted mostly of PE/VC deals and acquisitions. A fairly large amount of the clients were in the e-commerce space.

     

    Many lawyers would say that the actual learning takes place in the years of practice. How far would you say it is true? What was the case in your situation?

    Well, no amount of academic knowledge can replace real experience. So yes, I agree with this statement to a large extent. Having said this, I feel the seeds of understanding of law and legal concepts are sown during the law school days.

     

    What qualities do you think helped you for promotion to Manager-Legal at Flipkart?

    Flipkart has a structured appraisal policy in place. If an employee exceeds expectations in his/her key result areas, he/she is considered for a promotion. So I would say it is the overall performance that counts.

    I would like to believe that it is my passion for the work I do and timely delivery of advice/assistance that led to the results.

     

    Please tell us about the recruitment process at Flipkart.

    I will speak for myself. After the initial screening of the CV, I underwent three rounds of technical interviews before the HR round. The first round was with the Director-Legal, followed by the General Counsel of Flipkart and the last round was with the M&A Business Head. Post the interviews, there is usually a calibration done and the decision of hiring v/s not hiring is a collective one based on inputs from the various interviewers.

     

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    Tell us about the nature of work you’re entrusted with therein? Tell us a bit about the company, your typical workday and the overall work/life balance.

    I provide legal support (i.e., advice on structure/strategy/documentation) with respect to financial investments and the acquisitions made by Flipkart.

    Flipkart is a high energy, young company, buzzing with activities. The company is constantly looking for new ideas to explore the unexplored. So on a typical workday, I juggle between 3-4 ongoing acquisitions or investments. Each would be a different stage of completion, requiring my 100% attention. I enjoy the excitement and rush of being a part of such a passionate team. All this keeps me busy.

    As for work/life balance, it is entirely up to the individual. In this day and age, it is in your hands to prioritize and make time for all important and essential activities.

     

    What were the biggest hurdles and challenges in the first few months? What do you think makes a good in-house counsel?

    Domain-wise it is a familiar space, so I did not have many challenges. However, I was new to the corporate world, its internal systems and protocols. It took me some time to understand them.

    A good in-house counsel is one who is in sync/aligned with the relevant business teams and enables business activities and calls out the rights things.

     

    What are the primary essentials of a corporate lawyer? How do you say a fresh graduate can work on building these skills?

    Good understanding of business commercials and knowledge of applicable laws are an absolute must.

    Read and keep yourself updated on the business news and legal developments. Read research papers and analyses available on various critical points in the legal areas that interest you.

     

    Does Flipkart take interns? What is the process for same? What do they look for in their prospective employees?

    I am told there is a policy in place and interns are taken on a need basis. Interested candidates can get in touch with the HR. From what I understand, the qualities they look for are domain knowledge, eagerness, ability to learn and a positive attitude.

     

    Where do you see yourself ten years down the line? Do you aspire to be like somebody from this field?

    I love the investment/M&A space and see myself involved in the same space.

    I’d wish to imbibe the best from all my mentors and eminent people I work with/have worked with.

     

    What would be your parting message to law students who want to be successful in corporate law?

    There is only one rule – do what you enjoy doing!

     

  • Thirupathi Bendram, Manager, IPR Cell, Sun Pharma, on LL.B from Mumbai Univ after M.Pharma from BITS, Pilani

    Thirupathi Bendram, Manager, IPR Cell, Sun Pharma, on LL.B from Mumbai Univ after M.Pharma from BITS, Pilani

    Thirupathi Bendram grew up in what is now Telangana and completed both Bachelors and Masters in Pharmacy from BITS, Pilani. After a couple of short-lived jobs at smaller pharmaceuticals, Thirupathi finally got his dream job at SUN Pharma, Mumbai, in August 2005. After working in the Intellectual Property department of the company, he felt the need to gain a deeper understanding of legal and regulatory frameworks and enrolled himself for the LL.B degree at University of Mumbai while still working.

    Here, he talks about:

    • Managing a job and evening law classes at the same time
    • His job and work profile at SUN Pharma
    • Combination of Law and Science
    • The importance of specializing in one field of law

     

    Where did you grow up and attend school? How did you decide to pursue Bachelor in Pharmacy? Please tell us a bit about yourself.

    I was born in Karimnagar, currently in Telangana state. I did my schooling till 10th Class (ICSE Board) from Flaiz Memorial High School, a Christian convent boarding school located in West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. I was hardworking and sincere in my school days.

    I later did my 12th standard (AP state board) from Loyola Junior college, Karimnager (Telangana). After scoring highest percentage in my 11th standard board exams, I came to know about BITS-Pilani and its admission process. From that time onwards, I started focussing on securing a higher percentage in my 12 the exams also, so as to get an admission into BITS-Pilani. Soon after the 12th standard, I applied to BITS-Pilani based on my 12th standard percentage (94.1%). Pharmacy was never my first choice and I had applied to many other courses at BITS-Pilani, but I got admission in B.Pharmacy (Hons.). I did not know anything about pharmacy when I joined the college. After completing my B. Pharmacy (Hons), I got admission into M. Pharmacy in the same institute based on merit. I graduated in 2005 from BITS-Pilani with  a masters inPharmacy.

     

    You started your career as an Officer in the Intellectual Property Cell of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India. How did you decide to join the IP Cell of a company?

    When I graduated with M. Pharmacy in 2005, my sole aim was to secure a job in one of the top pharmaceutical companies of India.  I secured a campus placement in Torrent Pharmaceuticals in Ahmedabad, in the manufacturing department of the company.  I completed an internship at Torrent Pharma, which was mandatory as part of the M. Pharmacy course. I never thought about joining the IP department of any company. I did not have any idea about what IP means and the type of work that I will be doing there. After completing my internship, I got another offer from Promed Research Center, New Delhi, in their Research and Development department. This was the job profile I was looking for and hence joined Promed Research Center.. After completing 15 days at Promed, I received an email from SUN enquiring about my current status and whether I was interested in attending a second round of interview at their Mumbai Office. I was very excited when I read that email. I did not know the job would be in the IP department, and neither did any of my seniors, with whom I enquired, know anything about IP and its future prospects. I only knew that it was an emerging field at that point of time and I decided to join SUN as it was a bigger company than Promed. I took a bold decision and went ahead and joined SunPharma in August 2005.  That single decision changed my whole career as well as my life.

     

    What did your work profile at Sun Pharma consist of, before you were a lawyer?

    During my initial days at SUN, I was involved in preparing FTO reports and drafting and filing patent applications with Indian IPO and WIPO. Later on I was involved in doing prior art searches and preparing and filing pre-grant oppositions for Indian patent applications. I was also involved in assisting our external attorneys by providing technical support. I gradually learned how to prepare in-house invalidity opinions, understand regulatory laws of US, EP, CA and JP markets. Currently I am involved in providing support to external attorneys in handling SUN litigation happening across the regulated markets with IP support to Research and development teams for product development.

     

    Tell us about your law school experience.

    My decision to pursue law was also accidental and unplanned. I never dreamt that I would become a lawyer. However,  my career took a dramatic turn when I joined the IP department at SUN. All the work that I was doing was almost related to law in some form or the other. Hence, I thought that doing LL.B would surely enhance my knowledge and would provide me with skills necessary to advance my career in IP. The moment I realised this, I started looking for law colleges in Mumbai. Then I landed up in JCCL, which was an evening college, as  it would suit my timings even if I had to attend all my classes regularly.

    In the first year of LL.B, it was a bit difficult to cope with the legal terminology. However, I was quick to grasp the subjects as I was already working in matters related to law. There was a lot of encouragement and support from colleagues and my immediate boss at Sun Pharma.

    I was not actively involved in any of the college activities as I was mostly focussed on my work. However, I made sure I wrote the exams while simultaneously managing my professional life. My aim was not to score a high percentage  but to get through the LL.B course. Finally I completed my LL.B and now I am quite excited to be called a lawyer by family and friends.

     

    Is there anything you would like to have done differently?

    Yes, my only regret is that I did not attempt to apply for M.S in USA after completion of my B. Pharm (Hons.) course from BITS-Pilani while most of my classmates tried and succeeded in getting admission to MS and currently settled in USA.

     

    How did you manage to eke out time for a regular three-year LL.B from Mumbai University while working at Sun Pharma? Please share your experience with us.

    After joining LL.B course, I realised that it was very difficult to manage professional work, personal life and college.  However, there was constant encouragement and support from colleagues and my wife, which motivated me to pursue this course and complete it successfully. I planned well in advance during the exams and made sure that I give my best shot at the exams so that I clear them at the first attempt itself.

