Super Lawyer

Category: Strategist

  • “Contributing to national publications allows me to give back to the legal community and ensures valuable knowledge drives progress and innovation.” – Navaneeta Kanjilal, Independent Legal Consultant and Legal Strategist

    “Contributing to national publications allows me to give back to the legal community and ensures valuable knowledge drives progress and innovation.” – Navaneeta Kanjilal, Independent Legal Consultant and Legal Strategist

    This interview has been published by Namrata Singh and The SuperLawyer Team

    Can you share the story behind your decision to pursue a career in law? What drew you to specialize in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, and tech law?  

    My decision to pursue law was greatly influenced by my father, who was an advocate. From a young age, I was fascinated by how companies operate, who holds control, and how decisions are made. This curiosity sparked my interest in corporate law. As a lawyer, I have always believed that our knowledge should extend beyond a single area of law, and we should continually strive to broaden our understanding.

    My tenure with two major IT companies offered me the perfect opportunity to deepen my understanding and gain specialized expertise in IT laws.

    You have led some high-value M&A transactions. Can you walk us through one of the most challenging deals you’ve handled and the key takeaways from that experience?  

    One of the most challenging M&A transactions I handled in the last few years involved a cross-border acquisition that spanned multiple jurisdictions with varying regulatory frameworks. The deal required coordinating extensive due diligence across different time zones, managing compliance with complex local regulations, and aligning the objectives of diverse stakeholders. A key challenge was balancing the legal intricacies with the strategic goals of both the acquiring and acquired company.

    The key takeaways from this experience were the importance of conducting thorough due diligence and implementing proactive risk management to address potential regulatory challenges before they escalate. In cross-border deals, it’s also crucial to be sensitive to cultural differences, in addition to navigating various regulatory frameworks. Understanding these nuances can help ensure smoother negotiations and successful deal closures. Balancing both legal and cultural complexities is essential for aligning interests and achieving the strategic goals of the transaction.

    You regularly contribute to national publications like the Economic Times. What motivates you to share your insights publicly, and how do you think your contributions have influenced the legal community?  

    When I contribute to national publications, my primary motivation is to share practical insights and knowledge that can reach a broader audience. Contributing to these platforms also helps me stay informed about emerging legal trends and challenges, fostering my ongoing professional growth. I view these contributions as a way to give back to the legal community, ensuring that valuable knowledge is not confined to closed circles but is shared and applied to drive progress and innovation.

    Given your experience as a product attorney for cloud products, what unique legal challenges do you foresee in the rapidly evolving tech industry and how should legal professionals prepare for them?  

    In the rapidly evolving tech industry, particularly with the rise of cloud computing, several unique legal challenges are emerging. One of the most pressing is data privacy and security. As companies increasingly rely on cloud services, the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information has grown significantly. Legal professionals must navigate a complex landscape of applicable regulations to ensure compliance while safeguarding data.

    Another critical challenge is managing cross-border data transfers. Cloud services often operate across multiple jurisdictions, which requires a thorough understanding of international data transfer laws. The varying regulations and standards across different countries add to this complexity, making it essential for legal professionals to stay informed about global legal developments.

    Intellectual property (IP) protection is also a key concern. Legal professionals advising product engineering/development teams need to ensure that IP rights are rigorously protected while addressing challenges related to the use of open-source software and licensing agreements.

    To effectively prepare for these challenges, legal professionals must develop a deep understanding of technology and its legal implications. This involves staying updated on the latest developments in data privacy, cybersecurity, and IP law, and closely collaborating with technical teams to provide informed and proactive legal guidance.

    With nearly two decades of experience, what advice would you give to young lawyers entering the field of corporate law, particularly those interested in M&A and regulatory compliance?  

    I recommend starting by building a solid foundation before delving into complex deals. A comprehensive understanding of corporate law, corporate structures, contract law, and relevant regulations is essential. This groundwork will equip you to confidently navigate the more intricate aspects of M&A and compliance. Given the constantly evolving legal and regulatory landscape, staying informed about new laws and market trends is equally important. Moreover, attention to detail is paramount in M&A transactions, as even minor errors can lead to significant repercussions. Since M&A deals are inherently complex, it’s vital to have a thorough grasp of all facets of a transaction—beyond just the legal aspects—such as tax and financial considerations, to accurately evaluate its legal impact.

