Is law something you were inclined to pursue, and why did you decided to pursue it?
Initially law was not my first preference – it was medicine. Some proclivity caused by watching television shows such as Boston Legal etc gave birth to my legal career when I enrolled at the Faculty of Law Jamia Millia Islamia in a 5 year LLB Programme. Without slightest hesitation, I can now confirm that I was meant to be a lawyer. In other words, patients got lucky!
During my first few years of legal studies and mock trial competitions, I felt a sense of proclivity and interest in law as I thoroughly enjoyed the subject/discipline. On one occasion, I won an award at a Bar Council of India event and Mr R Venkatramani invited me to his office for a brief conversation. Sir as kind he is, inspired and encouraged me to join litigation. I never looked back.
After my LL.M at McGill University, Canada, I was selected to pursue my second masters at University of Oxford – which further powered my quest to pursue litigation – and this time rights centric. The profession has been equally financially rewarding in terms of both needs and wants. Litigation as I know it provides me with opportunities to learn and grow every day, moment. Every court room provides me with a vicarious experience – unlike anything else.
What is your current role? Could you walk us through how a normal day looks like in your life?
I am blessed and equally thrilled to have multiple roles. From representing Govt as a Standing Counsel/Special Counsel to Law Enforcement agencies, I have a private practice where I am represent clients before various court of records across India and primarily at Delhi.
A normal day for me usually entails visiting at least 2-3 forums, which would ordinarily start (depending on cause list) with High Court then Trial Courts/NCLT etc. or Supreme Court. It is a challenge managing dates as we endeavour to get an effective hearing as much as practicable and possible. Most of cause list management is intuitive and cannot be managed without an efficient (which I am lucky to have).
This follows with conferences with clients, seniors, law office management and that too with utmost punctuality when possible! At last, we finish our work, leave some for the day to come. Research and case laws – preparation for the matters listed on the following day/week is most important of all and given priority on daily basis.
What worked well for you doing a MSC in criminology and how in the beginning it created an interest for you?
For me MSC Criminology and Criminal justice meant a second masters. Then, I had just finished my LLM in Comparative law from McGill University, Canada. It is undeniable that my proclivity in criminal law was polished at Oxford – inasmuch it enabled me to really think critically of the underlying issues concerning administration of criminal justice in India. It helped me get a holistic understanding of both the victim and the accused.
The society as a tertiary victim. The fact that my entire cohort was representative of people from across the world helped me gain insight into other territorial jurisdictions. Some were judges, lawyers, social activists etc. while others were academics. Therefore, it gave me an opportunity to reflect on the entire process and which comes in very handy on day to day basis.
As a faculty for Delhi Police and other authorities, where do you see the gap to be filled while maintaining a sort of balance between Police and Courts?
As a Faculty at Delhi Police and other institutions, the most obvious gap is – translating theory to practice in terms of procedural fairness to due process before Courts. The situation exacerbates owing to excessive pendency and work load on Investigating Officers – who have multifarious roles such as attending courts, investigation, attending emergency calls etc. Despite this, the institutional legitimacy of law enforcement agencies are often put in doubt perhaps because of one or two remote incidents. The narrative (negative ones) often spread like a wild fire thereby putting the entire executive in the dock.
This needs to be reflected upon and worked upon as an entire society at large. The law enforcement agencies deserve due credit for managing as diverse of a society as ours, day in and day out and most importantly constructive criticism – aimed towards helping them improve. Apart from this, there needs to be a better coordination inter se judiciary and executive.
I personally feel, the investigating officers should be allowed to join virtually where possible so as to enable them to work on their files/ investigation while waiting for their turn at various Courts and should only show up in person in cases especially called upon by the Courts. We would also benefit from joint training programmes and programmes designed to overcome hierarchical gaps between the law enforcement agencies and that of the trial judiciary – who manages the major bit of fair trail rights of the accused and that of the victims.
How far do you consider the role of publications in a legal professional’s life?
The role of publications and academic discourse as a legal professional is one of the most important duties bestowed upon us. This is indispensable for two reasons,
(1) Our duty to disseminate what we learn on day to day basis
(2) Enable young counsels / new ones to learn from our vicarious experiences as much as possible. Publications or academic discourse is one of the most important platform for a legal debate and to discuss socio-legal issues. Through publications, we are provided with a platform that enables us in identifying situations of conflict of laws, pre-empt situations surrounding conflict of laws and allow suggestions for improvement.