     

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    Currently, you work as a Manager – Intellectual Property Cell at Sun Pharma. What qualities do you think helped you to achieve this status?

    As you might have noticed, I have started at the bottom of the organizational ladder at SUN Pharma. Luckily, I received proper guidance and support from my colleagues who helped me learn the work in a systematic manner. I learned most of my work from them and later on started learning and upgrading myself about the patent laws and pharmacy regulations. The main qualities that helped me to achieve my current position were patience, constant learning, reading, presence of mind and continuous education on current patent laws and pharmaceutical regulations.

     

    At all the positions you worked, did you have to learn new skills every time you were promoted to a different rank?

    The type of work that I did in each capacity was different but overlapping. As I moved up in the organization, each position demanded and taught me different skills and posed different challenges.

     

    What is a workday like for you? Has work settled into a predictable pattern or are there new challenges every day?

    The work day is mostly routine for 60% of the time now. However, the remaining 40% of the time, there are new challenges that I face during my everyday professional work which helps me to perform to my potential and grow professionally.

     

    How important would you say are business development skills at such higher roles?

    Business development skills are very important as one grows higher up in the organization. These skills would help you to get noticed by your peers and other higher officials in the organization which would have an impact on your future roles and professional growth.

     

    Many lawyers would say that the actual learning takes place in the years of practice. How far would you say it is true? What was the case in your situation?

    Yes, I strongly believe that actual learning takes place in the years of practice. In my case, I was already practising the Indian patent laws in my day to day work while dealing with the Indian patent office while I actually cleared my Patent Agent exam in 2007 i.e. after 2 years of actual practice. Further, I completed my LL.B after actually learning the patent law and practising it all these years since 2005.

     

     

    In the meantime, you’ve also managed to pursue MDP, Intellectual Property Management from IIM, Ahmedabad. Please tell us about the program.

    It was a course designed by IIM-A for people working in companies and academics for increasing the awareness of IP management for effective organizational growth. It was brief course and lasted for 3-full days at the IIM-A campus in Ahmedabad. It was attended by delegates from public as well as private sector companies across India.  This program was sponsored by my company and it was very helpful. It taught me different perspectives of IP management in India.

     

    How do you manage to strike a balance between your personal and professional life?

    Work-life balance is the most difficult aspect to manage. However, I make sure that I do not carry my office work to home. If there is any personal event to be attended, then I make sure that my work does not come in between.

     

    What do you and other people at Sun Pharma measure success by? What must interns and attorneys do in order to get noticed and/or promoted?

    Sun Pharma usually measure success of its employees by evaluating their contribution to the overall growth of organization and support to cross functional teams in the organization. There is nothing specific to be done, it is only their work that should speak for them.

     

    What advice would you give to law students who have been science students and wish to pursue law?

    Science students have a lot of scope in the IP field. IP awareness has increased in Indian companies, especially in pharmaceuticals which export their products to foreign countries’ regulated markets like US and EU. More litigation is happening in India related to drugs and pharmaceuticals. Science students with an LL.B degree can provide the right support internally to a company and assist external attorneys during litigation. There is also lot of scope in other areas of patent law especially patent drafting, filing, prosecution, licensing, patent valuation etc. There  is more IP related litigation expected in the future due to changes in international pharmaceutical regulations and patent laws which provide sufficient opportunities to science graduates with an LL.B degree.

     

    The question that whether one should specialise in a particular area of law or be more of a general lawyer often comes up before law students. What is your opinion on the same?

    All LL.B graduates have a general knowledge of all branches of law. However, that will not help you as a professional. You need to specialize in the area that you are interested in taking up as your career, as it is known that each field or area of law is so vast and there are constant developments in the case laws which would define the law.

     

    Lastly, what would be your advice to law students and young lawyers reading this interview?

    My advice is that, firstly decide what you want to pursue and then keep your complete focus on that till that goal is achieved.

    Secondly, always keep yourself educated and updated on the recent happenings in the respective areas of law that you are specializing in. This will help you grow in your career.

  • Harshavardhan Jogdand, Senior Legal Manager, Volkswagen, on being an in-house counsel and pursuing an LL.M while working

    Harshavardhan Jogdand, Senior Legal Manager, Volkswagen, on being an in-house counsel and pursuing an LL.M while working

    Harshavardhan Jogdand graduated from Pune University in 2006. He is currently a Senior Legal Manager at Volkswagen Group. After graduation, he joined Pratap Pardeshi Associates immediately while simultaneously pursuing a regular two-year LL.M from Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune. Therafter, he joined Triton Group as Manager-Corporate Legal. He subsequently joined Bata India Ltd. as Legal Manager of the Western Region.

    In this interview he talks about:

    • Pursuing an LL.M while working at Pratap Pardeshi Associates
    • Working at Bata India Ltd.
    • Being Senior Legal Manager at Volkswagen Group

     

    Given that most of our readers are law students and young lawyers, how will you introduce yourself to them? What motivated you to choose law as a career?

    I’m a passionate, self-motivated and result oriented legal professional working with one of the biggest automobile companies in the world i.e. Volkswagen. Initially, I admitted myself to the three year law course (LL.B) merely as a backup option, while I was preparing for Civil Services Examination (UPSC Exams). However, since the very first lecture of LL.B. I found the legal profession fascinating and it took me very little time to realise that it was my true calling. I never looked back since then and pursued a career in law wholeheartedly.

     

    Being a science graduate, did you face any difficulties in law school? Can you share with us certain tips to overcome the issues science students face with law?

    That is true to some extent as we Science graduates are not good when it comes to writing long answers. We are tuned to more of 2+2=4 kind of thinking; but on the contrary in the legal field you need to be more elaborative and descriptive. This is the only problem I as science student faced during this change of stream. Apart from this one issue, a science background is in fact a blessing, as Science and Law are both fields which demand logic and analytical skills and Science stream develops these two qualities to their maximum.

    I took help of the technique of creating ‘mind maps’ while studying and preparing notes, which helped me to graphically summarise concepts and laws. It helped me navigate through different concepts and laws, find connections between them and also to comprehend the content from books in a better way. I would also like to say that citing case laws and their Ratio is extremely important and all law students must develop the habit of reading citations and including them while writing answers. This is not only helpful in scoring marks but it is a vital process if you get into litigation as a practising attorney in future.

     

    Tell us something about your college life. Which activities did you participate in? What were your areas of interest during your graduation? How did you go about developing expertise and knowledge in these areas?

    As we all believe college days are the best days of anyone’s life when it comes to fun, but for me those were also intellectually stimulating days which equipped me to face the professional world after my degree. As a law student one must be open to challenging set ideas and indulge into debates to shape up one’s personality. I participated in moot courts as researcher which helped me to understand the importance of thorough preparation and research. Thankfully I had a bunch of friends who were all very strong individuals and we used to have debates on various topics all days long and I must say all those debates in the classroom and even outside of it over cups of Chai helped us to sharpen our articulation skills.

    Amongst all the areas of law, Criminal law was and is my most favourite area of law till date. I was lucky enough to have eminent practicing lawyers from Pune as my teachers who not only taught me the theory of law, but also dissected the laws and uncovered their actual implementation. Their ‘out of the box’ approach of focusing on ‘application of law in real life situations’ helped me to understand the ‘reality’ beyond books. Once I realised my penchant towards criminal law, I started attending court hearings in Pune on a regular basis. Out of the many trials I attended, I remember Charge Framing in Abdul Karim Telgi’s Case very vividly. Law students must grab every opportunity they get to visit courts during their student years.

     

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    Many lawyers say that the first year after graduation is the most difficult year for young lawyers. How was your first year after graduation? How did you learn the ropes and what were the biggest challenges you faced?

    I agree that the first year is the most difficult year financially if you don’t associate with any law firm which will pay you a remuneration and work with individual attorneys but I would like to assert that the first year is also the most enriching year as far as the learning is concerned. For me, the first year was the most exciting period as I learnt something new about the legal field every day and felt the daily thrill of affixing the logo of attorney on my vehicle; wearing a black coat and appearing before various courts truly fulfilling. One of the biggest challenges for me in this first year was to accept the hard realities of the Court system which largely involved the issue of grass roots corruption and I must say it was not an easy thing for me to accept. I categorically avoided becoming a part of any such transaction and used to walk out of court after my part in court proceedings was over so I somehow managed to avoid the corrupt practices that unfortunately exist at the grass roots level of our judicial system.

     

    You had started working at Pratap Pardeshi and Associates right after graduation, and thereafter you joined Triton Group as a Manager- Corporate Legal. What led to this shift? Please tell us about your work experience at both these places.