    What motivated you to transition from working with multinational corporations to starting your independent legal practice? How different is independent legal practice from working with a corporate? 

    The motivation to transition from multinational corporations to independent legal practice stemmed from my desire for more autonomy, flexibility, and the ability to work on varied matters. In a corporate role, you are part of a structured team with access to established resources and support systems, and your focus is often aligned with a single organization’s specific business and legal needs. As an independent practitioner, you deal with different clients from different industries and are responsible for managing all aspects of your practice. It requires greater self-reliance, adaptability, and business development skills, but it also offers more autonomy and flexibility in choosing clients and areas of focus.

    You began your practice working in corporate roles, then transitioned to law firms, and eventually moved back to the corporate sector. Can you highlight the key differences in working in these two environments? How have your experiences in both segments shaped your approach to legal practice?  

    My career has provided me with valuable experiences in both law firm and in-house roles, each offering distinct perspectives and challenges that have profoundly influenced my approach to legal practice. In a law firm, the focus is on cultivating deep legal expertise and offering specialized advice to a diverse array of clients and industries. The work is fast-paced, demanding precision, thorough research, and a keen awareness of evolving legal trends.

    In in-house roles, the focus shifts from pure legal analysis to a comprehensive understanding of the business context. This involves not just applying the law but also aligning with the company’s goals, risk tolerance, and strategic direction. In-house work requires a pragmatic approach, balancing legal risks with business realities and often involves contributing to boardroom discussions where your legal advice directly influences key business decisions.

    The combination of these experiences has provided me with a well-rounded perspective. My law firm background instilled the importance of rigorous legal analysis and staying updated on legal developments, while my in-house experience underscored the need for practical, business-focused legal solutions. These experiences together have honed my ability to offer legal advice that is both sound and strategically aligned with organizational goals.

    Outside of your professional life, what personal interests or hobbies do you pursue? How do these activities influence or complement your work as a senior corporate lawyer?  

    Outside of my professional life, I enjoy baking, travelling, and spending quality time with my daughter. Baking provides a creative outlet and a calming respite from the demands of my legal work. Travelling allows me to step back, reflect, and immerse myself in different cultures, which broadens my perspective and enhances my ability to approach challenges with an open mind. Time with my daughter brings immense happiness and helps me stay grounded, enabling me to manage stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

    Get in touch with Navaneeta Kanjilal-

  • Mr Sourabh Gogna, Vice President, Professional Services Practice, at Smart Cube, and a Masters in Business Law from NLSIU, specializing in Growth Strategies and Consulting Support for Law Firms, on alternate career choices post Law

    Mr Sourabh Gogna, Vice President, Professional Services Practice, at Smart Cube, and a Masters in Business Law from NLSIU, specializing in Growth Strategies and Consulting Support for Law Firms, on alternate career choices post Law

    This interview has been published by Sonali Parashar, Ojuswi Sahay the SuperLawyer Team

    You have taken a completely uncharted path for somebody who has studied law. What brought you to your current role?

    Let me start by giving a background of my current profile. I work with The Smart Cube, a UK-based global research and analytics firm, catering to large professional services firms and Fortune 500 companies providing support for strategy formulation, business development, marketing and innovation. I have been with the firm since 2009. I hold an LL.B from Delhi University and Masters in Business Laws from NLU, Bengaluru. Prior to my legal studies, I studied business management with a specialisation in finance. Back in 2013, when I completed my legal studies, I had an opportunity to transition to a career in law or continue with my research and consulting profile at the Smart Cube. I realised that my passion lies in the business side of the legal industry and decided to grow our consulting business with law firms and professional services clients at the Smart Cube. Over the years, we have grown this practice to a team of 80+ people and my current mandate is to take our services to more US-based law firms.