Personally speaking, I have regularly published both scholarly work and have a book coming up on criminology. I personally feel that an academic heart is sine qua non for any legal practitioner be it this side or the other side of the bench.
Being able to accomplish so much in such a short period of time, what challenges did you face?
Well I don’t know if I have accomplished anything as of now. Accomplishment is a myth in our legal profession. The idea is to continue to thrive to learn in this knowledge based economy as I label it. The beauty of our profession is networking and making new friends so often than not. I am often astonished by unique approaches of our interns and young associates. The legal fraternity is changing for good.
What message/advice would you like to give to the upcoming generation of law and young people in general?
The message I would give to the upcoming generation is simple yet straight forward –
Focus on mental health. Stay away from unhealthy social media. Study in a multidisciplinary manner. Stay updated with global affairs and spend time with your loved ones in a quality way. Learn to separate personal and professional time –
This will enable you to procrastinate less. Best wishes to them all!
What was your motivation behind choosing law as a career?
I decided to take up law as a career after my 10th boards. After interning with a fashion designer and at a couple of NGO’s and speaking to people who were working in various other fields, taking up law was a clear decision for me because I had decided that I wanted to help people by finding solutions to their legal problems. I wanted to contribute to society in a way I thought would be more effective.
I have always had a passion for writing and I have always had strong opinions and so choosing law as a career was a means to work towards achieving everything I was setting out to do including the person I wanted to become.
What were the challenges that you faced in the beginning of your career?
Like every other first generation lawyer, I felt I had been thrown into the deep end of the ocean at the beginning of my career. Although, one learns to read the law and apply oneself in different scenarios in a classroom setup, when you join practice, you are immediately transformed into a professional and are expected to apply your skills and assist your seniors with all aspects of a transaction, whether it is research, contract reviewing and drafting or speaking to clients and managing them.
The first year of practice can be a daunting experience for most lawyers, however, the initial years will also set the course for what is to come so I believe that hard work, passion, determination and the ability to push oneself and grow through the discomfort are key to ensuring a successful and meaningful career.
You started out as an intellectual property lawyer and then moved to corporate law. Can you tell us more about your role as an IP lawyer and how is it different from being a corporate lawyer?
My role as an IP lawyer involved advising clients across the globe on trademark and copyright-related laws in India. I handled IP portfolios of some of the leading FMCG companies in the world and handled all aspects of trade mark and copyright prosecution. My work involved conducting clearance searches, drafting replies to examination report, strategic development and management of trade mark and copyright portfolios and appearing before the trademarks registry. I switched to corporate law after almost two years in IP.
As a corporate lawyer I handle all aspects of general corporate advisory, commercial contracting, employment law advisory and contracting and investment transactions. I also regularly advise cloud communication companies on regulatory, policy and compliance’s issues. I believe my unique experience of intellectual property law and corporate law has helped me understand the legal requirements of a company when it comes to its business model in a holistic manner.
As someone who is passionate about writing on various topics, how important do you think legal writing is and what are the skills that one needs to have in order?
I have always had a flair for writing essays, poetry and screenplays throughout my school days. As lawyers, we are essentially thinkers and writers. As a young girl, I found that the best way for me to express my feelings was through writing. In law school, I had the opportunity to hone my writing skills and move up to writing articles on various legal topics that were of my interest. Research and writing was a way for me to delve deeper into subjects that interested me and to stay abreast with the latest developments in the legal field.
I had found the way for me, as a lawyer, to express my thoughts and opinions and this helped me find my confidence professionally.
According to you, briefly what is the right approach to drafting tech contracts and other critical documents?
As a lawyer working in the telecommunications and technology space, we have to learn and adapt to changing technologies and bridge the gap between legal and tech to provide solutions to our clients and help them mitigate their business risks.
From a contract drafting perspective, it is important to firstly understand the clients product and services and to ensure the clients compliance with the legal and regulatory framework surrounding its business model. It is important to have a strong understanding of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules including the data protections laws.
Having a strong grasp on the industry specific regulations is also a must. For example, for clients in the digital communications space, it is crucial to understand the implications of TRAI regulations such as the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), 2018 on their business. It is important to incorporate appropriate clauses in the clients customer/user agreements to help mitigate any risks due to non-compliance with the such regulations. Having a good understanding of the clients licensing framework and business model is also necessary when advising in this space.
With content writing they say your drafting improves a lot, if you agree, would you suggest only writing on legal topics or any other niche as well?