    I joined Pratap Pardeshi and Associates immediately after my graduation. In fact immediately one week after finishing of final year exam as I did not want to miss out on the excitement of attending courts. Funnily enough, I soon found out that it was the vacation time for Court for transfer of various judges, due to which most of the JMFC (Junior Magistrate First Class) and Sessions courts adjourned matters.

    The two years that I worked with Pratap Pardeshi and Associates were very enriching and fulfilling for me as I learnt the ropes of being a practising lawyer. My time with Pratap Pardeshi and Associates still remains the foundation of my career. It is really critical to get a mentor who will give you freedom and also teach you the nuances of the legal field. I will always be thankful to Mr. Pratap Pardeshi who taught me take my first step in the legal field. My two years as a litigation attorney were full of excitement as I got to become part of various trials as defense attorney including one rare Court Martial proceeding wherein I was associate advocate on record along with Mr. Pratap Pardeshi who was the leading Defense Advocate on records of the proceedings.

    After two years I felt that it was time for me to be practical and become financially stable by shifting to an in-house legal job. Opportunity knocked on my doors in the form of a position with Trition which happened to be a multi-million FMCG Multinational which was in the process of setting up its India Operations. It was the first interview of my life and after two thorough rounds I was selected as the first recruit in the Corporate Legal Department of Triton. I was hired as Legal Trainee and rose to level of Manager Legal within a short span of one and half year. My reporting authority Mr. Vincent Fernandez who is the Executive Director of Triton Group not only gave me the freedom to work as per my conviction but also entrusted me with setting up the entire legal department. I was asked not only to consider the legal aspect of work but also the business side of working. Triton provided me exposure to legal work in a corporate which I was completely unaware of as a practicing attorney. In Triton I was instrumental in setting up Contract Management System, litigation management and standardization of various agreements which included Franchisee Agreements, Non-Disclosure agreements, and Employment agreements for locations outside the geographical territories of India more specifically West Africa and Europe. Obviously I had to identify and work with local attorneys which also added invaluable experience of coordinating with foreign attorneys. Considering the growing ambit of work I recruited one Company Secretary and one more legal professional in my team and we effectively handled the Corporate Legal Function for Triton with guidance and effective leadership of Mr. Vincent Fernandez.

     

    You left Triton Group to join Bata India Ltd. as a Legal Manager of West Region. What motivated this shift? What does it take to a get job at Bata India at that stage?

    After setting up the processes and the entire corporate legal function for Triton Group and working with Triton for more than three years I thought I was ready for a bigger and more challenging position and I was approached for an opportunity with retail giant Bata India, as their Regional Legal Manager (West Region) My two rounds of interviews with Bata were very tough and was a completely different experience from my earlier interview with Triton as the questions were more technical and situation based. I was asked questions based on case studies and it was as they call a “grilling” interview session after which I was selected by then legal and secretarial head of Bata India Mr. A.B. Anand.

     

    At all the three places you worked, was the work similar or did you have to learn new skills every time you joined a new place?

    Work at all these three places has been completely different. At Pratap Pardeshi and Associates, I was working purely as a litigation attorney wherein I had to undertake court appearance, preparing pleadings, interacting with Police and other agencies.

    Triton was a foray into the corporate sector wherein I had to undertake working within deadlines, drafting/vetting agreements, more of non-lit as we call it, wherein I had to focus more on drafting legal documents, legal research, standardisation of processes etc., which was a completely different experience than the litigation experience I earlier had. I had to increase my reading considerably more to understand the nuances of legal drafting and it proved more than helpful in my growth as a legal professional.

    Working with Bata was extremely challenging as my role in Bata involved more of making strategies in existing litigations and handling legal matters in five states namely Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Goa in the entire region. My profile in Bata involved more of labour laws and rent laws related work which I had never done in my earlier career. I had to revisit all the applicable provisions of relevant Acts applicable to understand the nitty-gritty of these litigations and to define strategies for successfully dealing with them. My profile also had a hint of Industrial relations wherein I was required to communicate and deal with various government authorities including the Hon’ble Labour Minister and secretaries of state etc. However, the most challenging yet interesting part of my tenure in Bata was tactfully handling very aggressive Labour Union representatives and successfully avoiding conflicts with them and conducting a long due domestic enquiry.

     

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    How did you manage to take out time for a regular two-year LL.M. from Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune while working at Pratap Pardeshi and Associates? Please share with us.

    I used to visit the University on weekends and meet the lecturers on a regular basis to understand the progress of the syllabus. I relied a lot on self-study, on weekends and also during holidays I would like to mention the role of my mentor Adv. Pratap Pardeshi who was always kind in granting me leaves for attending LL.M. exams. Without his help it would have been very difficult for me to manage practice and LL.M.

     

    What are the highlights of your career till joining Volkswagen? How did you decide to leave Bata and join Volkswagen?

    As I have mentioned above, participating in the Court Martial proceedings as Associate Advocate on record during my days with Pratap Pardeshi and Associates, setting up the entire Corporate Legal Department in Triton, reducing number of litigations in Bata drastically were few highlights of my career till I joined Volkswagen.

    I have always been very passionate about vehicles/automobiles and Volkswagen is one of largest automobile companies in the world so I couldn’t let the opportunity go and Mr. Vijay Kamath who’s the “Legal Head and Company Secretary” at Volkswagen conducted my interview and after a brief interview I was offered position of Legal Manager at VW.

     

    You currently work as a Senior Legal Manager at Volkswagen Group. What qualities do you think helped you to achieve this status?

    Being process driven and result oriented has always helped me a lot throughout my career. The same qualities continue to be driving forces for my work. Also being proactive and taking lead in difficult situations gives me an added advantage.

    One must always remember quality of work is more important than the quantity of work. Hence, the quality of work should never be compromised.

     

    Many lawyers would say that the actual learning takes place in the years of practice. How far would you say it is true? What was the case in your situation?

    It is all about perception and how you look at it. Having exposure to practice is definitely helpful but it is not the only factor that determines the growth of a legal professional. The dynamics of the legal field over the years have changed, the legal field is not only restricted to court room dramas and theatrics therein but it is now also about board rooms and power points. We as legal professionals have to respect both the aspect of our profession. One cannot undermine the importance of other. For me exposure to legal practice is equally important as exposure to in house legal jobs.

     

    What is a workday like for you? Has work settled into a predictable pattern or are there new challenges every day?

    A typical workday consists of internal meetings with our brand teams (departments) gathering relevant data, information, for preparing pleadings in our litigations as at VW we have a rare practice of preparing pleadings in house which not many in house legal teams follow. It is followed by coordinating with external attorneys and thoughtful and insightful discussions with Mr. Kamath. Work at VW is never short of excitement as the challenges we face keep on changing on a regular basis and hence I would say the feeling of stagnancy has not yet come to surface in last three years.

     

    How do you manage to strike a balance between your personal and professional life?

    On the days when I’m on leave I do not think about my office or work I enjoy family time thoroughly and when I’m in office I do not let my personal life affect professional choices and decisions. I would like to make a special mention of our Human Resource policies and VW and Mr. Kamath who always encourage us to take our entitled leaves so that we can have a proper personal and professional life balance.

     

    How important would you say are business development skills at such higher roles?

    Without business development skills it is very difficult to climb up the ladder. Hence, I would say business development skills are equally important as your technical knowledge. Our work as in house legal professionals must serve the business purpose well and we need to be imaginative and creative enough to alter our advice as per the need of the business within the frame work of regulations.

     

    The question that whether one should specialise in a particular area of law or be more of a general lawyer often comes up before law students. What is your opinion on the same?

    If you see yourself as a practising attorney then it is better to focus on one practice area than focusing on entire legal field. However, if you see yourself as an in-house general counsel you need to be open for doing all the possible work that comes your way.

     

    Is there anything you would like to have done differently?

    There are many things that come to mind with this question but in particular I would have definitely liked to complete my Master’s Degree from any of the universities in the United Kingdom as it would definitely have increased exposure and knowledge levels.

     

    What does Volkswagen look for in their prospective employees and interns?

    At the moment Volkswagen Group does not take interns in the legal department. We at VW call ourselves “VW type” which means you need to be technically good, proactive, result oriented and most importantly possess very a strong ethical value system.

     

    What would be your message to our readers who are budding lawyers and law students?

    Keep your eyes and ears open all the time. Be open to all the new experiences coming your way. Don’t be afraid to challenge set ideas and put forward your opinions strongly irrespective of any amount of criticism you get.

  • Shine Joy, Deputy Manager-Legal, Snapdeal, on work as in-house counsel

    Shine Joy, Deputy Manager-Legal, Snapdeal, on work as in-house counsel

    Shine Joy graduated from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in 2008 and had thereafter worked with various law firms including MV Kini & Co., Akash Chittranshi & Associates and Ranjan Narula Associates (Part of Rouse & Co. International). He also holds an experience of an Assistant Manager- Legal at DLF Utilities Ltd. He currently works as a Deputy Manager – Legal at Snapdeal.