    Tell us about your role as a strategist for global law firms?

    Every law firm is chasing top line and bottom line expansion and ways to introduce firm-wide innovation initiatives. My role is to support the law firms in defining strategic agendas and providing intelligence to execute projects and initiatives that will lead to these results. We play the role of a guide in supporting the offices of the CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CMOs, CBDOs, CIOs and Chief Innovation officers in pursuing their specific agendas. Typical areas of support are market opportunity assessment, geographic expansion, practice development, competitive intelligence, client intelligence, prospecting, marketing intelligence, innovation, indirect cost optimization, and data analytics.

    How do you support the practice development initiatives of professional services clients?

    We define practice development as the process of growing the business value for a particular practice area of a law firm or the entire firm itself. It need not result in revenue acceleration only but includes initiatives around innovation, marketing, and cost optimization. In terms of revenue acceleration, we support firms in market expansion through geographic or service expansion via lateral hiring, bolt-on acquisitions or by opening new offices in high potential locations. In terms of innovation, we support the innovation/special projects, marketing, business development, and strategy teams, in introducing innovative ways of conducting tactical work. For instance, we institutionalise competitive intelligence and key account management programs at scale leveraging our technology and analytics solutions, on a turn-key basis. Lastly, we support large professional services firms in indirect cost optimization. It is a small but growing interest area for large firms looking to bolster their bottom lines. We have a ton of experience in this space owing to our historic roots in procurement research and analytics. 

    You have supported law firms in their quest for regional and international law expansion. How does that work? Please share some insights on the thinking process of large firms.

    Law firms like any other business seek expansion. Mostly this comes in the form of geographic expansion, practice or service line expansion, new partnerships, new offices, lateral hiring, and M&As. We support law firms in each of these initiatives through our research expertise. To cite an example here, in 2018, we supported a leading US-based law firm in evaluating expansion opportunities in Canada, South Korea, and China. We provided an advisory deck to the firm’s strategy head covering intelligence on regulatory constraints, opportunity size, past success stories, growing practice areas, ongoing charge rates, competitive intensity, synergies with the firm’s US business, etc. Similarly, we supported a regional US-based law firm in exploring opportunities in different counties in California.

    Firms are looking to back their decisions with insights and data. Senior stakeholders lookout for making a compelling case for the growth initiatives and building consensus around it. They need a third-party unbiased independent review of these opportunities. We fill this need for law firms, other professional services firms, and corporate clients. 

    How do you help law firms with their profitability-related initiatives? What are the levers for law firms to augment profitability?

    To augment profitability, there are two main levers available to the firms, reducing cost or becoming more efficient. In terms of cost reduction, law firms typically find their hands tied up when it comes to salaries and bonuses as they try their best to retain the best industry talent. We saw this in 2020 and 2021 with unprecedented growth in associate and lateral salaries and bonuses. The next biggest cost head which is largely unexplored is indirect costs. We specialise in supporting law firms in reducing these costs around real estate, sales and marketing, professional and corporate services, IT & telecom, travel, facilities management, etc. 

    In nutshell, our process starts with understanding the spend categories and demand profile, supplier market dynamics, and formulating the sourcing strategy for each category. Then, we move to supplier identification, evaluation, and shortlisting, leading up to contract negotiations. We also monitor supplier performance and risks overtime to ensure that the operations run smoothly after the suggested changes. There is a whole science around spend analytics and procurement cost optimization which our researchers and data analytics experts deliver to our clients through our AI-HI approach, combining artificial intelligence and human intelligence. 

    In terms of efficiency-related support, we help in institutionalising best practices in business research and data analytics within the organisation with an aim of introducing automation, wherever possible. We also run shared services support centres for large firms in a few cases.

    Large professional services firms undertake huge exercises in competitive intelligence. Your team supports such programs. How do you do it?

    Collecting competitive intelligence is one thing but presenting and making it available to everyone in the organisation is another. Then there is the challenge of delivering timely insights which are actionable. 