I feel that one should write only if they are passionate about it. What started out as a personal outlet became a professional skill for me. That being said, being able to express your thoughts in a clear and concise manner is a skill which ultimately helps in professional pursuits in this industry.
As technology related startups including legal technology are evolving at a rapid pace, how must lawyers and law firms prepare themselves for doing different types of legal work?
This is an interesting time to be a lawyer and through our work at Cornellia Chambers we hope to disrupt the legal services industry through innovation under the guidance of our founder and mentor Ms. Pritika Kumar. Ever since the pandemic and offices becoming virtual and with the evolution of technology, everything and everyone has moved to the cloud and traditional law firms and systems are being challenged every day.
Such innovation in the industry will not only help organizations and the community of lawyers to become more efficient but will also help in improving the issue of lack of access to justice in our country through technological means.
Any few important tips for young law professionals?
Always be eager to learn, diligent and passionate about your work and never be afraid to fail.
What was the main reason you chose law as a career?
Law was always an inspiring and challenging field for me. Given that I’m not coming from a family with legal background, hence I had no perception of the legal world and profession, my desire to study law derived from my pure curiosity to comprehend the world I belong to.
From a very early age, I was enchanted by the fact that societies and modern civilization are an artefact of law. Dictums that give concrete form to the greatest achievement of the mankind, civilization. A higher power that dictates, yet connects the word, rooted on common consensus.
What intrigued me more was that law is interwoven in our daily lives, molds our characters, perspectives, mentality and ultimately our being in a very subtle manner, without us even realizing it.
With two of my favourite books being “The Social Contract” (Rousseau) and “The Prince” (Machiavelli), I decided that I wanted to dive in what was the “connective tissue” of our social fabric, law. To explore how this dynamic arrangement moves, interacts and shapes.
Which are the forces affecting it, on which forces has an impact, its pulse during times of crisis. To my eye, law was a living, man-made algorithm, catching social needs, movements, shifts and being formed accordingly, to serve society. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
How has been the journey so far for you, what are the challenges and also that one breakthrough you’ll always remember?
Being a lawyer nowadays is a challenging yet intriguing task. From the very competitive and demanding legal environment that requires continuous efforts to the crisis that humanity goes through during the last years, be it the healthcare crisis, energy crisis, political and cross-border turmoil, lawyering feels like juggling.
Juggling among demanding clients, competitive colleagues, ongoing legislative reforms and amendments, of which you have to keep abreast, tight work schedules, long hours and a work-life balance that is difficult to maintain.
Nonetheless, in my opinion the major challenge is that the lawyer must act as a pivotal node. The pivotal node between the client’s needs and the legislative framework, assigned with the difficult task of harmonizing and bringing client’s demands in alignment with the law.
The crucial pitfall lurking in this venture is that a lawyer may be swept along by his/her plain legal background and come with rigid, obsolete positions, that don’t serve neither the client nor the scope of the law.
A lawyer shall implement a holistic, multidisciplinary approach. We all hear about the importance of expertise as a key-element to the provision of top-notch legal services, but what we don’t hear, is the “mutilating” effect that expertise may have to a lawyer’s mind and methods.
Apart from the in-depth knowledge of the relevant practice area, a lawyer shall have a strong business acumen and a genuine understanding of the other aspects of the case, with the economic one being the most prominent.
This is the most challenging part of our job. To study and be aware of every single molecule of the tree, without losing sight of the forest.
The truth is that I don’t have a cliché breakthrough to provide, like a victorious win on a very thorny court case or a client’s moving words that thrilled me and made me reconsider an issue. The breakthrough for me that marks a turning point in my career was a resounding realization I had, some years after joining the industry.
As a matter of fact, many lawyers are struggling with “imposter syndrome”, feeling inadequate and being overwhelmed by the hallucination that their colleagues/partners/clients know more and know better. Obviously, this is a very restraining belief.
Changing my viewpoint on that, made me redefine the way I was practicing law, unlocked me and freed me from limiting behavioral patterns. I like to put it as the Greek philosopher Socrates put it on his trial “I know that I know nothing”.
I would dare to say that this saying could not describe better the very tenor of the legal profession. Law is an indefinite piece of information, and it is impossible to be acquired. At the same time, practicing law requires a set of various skills, extending from expertise and in-depth knowledge to negotiation and soft skills, which are not feasible to be mastered at once. Lawyering is a perpetual journey towards personal growth.