    Over here, he talks about:

    • The appropriate time in law school to undertake internships
    • Making the switch from a law firm to a company
    • Why it is okay and even desirable to change multiple jobs
    • Working at e-commerce giant Snapdeal

     

    What got you into legal studies? Was it all planned or something that just happened by chance?

    It was pure chance! I come from a typical south Indian family who would have loved an engineer son; so pursuing law as a career option was never on the table as such. However, a chance interaction with a friend made me think about law as an option.

     

    How was your experience at GGSIPU? What activities were you involved in apart from the regular academic curriculum?

    College days can never be anything but good; especially when you are in a law college which is located close to CP, GK and other hot spots for youngsters in Delhi

    (GGSIPU and my college – ‘University School of Law and Legal Studies were located in Kashmere Gate Campus when I was pursuing law; it has since been shifted to Dwarka Sec 14.)

    Apart from regular academic curriculum I was involved with the college Moot Court Society because of which I had the privilege of representing my college in four moots court competitions. I was also a member of the editorial board of the University magazine – ‘Adamya’.

     

    What were your major interests as a student of law? Any suggestions for the law students on how to deal with the Pandora box of laws?

    I was very much interested in Intellectual Property Laws during my college days. Fortunately during those days the law relating to trademarks & copyrights were being constantly debated in the courts across our country. This only fuelled my passion for the same subject.

    I wouldn’t call law a Pandora’s box. It is more of Santa’s sack of toys! What I mean to say is law is such a diverse field with so many subject areas that you have the option of experimenting and zeroing on the one you may fall in love with.

     

    How should one go about the internships? How important it is for a law student to plan out the course of his internships to successfully gain from the internship experience?

    Internships are important as what we learn in college does not completely prepare us for what happens on the ground. Internships do give us a glimpse into the life an actual lawyer lives on a day-to-day basis. However, I would suggest undertaking internships from the 3rd year (of the 5-year course) onwards only since by then one would have studied both the substantive and procedural law. This gives you a better understanding of what is happening in the practice of law.  The idea is to enjoy the fun side of college and academics for the first two years of college while you are also acquainted to law as a subject, then go on to intern and eventually work as a lawyer.

     

    After graduation you worked with various firms including MV Kini & Co., Akash Chittranshi & Associates and Ranjan Narula Associates. How was your experience working at these places?

    MV Kini & Co. gave me the opportunity to intern with them and be involved in an Associate’s work profile even before enrolling as a lawyer, so to continue there as an associate after enrolling was an obvious choice. Also, the firm gave me immense exposure to litigation practice, infrastructure and corporate work. However, I had a keen interest in being an IPR lawyer and was motivated me to join Akash Chittranshi & Co. which was a leading firm in copyright laws.

    The time spent at Akash Chittranshi & Co. equipped me and developed my skills as an IPR lawyer. It is then that I got an offer to join Ranjan Narula Associates (which is an associate office of Rouse & Co. International – an international IP law firm). Letting go of an opportunity to work with the best in industry and amazing international clientele was not something I would even dream of doing. My work experience  at each of these firms have enhanced my skills immensely as lawyer and gave me a chance to work under the guidance and with some of the best lawyers in the business.

     

    Thereafter you joined DLF Utilities Ltd. as an Assistant Manager- Legal. What led to the shift from law firms to a real estate company? How was your experience working there?

    While working as an attorney with Ranjan Narula Associates, I had the privilege of interacting with some of the best in-house counsels in the world. These interactions made me realize that often while advising their clients, lawyers have a myopic view of how businesses look at legal issues faced by them. It is imperative that lawyers should understand the business implications of their advice. So when an opportunity came to work as an in-house lawyer for a leader in real estate business and with seniors who are widely respected for their work, it was difficult to say no.

     

    Currently you work as a Deputy Manager-Legal at Snapdeal. How did the switch from DLF take place?

    Currently I work as Deputy Manager – Legal (got promoted in Oct 2014). I live by the mantra ‘what next? I believe that one should always strive to learn more and more and gain as much experience one can get so that one is moulded into a better professional who can give the best possible advice to his client. Therefore, when I got an opportunity work with Snapdeal – which was a pioneer in the e-commerce sector, I thought that it would be an immensely enriching experience for me as a professional. I would also get to deal with issues in a sector which was both new and fascinating.

    As Snapdeal had chalked out plans of expansion when I was offered the job, the offer was more like a door to hands-on work in a plethora of legal issues that a growing entity would be involved in.

     

    How did your appointment take place? Please tell us about the recruitment process at Snapdeal. What do they look for in their prospective employees?

    I was contacted by the HR department of Snapdeal. The company conducts three rounds of interview before extending an offer to a prospective employee.

     

    What does your current work profile at Snapdeal consist of? How is a typical workday like?

    At Snapdeal I am involved mainly in high stake litigation matters, IPR issues and M&A activities. I also advise on issues pertaining to commercial contracts, advertising and real estate.

     

    Are there new challenges everyday or has work settled into a predictable pattern? Can you tell us about a few of the most challenging problems you have faced so far?

    To my understanding and experience a lawyer’s day at work can never be predicted, each day the nature of issues dealt with and work undertaken are different. As to challenges, every day is welcomed with a new one.

     

    What amount of legal work is there? What have been your failures and successes?

    Almost 95% of my work is legal. Recently, we were successful in defending the company against allegation of anti-competition activities before the Competition Appellate Tribunal.

     

    How do you keep yourself abreast with latest industry news and trends?

    I do so by perusing through standard industry journals, following blogs, attending national and international conferences etc.

     

    Lastly, what would be your parting message for our readers?

    Work is important but having a ‘life’ outside of work is more important.

  • Radhika Seth, Associate, Competition Law, Saikrishna & Associates on pursuing law after B.Com

    Radhika Seth, Associate, Competition Law, Saikrishna & Associates on pursuing law after B.Com

    Radhika Seth completed a B. Com from Delhi University and got placed at KPMG, but having enjoyed studying a few legal subjects during under-graduation, she enrolled herself at the Campus Law Centre evening classes for the three-year law course. She participated in moots, was a part of the student body at DU and made time for numerous internships. Upon graduating, she started working at Saikrishna & Associates in the competition law department.

    Here, she talks about:

    • Comparing the three-year course with the five-year course in law
    • How to manage time between extra-curriculars and academics at law school
    • Being President of the Student Union at Delhi University
    • The field and scope of competition law in India

     

    How would you like to introduce yourself?

    I am a struggling lawyer who aims to be a specialist in competition law. I am currently working as an Associate with the competition law vertical at Saikrishna & Associates.

     

    When and how did you decide to study law? Which universities did you consider for your legal studies? How did you settle for LC-II, DU?

    Law really happened by chance for me, or to put it more philosophically, I feel I was destined to be a lawyer. I wanted to study commerce after school and so I took up B. Com (Hons) at Delhi University. At my under-graduate level, I studied various subjects like business management and accounting but more importantly, mercantile and company law.

    Surprisingly, I got more interested in the law related subjects than the typical commerce related subjects. It was then that I started experiencing a change of heart for law. It so happened that during my third year of B. Com(Hons), I was the first to be placed at KPMG from college and was almost convinced by everyone around me to join it, out rightly. And I did exactly that! But I also, fortunately, gave the law entrance at Delhi University for Faculty of Law during the same year to explore my interest for legal studies.

    I got a good rank to be able to opt for a college of my choice and so I chose Law Centre-II, which is the evening Centre of Faculty of Law, as it allowed me to work at KPMG and simultaneously attend classes in the evening. I pursued both Audit (at KPMG) and Law (as a student in Faculty of law) for six months. This was my transition period when I actually weighed life of an Auditor or someone working as an MBA vis-a-vis the life of a lawyer. And for me, I chose the life of a lawyer for the excitement and the rush that it brings.

    So, frankly, I didn’t consider going to any other college as for a three year law course, Faculty of law is one of the few good options available in this country apart from Government Law College, Mumbai or ILS, Pune.

     

    As a graduate of Delhi University, have you faced any comparison with the NLUs? What would you say to the future graduates of DU regarding this?

    Amongst the alumni of National Law Universities, one would generally feel a bias. They’re sometimes given preference for internships or even jobs. But in the end it’s your work which determines your worth. Of course, National Law Universities provide better opportunities in terms of better funding, infrastructure, exchange programs etc. but if you have the zeal to achieve something and the knack to learn, then no such bias would come in your way. Delhi University has its own charm and different learning opportunities. It sets you free and allows you to think out of the box. I would say, discover these opportunities and make your own way.