    We attempt to offer actionable insights delivered to the entire organisation or relevant stakeholders by leveraging technology tools such as online portals, apps, RSS feeds, emailers, APIs to sync with your internal intelligence portals, etc. 

    If you come to think of it, it is competitive intelligence for your firm as it relates to the industries, practice areas, competitors, and clients that you want to track. It is a highly customizable deliverable that helps our clients in responding appropriately and in time to counter competitor moves. 

    We rely on information collated from trusted sources, databases, internal industry experts, and external expert interviews to deliver these insights. 

    Cross-selling is one of the most potent ways of increasing revenue growth. How do you support firms with this?

    Cross-selling is perhaps the lowest hanging fruit when it comes to revenue growth but often it goes unreaped. In our experience, there can be two reasons for this – one is cultural and the second is a lack of systems. 

    We can’t really influence the culture at the firm but we do play a role in streamlining processes and systems. Let’s say you have a CRM but there is no process to punch relevant client information and adherence to CRM updation is low. In this case, all your past efforts and relationships with the clients are not leading to future growth. We help define these processes, take the responsibility of maintaining this data for you with utmost confidentiality, and then make sense of it by conducting a deep dive into this data with a mix of research and analytics tools. We help the firms in defining and executing their data analytics practices to start with and then go about creating dashboards that throw actionable insights. Cross-selling is just one of the application areas of our data analytics work for professional services firms. 

    How do you support law firms in terms of organic revenue growth?

    In terms of organic growth, law firms can grow via lateral team hiring, opening new offices, partnerships or service lines. We can help you first access which practice area, service, or geography to select for expansion based on internal strengths and market trends. We support law firms in evaluating and executing each of these opportunities. 

    For lateral hiring, we provide a lay of the land in terms of legal talent availability and efficiency in the geography, practice area or service line. 

    When it comes to new offices, the primary puzzle is to identify the most viable location for your firm. We run macroeconomic studies and study industry potential studies to understand the growth prospects and competitive intensity. 

    For service line and practice area expansion, senior stakeholders evaluate the growth potential, synergies with existing teams, ongoing rates and profitability profile, competitive intensity, and client pools, before embarking on the expansion journey.

    Similarly, we help you find relevant partners in other geographies. These may not only be other law firms but firms in allied industries that can serve as a potential revenue source. 

    We support these areas by leveraging our deep industry knowledge of client industries, the competitive landscape in the professional services space, and the pool of specialist analysts and data analytics experts supported by our proprietary technology and information assets built over the years. 

    You touched upon the concept of key account management. What is the kind of support you offer in this space?

    In any organisation, a set of clients are identified as key accounts because either they contribute significantly to the revenue or are critical for the firm due to some other factors such as high growth potential, nature of work, prestige, etc. Companies are always looking to shield these customers from competitors and grow their own book of business with them over time. 

    To stay on top of things, lawyers and professional staff at the law firm are expected to stay current on the business dynamics impacting these clients. We, basically, develop a near-real-time insights engine for these key accounts so that you know what is going on with these businesses and what is it that you can do about it. 

    For instance, say that one of your key account companies has declared in its earnings call that it has raised $500 million and is gearing for an M&A driven growth strategy. With this information, you know that you need to have a top of mind recall for the client as an M&A advisory firm and hence you are required to initiate campaigns and conversations with the client stakeholders around the subject. I have given a very simple idea to put across my point. There are several complex use cases where the implications may not be as apparent. 

    In summary, you don’t just need this information, you need it faster than others and you need an implication-driven commentary to go with it. As a number of surveys have shown over the years, law firm clients love lawyers who have a business context. We provide this business context just in time for lawyers to react and take it to the clients. We support law firms in institutionalising this practice. 

    What are the mega-trends that you believe will offer a big runway for law firms in the future?

    The world has changed drastically in the last 2 years or so. In light of the recent events, I believe that 5 mega-themes will play out in the next 5-10 years that will lead to business growth and changes in the work/client mix. According to our research, these mega-trends are metaverse, climate change, geopolitical changes, global supply chain realignment, and government actions and regulatory outreach.   

    Get in touch with Sourabh Gogna –