By the time I reconciled with this fact, I gained the confidence and assurance that through hard work, study and perseverance, everything could be achieved. I started experiencing, once stressful situations with joy, vivid curiosity, and a feeling of certainty that I could successfully deliver the tasks assigned. I began facing adversities with chutzpah!
This new mentality was reflected in the quality of services I provided and helped me evolve and improve as a professional. By incorporating Socrates’ motto into my daily life, I took the extra leap and performed relieved by such burdens. It was liberating.
Katia, how do you see this E-Lawyering the legal industry, what particular steps you’ll suggest to people?
Covid-19 pandemic and its dire repercussions on a global scale revealed the need for modernization and digitalization on the legal sector. Markedly, law firms are obsolete entities, still stuck on outdated procedures and not being equipped with the appropriate mechanisms to keep track with the demands of an ever-changing global environment. The pandemic served as a wake-up call to the legal industry and summoned professionals of the sector to adjust to the new reality by adopting new methods and technologies.
E-Lawyering is futureproof. While the notion is encountered in the global literature for years now, it is the last couple of years during which we notice the word trending in articles and over the internet.
The greatest challenge – inherent in all pioneering ventures – is that people are not familiarized and they need time to learn and trust the new type of services. And the difficulty is even higher given that we talk about the lawyer – client relationship. A relationship fundamentally rooted in trust and reliability. Distancing from the old-fashioned “brick-and-mortar” law firm and the face-to-face appointments, the lawyer has to intensively work to eliminate the client’s reasonable fear of being scammed.
The good news is that information technology, when used wisely, can wipe out distrust, suspicion and distance. Nowadays, a lawyer possesses significant digital means in his/her toolkit. A toolkit that is underpinned by the fact that technological illiteracy has been almost eradicated. The modern clients seeking legal services are familiar with the use of technology, while a big bunch of them are tech-savvy people.
Moreover, there are advantages inextricably intertwined with e-Lawyering and the virtual legal practice in general. A virtual law firm has low overheads, thus being able to decrease the cost for the end – client, who can enjoy professional legal services at a lower expense. Furthermore, one of the key elements of e-Lawyering is decentralization. By embodying a decentralized business structure, a virtual law firm can cover greater territories, without having to be confined in one city or area.
The steps that I would suggest to professionals in the legal sector that wish to pursue e-Lawyering are:
Build a user-friendly and highly accessible platform / portal to help prospective clients reach you;
Showcase your expertise and practice areas with preciseness. Communicate the scope of your services with clarity. The notion of e-Lawyering and virtual law firm is already something fresh and new. You don’t want your prospective clients to be further frustrated;
Use a reliable law firm management software that will help your team sync and keep track of the cases’ progress. Communication among team members is pivotal;
In case you wish to go the extra mile, incorporate cloud-based legal technologies that will enhance the quality of your legal services;
Establish communication methods that can create a closer relationship with the client. You don’t want your client to consider your services impersonal. Human interaction is very important, in particular when we have to do with important legal cases;
Remember: It takes time for your work to strike a chord with the clients.
For the client who wavers whether he/she should proceed with e-Lawyering services or services provided by an old-school law firm, I suggest that he/she should go for the option that better fits his/her legal needs and personality. While virtual legal services do not fall short of the traditional ones, the client shall take all the precautions and implement due diligence to verify the reliability and trustworthiness of his/her e-Lawyers.
As someone experienced in Banking laws, what are the improvements that you suggest?
Well, the scope of banking law is very broad, from capital requirements and buffers as stipulated under the Basel regime to securitization, crypto-assets and fintech companies. There are multiple aspects where improvements may be suggested, but what presents particular interest is FinTech regulatory framework.
FinTech is, in and of itself, a thorny area, like every subject matter involving tech regulations. The exponential growth of FinTech companies during the last years has been a real challenge for EU regulators, who lag behind the evolutionary technologies. The difficulty increases further due to the multi-pronged legal aspects surrounding FinTech: data protection, cybersecurity, consumer protection, competition and financial requirements are only an indicative example. For the time being, FinTech firms are small. Although, they can rapidly scale up expanding their businesses in riskier clients or niches.
The fragmentation of the EU regulatory framework makes the landscape even more labyrinthine, while the current legislation lacks special provisions. A single legal framework designed to tackle the perils and hedge the risks entrenched in the FinTech industry would solve the ambiguity and uncertainty prevailing in the area.