     

    How was your first year after graduation? How did you learn the ropes and what were the biggest challenges you faced?

    Generally, first year after graduation seems like a sea change from the college atmosphere that one is used to. For me, it wasn’t that difficult. I started working at KPMG right after B. Com (Hons) and interned all along my law school. By the time I graduated from law school, I was already aware as to what is expected out of a first year law graduate.

    I always took my internships pretty seriously and would try to intern for more than two months at one particular place. This really helped me to work on a particular case thoroughly. As a first year Associate, you’re definitely expected to be a good researcher, a swift learner, someone who is able to adapt to the work environment quickly. In my view, if you take your internships seriously, your first year of work would be the best year.

     

    You were the President of the Student Union at DU. What skills did you hone while managing such a responsibility?

    It was a life changing experience for me! I learnt a lot about people during that period. I organized various programs and events in college during that time, some of them were first-time initiatives. During the process, I interacted with all kinds of people coming from various parts of India and even the world. As a lawyer, it is very important to be able to understand your clients, your seniors and the judge. Being at the highest post a student can hold in Delhi University, made me understand the importance of going to the root of a problem or a given case. This always helps in devising better solutions to a given problem at hand.

     

    How important do you think are extra-curriculur activities in shaping the career of a law student?

    I feel these are pivotal to the development of a law student. While mooting and debating allows a budding lawyer to hone his/her public speaking skills, publications and research papers help in developing researching and reading skills. They also help in getting in-depth and out of textbook knowledge about a topic. These are some qualities which always come handy to a lawyer.

     

    How did you manage to keep up your grades? What are the tips and strategies you would like to share with mooters?

    I always chose those moots which were at least a month before or after my exams. Choosing a moot court competition which has a case problem related to your course curriculum also helps. I am also almost obsessed with pre-planning things. Making a moot calendar and preparing for the exams before-hand would obviously help.

     

    Soon after graduation, you joined Saikrishna and Associates as an Associate. How did your appointment take place? Tell us about the interview process and how did you prepare for it?

    After my graduation, I applied at various places including Saikrishna & Associates. I got interview calls from various places including Saikrishna. I gave one round of interview and was selected to work with the competition law vertical of the firm. For interview preparations, I would just brush up my memory for the core subjects of law such as constitutional law, the CPC and laws pertaining to my areas of interest which are IPR and competition law. During an interview, it’s always much easier if you be yourself, be confident of what you know and be honest in case you’re clueless about a particular question.

     

    What does your current work profile at Saikrishna and Associates consists of? How is a typical workday like?

    I am working as an Associate in the competition law vertical of the firm. My day starts by 10 am and generally doesn’t end before 8 pm. It also sometimes extends to working from home at night. As of now, I have been doing different types of tasks every day. Sometimes, it consists of drafting of an opinion for competition law compliance, giving information, defending your client at the CCI or attending client meetings etc.

     

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    Are there new challenges everyday or has work settled into a predictable pattern?

    In fact, taking from the previous question, I would say there is no typical workday at Saikrishna for me. Almost every day I am learning something new. This is also because competition law is relatively new in India and everyone is grappling with its practical applicability to the evolving nature of business transactions.

     

    What are the primary professional ethics you follow while at work? How do you deal with mistakes or errors?

    I always try to be punctual and geared up for work. It helps me be up-to-date and meet regular deadlines. I keep my seniors informed about the progress of the work and also about any delay before-hand. Replying promptly to e-mails and being honest with your boss always helps in building a good relationship. I try to always concede and own up whenever I make mistakes or errors and I make a note of them on my pin board so that I don’t repeat it again.

     

    Would you say your undergraduate B.Com degree has been helpful in your career?

    Yes, definitely. I still believe that a three year law program is a better call to make. For e.g. in my B.Com degree, I studied about business management, planning and other tools which help in business decision making. As a competition or a corporate lawyer, it is very important to understand the rationale of a particular business decision to further comment upon its legal validity. My B.Com studies have helped me a lot in reading financial statements and understanding decision making techniques.

     

    What kind of internship applications do you think stand out positively and enjoy a much higher likelihood of being accepted?

    I think the CV should reflect some productive activities which the candidate has been doing through law school. It does not necessarily need to be all subject related, it could be some organisational experience or even extra – curricular activities. Participation in moot courts, debate competitions, definitely gives extra brownie points. One is not expected to be consistent in the types of internships, e.g. litigation or corporate, but it is necessary that the CV reflects an effort on the part of the candidate to learn new things.

     

    If you could re-live your 3 years in Law school, is there something you would do differently?

    Not really. It’s the best time of your life and I enjoyed it thoroughly. If anything, I would say I should have enjoyed it even more than I did.

     

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    Where do you see yourself ten years down the line? Do you aspire to be like somebody from this field?

    As I said, I am struggling to be a specialist in Competition law. After ten years, I would like to introduce myself as a specialist in competition law. I like the way Justice Krishna Iyer writes his judgments and I like the swiftness with which Mr. Salve argues. It would be a great achievement for me if I am able to be even a small part of what they are.

     

    What would be your advice to students interested in competition law?

    It is an emerging law in India, very interesting and intriguing. One has a huge scope of growth in this law in India. IPR and competition law make an interesting intersection which is worth studying. Law students interested in competition law should read a lot about the emerging concerns and possibly intern with competition law verticals of firms.

  • Zaid Zain, Associate, General Corporate Practice, AMSS, on law school, pursuing certificate and diploma courses and work

    Zaid Zain, Associate, General Corporate Practice, AMSS, on law school, pursuing certificate and diploma courses and work

    Zaid Zain is an Associate at Amarchand Mangaldas, Chennai. He is a corporate lawyer in their General Corporate Practice Group with a specialized focus on Technology and Media. Zaid graduated from ILS Law College, Pune in 2012.

    Zaid has also done several Diploma Courses including Diploma in Securities and Investment Law, Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions and Intellectual Property Law. In this interview he talks about:

    • Studying at ILS Law College, Pune
    • The relevance of additional courses
    • Interning and working at Amarchand Mangaldas

     

    How would you introduce yourself? Could you please share a little bit of what motivated you to pursue law as a career?

    My name is Zaid Zain, I am a corporate lawyer in the General Corporate Practice Group of Amarchand and Mangaldas, with a specialized focus on Technology and Media. I have been involved with some M&A deals and have also worked on a few capital market transactions. However, as stated above, my primary focus is on Technology Law, which comprises of drafting software-licensing agreements, ‘software as a service’ agreements (SAAS) and hardware procurement agreements amongst others. I thoroughly enjoy working in the technology space, as I feel it is a thought provoking and trend setting practice area to be in.

    As regards my motivation to do law, throughout my life I have always been interested in the idea of being an advisor / trusted confidant. I always felt that it was both incredibly powerful and highly fulfilling to strategize and find ways to help people / corporations solve problems. I was a regular at debating competitions in school and this experience further helped steering me towards a career in law.

     

    How did you make the initial shift from a science background to law? Would you say it was difficult settling in?

    To be honest, I did not find it difficult at all. I was always sure that I did not want to be an engineer. I didn’t particularly hate science, just that I wanted a career that was more socially oriented. As a lawyer, I love the fact that I get to constantly interact with people from various countries, companies and backgrounds.

    Besides, I feel that my science background gives me better intelligibility while working in the technology arena. I feel that terms, concepts and methodologies related to technology come more intuitively to me because of my science background.  The reality is that we are moving towards an ever more technology centric world. It already touches every aspect of an entity, and going forward I feel that technology law will become a formidable practice area.

     

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    Tell us about your college life at ILS Law College, Pune. Which activities did you partake in? Please tell us about the manner in which you approached academics while in college.

    In all honesty, college was the defining period in my life. It was in college that I truly underwent a transformation from being a dreamer to a go-getter. I had the privilege of being taught contracts by the legendary Mrs. Nilima Bhadbade. I would give her and my other teacher most of the credit for where I am today in my career.

    As for activities, I took part in various moot competitions and excelled in them. It was quite a rewarding experience too. It gave me valuable insight on how to analyze and apply a particular law as opposed to just reading it.

    I was also fortunate to be amongst friends who were intellectually stimulating. We would spend hours debating various legal, political and policy related subjects. This helped me develop the ability to think beyond the realm of normalcy while approaching and analyzing a topic. I also feel group-studies help law students immensely as we could bounce ideas off each other and face our tests/exams with much greater ease.

     

    What were your areas of interest during your graduation? How did you go about developing expertise and knowledge in these areas?

    At ILS, my areas of interest were corporate and securities law. I developed proficiency in these subjects by reading articles and scouring the web for information. I am an information junkie, I spend hours on the internet just researching. Whenever I found any topic difficult to comprehend, I would watch documentaries / videos on those topics and this would help me get a holistic and real world idea on the factors surrounding those topics. I also pursued a few diploma courses that helped me get vital insights into how corporations function and deal with each other.

     

    Did you find that your law school education had prepared you sufficiently for the many tasks you were required to execute during your internships and later at your job?

    Well, my law school education did give me a strong foundation on which I could build the skill sets required to work in a law firm. But as is the case with most professions – you learn as you go. While the subjects taught in college helps one get a grasp of the nature of the work, the real world application can only be understood while dealing with live situations on the job. For example, we all studied about board meeting and shareholders meeting in college, but it’s only when you work on the content of such meetings and its real world repercussion that you truly appreciate the value and criticality of such meetings.

     

    Currently, you work as an Associate at AMSS, Chennai. How did your appointment take place? What worked for you in securing the job?

    I had previously interned with Amarchand at their Chennai office. During my internship, I got the opportunity to get to know and work with the partner and associates in the office. I worked for them tirelessly and displayed the dedication and commitment required to meet their expectations. I spent long hours in the office and diligently executed whatever responsibilities I was tasked with. I also got along very well with the partner and associates in the office. By the end of my internship, I felt like I was part of their team. While I did not get the job immediately, I was promised a position as soon as a vacancy opened up and in less than a year or so, I got the break that I wanted.

     

    How was your first year after graduation? What do you think were the biggest hurdles and challenges in the early days of your career? How did you deal with them?

    The first year I would say was the toughest. That is the time when one makes the transformation from passively just studying law to actively practicing it. The biggest hurdle I would say is understanding various legal concepts and the manner and methodology involved in applying such concepts to a given situation. I found it difficult to go through volumes of documents and analytically process them within those stringent deadlines.

    However, the more I worked the simpler it became. I figured out shortcuts and methods to execute the work given to me quickly and resourcefully. I understood time is a big factor in this business, and how critical it is to prioritize matters that involved more risk and forego ones that drag down efficiency.

     

    What are the primary professional ethics you follow while at work? How do you deal with mistakes or errors?

    Contrary to popular belief, I feel that law and ethics go hand in hand. One must take responsibility for the work undertaken by them and never push someone else under the bus. This according to me is the most imperative ethical value for a lawyer to have. Also, one must always try to do their best for the client no matter what the situation. At no point should the client suffer due to any problems or issues that are personal to the lawyers working on a matter.

    Mistakes and errors are part and parcel of being a corporate lawyer. No lawyer is above mistakes regardless of his social standing. The key is to remember those mistakes and not repeat them in the future. There are days when a draft sent out is cleared instantly while on others there would be errors on the simplest of tasks. To sum up, one should not linger too much on mistakes and should be able to quickly adapt and move on.

     

    While in law school, you have also pursued many courses. Was it a professional requirement to enhance more in your career?

    While in college I had pursued various Diploma Courses including Diploma in Securities and Investment Law, Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions and Intellectual Property Law.

    To a certain extent I did undertake those diplomas to enhance my CV and add value to my profile. At the same time, I also wanted to know and understand these areas of law, as I found them to be fundamental to the functioning of corporations.

     

    Please comment on the quality and structure of these courses. How much practical knowledge did you gain from it?

    I would say the quality of the courses was very good. Every lecture was very focused on the practical aspects of the topics. Most concepts were taught using case studies and I found this to be especially helpful. Also, the classes were very interactive and the Professors were keen on getting the students point of view on. This sort of interactive platform was very enriching and helped me get a deeper understanding whilst clearing a lot of doubts that I had.

     

    There is a considerable attrition rate at the top law firms, what do you think contributes to this? What has been your personal experience?

    I feel the attrition rate could be due to many reasons. Most people quit for personal reasons such as marriage, migration, sabbaticals etc. Others leave because they feel they want to jump in-house, change practice areas and sometimes even get into other career paths. In my experience, I have seen more of the former than the latter.

     

    Tell us about a case that you are particularly proud of. What steps do you take to prepare for a difficult case?

    There was this one capital market deal we did. It was one of the first QIPs after the New Companies Act kicked in. It was an exhilarating month where my colleagues and I spent countless days (and nights) working on the matter together. We were all quite exhausted by the end of it. However, once the deal launched we could not have been more thrilled and content.

     

    What is the current scenario of studying corporate law as a career option in India? What are the key qualities one should posses for becoming a corporate lawyer?

    I would say that the current scenario is ideal for a student to pursue corporate law. If there was one thing I could change it would be to include in the study of corporate law, lessons on the practical application of corporate and commercial hypotheses.

    I would say the key qualities one should possess for becoming a corporate lawyer are: (a) an analytical mind; (b) diligence at tasks; and (c) social skills. Sometimes, the greatest of solutions would be hidden in inconspicuous nuances. Therefore, a strong focus and attention to detail are also essential qualities for a corporate lawyer. Most importantly, one must also remain humble throughout their profession – keeps your eyes on the stars but your feet on the ground.

     

    What are the other related fields where a corporate lawyer can try hand apart from joining law firms and corporate houses?

    I would say public relations, management consultancy, policy and journalism are all fields that a corporate lawyer could excel in. It could also be a solid gateway to politics.

     

    Life for lawfirmites can be very hectic at times. What is your take on work-life balance? How do you unwind?

    Yes, it is a fairly accurate assessment that life can get very hectic for a corporate lawyer. While I do enjoy the thrill of having a fast paced life and a busy schedule; it can also be taxing at times. It is therefore imperative, that you make time to do the things you love and also make time for your loved ones. True to any profession, having a good work life balance is pivotal to feeling satisfied as a corporate lawyer.

    I unwind by watching movies and documentaries that engage me. I am also a big foodie and love going for a good meal, so I try to do that as often as possible. Occasionally, I attend social gatherings and find myself enjoying meeting and networking with people from diverse backgrounds.

     

    What would be your parting message to law students who want to be successful in corporate law?

    My advice to law students would be -Develop the quality of truly understanding the stuff taught to you and visualize ways in which it can be applied to real-life situations. Cultivate a ‘never give up’ attitude and have the courage to persevere against all odds.

     

  • Shabnam Khan, Head – Trademark, Lall Lahiri and Salhotra, on a career in Intellectual Property Rights

    Shabnam Khan, Head – Trademark, Lall Lahiri and Salhotra, on a career in Intellectual Property Rights

    Shabnam Khan graduated in English Hons. before deciding to pursue law at Delhi University. She graduated in law from Delhi University in 2003. Her journey as an IPR professional started when she joined Evalueserve.com Pvt. Ltd. as an Associate. Thereafter, she joined Lall Lahiri and Salhotra as a Senior Associate in 2007. She was subsequently promoted to Head – Trademark Applications in 2013. In this interview she talks about:

    • Specializing in IPR Laws
    • Working at one of the foremost IPR Firms
    • Being Head – Trademark Applications at Lall Lahiri and Salhotra

     

    What brought you into studying law? Was it planned?

    I had always been captivated by the legal fraternity and the zeal with which they pursue the path of providing justice for their clients. Honestly, the biggest push came after I saw few movies such as “A Few Good Men”, “The Accused” and “A Civil Action” which brought me to realize that this profession had the power to change people’s lives. With that thought during my last year of English Hons. I decided that if there was a career which I wanted to pursue it had to be in the legal domain and thereafter once I started with my course work there was no looking back. The entire subject was and is still captivating.

     

    Please tell us a little about your law school days at the Delhi University? How were you at academics?

    The entire course was so gripping that it was difficult to miss a single day at college. The biggest positive of the Delhi Law University is the excellent professors and their teaching methodology. The sessions were interactive, lively and always buzzing with arguments and counter arguments on various topics. I was also elected as the student counsellor during my time at the college. I would rate myself as a hard working student who participated in various college activities while securing very good grades in a few semesters.

     


    You have specialized in IP law. What made you interested in the same? How do you say one can gain expertise in IP Law? What does it take to be a good IP lawyer?

    The journey to being a IP professional started when I joined Evalueserve.com Pvt. Ltd. where I was required to work with legal attorneys who handled various activities related to IP matters. I received tremendous guidance from attorneys from across the globe, especially those who were involved with USPTO (US Trademark and Patents Office). I was thereafter trained in patent writing and filing matters. This is when I developed an irrevocable interest in the subject. The expertise in the subject comes with the right guidance, practise and continuous dealing with matters related to the subject. To be a good IP lawyer requires one to have broad understanding of various industries, business nuances so that you can suggest creative and out of the box solutions to the clients for their legal matters.

     

    You started your career at Evalueserve.com Pvt. Ltd. as an Associate. How did you secure your appointment? How would you describe your experience working there? What kind of challenges did you face during this job?

    I started as an Associate handling the legal part of the patent filings for the IP department of Evalueserve. That was my first step in the world of IP. I got a lot of guidance from my seniors, went through patent drafting training and learnt quite a lot about what patents are all about and how any invention is required to be protected and secured in the best possible manner. Challenges were numerous, IP was new, and the domain was technical which required me to have conversations in different time zones with IP Attorneys in the US and across the globe. The job entailed that I was always abreast with the latest happenings and was always a step ahead of the deadlines as there was no room for errors. I developed various skills to manage things and made sure nothing falls through the cracks.

     


    Thereafter, you joined Lall Lahiri and Salhotra as a Senior Associate in 2007 and became Head – Trademark Applications in 2013. For a law student it’s very difficult to think about becoming a Head in just six years of joining work. What would you say helped you succeed?

    Joining Lall Lahiri and Salhotra came after a stint of over three years of dealing with Patents. Since I did not have a technical background, I found myself being limited to looking at the legal part of Patents which at that point in time did not have considerable opportunities. As I was interested in Intellectual Property, I wanted to look into other aspects of IP as well. The trademarks division of LLS gave me the much needed exposure and opportunities to grow. The seniors and partners were very educative and supportive towards me since trademarks was an uncharted territory. I learnt, made a few mistakes, but always pushed constantly by learning and guidance provided by my seniors. The process of learning and growing never ceases at LLS, therefore it was after years of working there that I was bestowed upon with the responsibility of heading the department. The openness to accept challenges, hard work and eagerness to learn helped me join the ranks of being the Head of the department.

     

    What kind of effort should a young associate put in to work to be appreciated? What distinguishes an associate from a partner when it comes to work?

    A young associate should be all about learning and gaining knowledge of their domains. Reading and keeping yourself abreast of any developments happening in the field are a must. Hence, it is a must for the associate to focus on his professional path of enrichment as these initial years will differentiate him from others in the future. An associate, in the initial years of their induction should always have an attitude of being a go-getter, ready to accept challenges and should be able to think out of the box. Every matter will enrich the associate with greater depth of knowledge and equip him in handling various matters in the future.

     

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    What does a Head at a Law Firm like Lall Lahiri and Salhotra do? What falls within the scope of your responsibility? Tell us about a typical work day.

    The work of a Head of department entails a large number of activities and cannot be categorized into specific key responsibility areas. However, some of the key tasks include – speaking with clients on active and fresh mandates, understanding their legal problems and suggesting actionable solutions, managing deadlines, resource & project planning amongst various other tasks.

    A typical day starts with reading the emails received from the clients, prioritizing what needs to be done, what needs to go out to the clients on that day and what needs to be started to be able to meet the future deadlines. Advising clients, providing them with your opinions both from a legal and a commercial perspective, recommending the best ways forward and assisting them in achieving the same are the highlights of a typical day.

     

    How is the work culture at Lall Lahiri and Salhotra? If an associate commits a mistake or an error what course of action do you follow?

    Work culture at LLS is very cohesive. It has great learning environment for everyone, be it an associate or a senior person. There are no limits to work and you can grow as much as you want, of course with the right abilities and attitude. The firm promotes in people thinking out of the box, finding solutions and hence in the process, mistakes are expected from juniors. However, it is also expected that with the right guidance from the seniors he/she is able to amend and learn from the same.

     

    What are the other areas of study which you think that a law student wanting to excel as a professional in the field of IP should be proficient in?

    In case you want to excel in IP, certain other related fields of law also come into the picture. Associated areas of law include corporate law, criminal law and law related to other aspects of IP such as copyrights and Patents. An expertise is not desired, but working knowledge of these fields will assist and help you rise above the rest.

     

    What changes has being the Head – Trademark Applications brought into your life, do you ever feel that there is an excess of work load on you? How do you manage to strike a balance between your personal and professional life?

    Work never stops, the interesting bits of queries received from the clients keeps you going and exploring more. Work can and never should be treated as a burden but as a challenge, the more you have, greater the chances that you will become a better and refined professional. As no two assignments are the same, it helps a person in exploring uncharted territories and subject matters resulting in understanding the applicability of law in greater detail.

     

    The trend now is to gather various internship experiences at different places. Was the scenario the same while you were pursuing law? How are internships helpful for a law student?

    While I was pursuing law, the concept of gathering internships was in the nascent stage. At the most, students would get attached to someone they know or their family knew or start as assisting lawyers in various courts. While ensuring you intern with good and varied law firms is a necessity of the current time, however, an intern should be thoughtful of not overdoing the same. It is advisable to spend time in a few law firms than a large number of law firms as it would leave the intern confused and not being able to understand any subject in detail. The same is crucial in making future career decisions.

     

    What are the qualities which Lall Lahiri and Salhotra look for in one and his/her CV?

    The firm hires interns, however, the selection process is stringent and thus only a few make it through the selection process. It is important for the intern to exhibit qualities such as – knowledge of current happenings in the IP world, understanding on key/ famous IP litigations, attitude, openness to learn and the desire to go extra mile, proficiency in spoken and written English, etc.

     

    What do you feel makes an intern stand out and is very important for him to do to have a chance of getting a call back or even a PPO?

    As I said earlier, it is about your attitude and willingness to learn. A lot depends on how fast you pick up things, and deliver results in a limited time.

     

    What would be your message to our readers who are budding lawyers and law students?

    Have the right attitude and never think any work is small, give your 100% to whatever you do. This will take you high on the ladder where all you can see is success.

  • Gaurav Singhal, Director and Principal IPR Attorney, Patracode Services, on his journey from Engineering to Law and a career in IPR

    Gaurav Singhal, Director and Principal IPR Attorney, Patracode Services, on his journey from Engineering to Law and a career in IPR

    Gaurav Singhal graduated with B.Tech degree from UPTU in 2006. His interest in IPR law led him to join Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (IIT, Kharagpur) and pursue an LL.B.

    While in college, he co-founded Siddhast Intellectual Property Services. After graduation, he was placed at Siemens Information Systems Ltd. as Strategic IPR Counsel.

    Gaurav Singhal is currently the Director and Principal IPR Attorney at Patracode Services Pvt. Ltd.

    In this interview he talks about:

    • Law school experience at Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law
    • Co-founding Siddhast Intellectual Property Services and entrepreneurship
    • Working at Siemens Information Systems Ltd.

     

    Given that most of our readers belong to the legal fraternity, how would you introduce yourself to them?

    I’m a techno-legal professional living his dream to be an entrepreneur. My practice largely runs around Intellectual Property Rights, more specifically towards Patents. My approach is always problem-solution. I identify my customer’s requirement first and then give my best to solve it through the tools of law and business consulting. If the client is bootstrapping, I provide him certain lean strategies to protect his business interest, in spite of going pro-bono. Business Rights are commercial in nature, and are quite different from general civil rights, hence I believe that the client should bear the protection cost, as he shall be reaping commercial benefits from it in due course.

     

    Having done B.Tech from Uttar Pradesh Technical University, what motivated you to choose law as a career at Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law?

    My entry to law was well-planned, however the motive to be in law, was never to practise the law. When I was doing my B. Tech, I was an aspiring entrepreneur and had been practising entrepreneurship at a very small level, while still being at my engineering college. A friend and I had tried multiple fields like other engineering students, they were in and around education programmes, technology project installation, website design handling, business consulting, etc. However, none appeared to be lucrative to us as a business. During the same time we were attending various Business Conferences, and a few of them were based on Intellectual Property Rights. We found Intellectual Property Rights quite fascinating and had decided to pursue as our entrepreneurial career. The decision was validated by doing some mock business development activities with real prospects, which were highly successful.

    However, at that time, we were not sure about how to get the required skills to be in the area of Intellectual Property Rights. We knew that many LPO’s and KPO’s, even law firms take engineers as associates to practise Patents. But, we were sure that for a broader perspective we must do law. At that same time during 2006, IIT Kharagpur started the law school for technical graduates and science post-graduates. I considered that this law school was the right avenue for me to change my career’s direction.

     

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    How did you get through to Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law?

    Getting through to IIT Kharagpur’s law school is another dramatic story. If certain  incidents had not occurred then, may be my career path would have been absolutely different.

    When I made the application for Law School, my final semester engineering exam schedule was not out yet. Had it been out, I would not had applied for Law School at all, as one of my final semester exams was in conflict with the Law School entrance exam dates. Once the schedule for final semester exam was out, I came to know about this conflict. I was almost hopeless at that time. However, suddenly some Public Sector Unit had announced their employment examination date, which was conflicting with my final semester exam date, which was conflicting with Law School entrance examination date.

    Hence, under pressure from lot of students, the UPTU had shifted the conflicting examination date to a later one. Now, the dates were not conflicting, however another problem was still there. The Law school entrance examination was being held at IIT Kharagpur, which was atleast 24 hours away from Ghaziabad, where my engineering institute was based. And between two final semester examinations, only 3 days were there, which means less than 72 hours. The law school entrance examination was placed exactly at one day’s gap from the end semester examination. So 48 hours of train journey, written examination, group discussion, personal interview of Law school entrance examination, and preparation for the end semester examination had to be done in less than 72 hours. A very tight situation was there. Even few hours of delay of anything may have jeopardized my future in some way or another. I had decided to take this risk and was eventually successful in both my end semester examination and as well securing a seat for me at Law school.

     

    What were your areas of interest during your graduation? How did you go about developing expertise and knowledge in these areas?

    During law graduation, my area of interest was purely mostly on Intellectual Property Laws with emphasis on Patents. Even the college was more focused on IP Laws and division of a number of permanent faculties towards other laws and IP Laws was also like giving a weightage to IP Laws. As IP laws, especially the case laws, are more matured in the US, our focus during studies was more towards studying US laws. Even for practical scenario understanding, we had a few visiting faculties coming from US too.

     

    As a law student which activities did you participate in?

    One of the prominent activities which I supported was a student group called Technology Transfer Group whose focus was enabling transfer of technologies developed by professors and researchers at IIT to the industry. One of the aspects of this group was that it supported increasing Patent filings from IIT Kharagpur, which dramatically increased during the year I was handling it. To practise IPR laws and especially patent laws, the guidance was very limited, as we had very limited exposure to practising IP Lawyers during graduation. Even my internships was planned by myself.

     

    What kind of internships did you do while you were a student? Tell us about your law school journey.

    I had been through a total of three internships. The first two were at a small IP services firm, Siddhast Intellectual Property Services, where I was a co-founder and had founded it during first year of Law School itself. After the first year, it was an obvious decision to do an internship in my own venture, because the business was not shaped up.

    I was still two years away from my Law school graduation, so it was obvious that we cannot start with legal services or legal support services. Hence, during those 2 months, my focus was to turn it into a technology transfer company.

    However, in the first 15-20 days itself we started getting the notion that India is still too immature for transfer of patents and technology. So, a steer of focus was required. We required choosing something, where legal services were not involved at all and even legal support should not be required, even it should be close to IP laws and allied area. At that time, we did a lot of market research of the Intellectual Property market and identified an area where legal support was not required, and it was Intellectual Property database, more specifically patents.

    At that time, there was not much competition for Patent database in Indian market and few players had not even entered the market. At that time, we carried out partnership development exercises with a few players and boiled down to Questel Orbit. I worked out my next internship too at Siddhast after 3rd semester’s end. By my second internship Siddhast was running as resellers to Questel’s database and starting getting recognition in National market too.

    However, for my summer internship after 4th semester, I decided to do it in legal services, as by that time I had received substantial exposure to IP Law. This internship I did at Marico’s legal department. When I entered as intern, the legal department was looking towards me more as an expert, as the in-house team was more focused to general commercial laws and very minutely to IP Laws. During these two months, I utilized all my knowledge gained at law school to structure their Trademark portfolio. However, for Patents, there was exposure, which was quite minute.

     

    Did you find that your law school education had prepared you sufficiently for the many tasks you were to required to execute during your internships and later at your job?

    My education at law school had surely prepared me for various activities at my internships and at my job. However, at my job with Siemens, I had to undergo a specialized traineeship to work as Patent drafter and prosecutor, which was my major responsibility. For advising on IP Laws and managing other IP portfolios, like Patents and Designs, my education at Law school had helped me a lot.

     

    How has your mooting experience been?

    Mooting I did majorly as part of college curriculum. However, mooting exposure had helped me to develop and present arguments, which as a practitioner I have to do in day-to-day business.

     

    You started your career at Siemens Information Systems Ltd. as Strategic IP Counsel. How did your appointment take place? Please share you experience with our readers.

    This phase was equally dramatic.  Siddhast, the company which I had co-founded was doing well, rather to say it’s turnover was around 50 Lakhs in 2008-09. I was in double-minds, whether to get an industrial exposure and then join Siddhast or shall I do it right away after school. I had not even applied for the campus placement program. During that time, I was just enjoying the placement process of my classmates.

    On 3rd or 4th day of the process, it was announced that one of my classmates and I were selected for the placement process of Siemens. I was quite amused about it. I was not expecting it, as I have not applied for the process at all. I had moved to my placement coordinator faculty regarding it, to which he mentioned that Siemens was looking for someone who has done graduation in Computer Science and there were only 2 profiles in school, including mine.

    As it was the first year for the college and it was about college’s reputation building, he wanted me to take part in the recruitment process of Siemens. He mentioned that after 6 months, if I do not like it, I may leave Siemens and join my own outfit. At that time, I thought if it is for my alma mater’s reputation, I will take part in the process and also perform. From Siemens, we were told that we shall be tested on Patent Claim drafting. We studied it academically; however the exposure was surely very limited to clear such test. To practise it, I had read through Landis on Patent Claim drafting thoroughly.

    On the test day, we were provided with a test based on European Patent Agent Qualifying examination. Surely, it would have been difficult to do it, if I hadn’t not read well. Almost after 15 days of writing the test, I received a surprise call from the Head of Intellectual Property Department, India of Siemens early at 7:30 am. It was a wakeup call which made my day. I was asked to visit Bangalore for final processing and it was a sponsored trip with flight tickets also sponsored. It was my first exposure to flights. Really, Siemens had given so much to me, at that time; it was not possible for me to say “No”. And, in this way my final induction into Siemens happened.

     

    Later, you switched to Patracode Services Pvt. Ltd. and currently work as Director and Principal IP Attorney. How did your appointment take place? How has your experience at Patracode been so far?

    I am entrepreneur at heart, and that is the reason a Corporate like Siemens was not able to hold me back for long. When I was on the verge of completing four years, I was sure that my further development shall be inhibited in a controlled structure of a Corporate and then I decided to leave. However, Patracode was started much earlier. After leaving Siddhast, I was in touch with our first employee at Siddhast, Kavita Poddar, who was also leaving Siddhast soon after her marriage. Kavita wanted to start an outfit and she was interested to partner with me for that. With Siemens Policies, I was not seeing a harm to start with her, I had nodded “Yes” to her with a condition that I shall be only able to invest, but may not be able to provide much input beyond Management inputs. So, in Patracode, for few years I was just an investor and later on I actively joined it as part of the Management and its Principal IP Attorney.

    In Patracode, I am a free bird and able to steer my ideas easily. Exposure to bootstrapping startups has also given another variation to my advice which are now more lean and yet unconventional. Even my learning path is quite stronger now. I am doing lot more new things every day.

     

    What kind of work and responsibilities does the Director and Principal IP Attorney of Patracode deal with?

    I would say that there isn’t a typical day, as we are very client specific. Someday, I shall  have a full day meeting with clients and attend conferences, some days I am with clients solving their problems, some days I shall be at office training my staff, or planning future strategies. The activities are too diverse and may even involve technical or business consultancies to the client.

     

    What type of cases do you deal with? What amount of legal work is there? How often is legal work outsourced and in what type of cases?

    The cases which we deal with are generally non-contentious and revolve around filing and prosecuting Patent, Trademark, Copyright and design applications. We do not outsource our work in general. However, where we provide legal support, we may outsource it, like in the case of legal and patent translations. We work almost as in-house IP Counsels to our clients.

     

    Does Patracode take interns? What is the process for same?

    Yes, we do take interns. The process is simple. A candidate should apply with his aspiration to achieve during the internship period. If we feel that we can do justice to his aspirations, we may accept him, based on space available with us.

     

    Many lawyers would say that the actual learning takes place in the years of practice. How far would you say it is true? What was the case in your situation?

    As they say, it is very correct that learning happens when you do it. However, grooming for receiving that learning happens at law school, where your gurus enable you with the tools to be a receptor of that learning.

     

    If you could list out 3 activities which on a scale of priority, should be at the top in any law student’s school-life what would those be?

    • Make your passion your career.
    • Be disciplined in following your passion.
    • Till the time you have tried very hard, don’t believe that you cannot achieve it.

     

    Lastly, what would be your parting message for our readers?

    Just don’t dream, live them. I am sure success lies in living your dreams. Also, don’t do anything which may look career promising, rather just make career in what you like to do. If you will live your passion, success shall follow.