Of course, such work requires the in-depth knowledge and understanding of FinTech entities by the regulators. An EU Regulatory Sandbox, albeit far-fetched, would provide enough wiggle room for controlled regulatory experimentation. The usefulness and benefits of a regulatory sandbox have been already reported by EU member states that have established and operate sandboxes. What’s more, EU regulatory bodies may introduce an ex ante regulatory system, where applicable, in order to prevent the risks embedded in the operation of FinTech firms.
What are the negative effects of tech-startups that you’ve come across lately, and how far have you been successful in tackling them?
Tech start-ups are a hot topic during the last years and regularly adorn article’s headlines. Their negative effects have been extensively reported ranging from data leak, hacking, lock-in effects and other vulnerabilities.
Nonetheless, I would like to focus on the challenges that a start-up lawyer encounters. One of the core problems with start-ups is that, while the idea or the product/service may worth, they lack structure and often present administrative problems.
A lawyer’s challenge is to sense the very nuances of their work and help the company build from scratch, methodically and step-by-step their identity and strategy, adopt internal policies which conform with the legislation in force, while at the same time, portray the firm’s core beliefs. Tackling these problems requires ongoing legal support, steadfast guidance and bespoke solutions that fit the company’s needs.
Moreover, tech start-ups demonstrate a higher degree of difficulty entailing from the specific nature of the service or the product they offer. The lawyer has to deeply comprehend the scope and the functionality of the services/product, so as to suggest the appropriate technical and organizational measures that shall be taken by the company to ensure full compliance.
Furthermore, data breaches and cyberattacks plague tech startups, which are confronted with the possibility to found themselves in the crosshairs of regulatory bodies, due to vulnerable or insufficient technical and organizational measures. The start-up ecosystem is prone to data leak and cyberattacks for several reasons, with the lack of the necessary resources and a constrained budget being one of them. In particular, tech start-ups either have to compromise cyber-security in the shrine of financial budgeting or demonstrate a negligible stance towards security measures, as a corollary of the growth mentality that characterizes them. In any case, it is the lawyer’s job to punctuate and clarify the importance of security measures to thwart data breaches and hacking incidents.
Do you think smart work takes over people who are engaged in doing only hard work in this industry?
During the last years, we hear more and more about how smart work outweighs hard work. Markedly, there is a shift from the old-school “hard work mentality” that had been deified throughout the years, being ascribed the role of the quintessence of success, towards a “smart work” one. And to a large extent, this shift may be attributed to the overnight success stories circulating on the media.
From my point of view, smart work and hard work are the two sides of the same coin. It is only through hard work that a person can identify and adopt a motus operandi incorporating efficiency and effectiveness. Smart work requires in-depth knowledge and a holistic approach that can only be acquired through long hours, devotion and unwavering focus. There is not a shortcut.
Besides, may the seed of analytical reasoning skills and a strong acumen exist in a person, but it shall be watered in order to bloom and exercised in order for the person to deliver tangible results. Smart work goes hand in hand with hard work.
Startups are leading like never before and so as LegalTech, how do you think LegalTech can create opportunities for lawyers?
We are navigating an era of digitalization and information technology that demands speed, resilience and flexibility. Sectors that cannot pace with this evolution are foredoomed to fail. Legal Tech emerges from the imperative need the legal sector to be revitalized. Admittedly, the vast majority of law firms around the world follow rigid and conservative methods and are usually reluctant or hesitant to adopt a new modus operandi.
Legal Tech is not just a vehicle or a supplementary tool, that helps lawyers to trace new opportunities. Legal Tech is a necessity. We are going through a shift in the tectonic plates of the legal environment, a shift that dictates the radical modernization of the legal profession. The old certitudes of the legal world will crumble sooner or later, and lawyers will have to adapt to the new conditions.
Some innovative law firms have already embraced Legal Tech and made it a part of their practice. It’s a matter of time Legal Tech to gain universal momentum and, as the theory of diffusion of the innovation suggests, lawyers will espouse the new practice and integrate it in their professional life.
Some of the perks that come with Legal Tech are automations. Lawyers will reap the fruits of automating administrative work, that can be proved tiresome and time-consuming, funneling their bandwidth into more productive and creative tasks.
In addition, data analysis softwares offer to lawyers the opportunity to map out their marketing strategy with precision, target specific group of clients and boost profitability.
Speaking of profitability, Legal Tech increases economies of scale, letting lawyers provide legal services more efficiently. This way, costs can be decreased, and earnings increased.
In closing, to make the advantages of Legal Tech more concrete, just picture documents piling on a desk. Now envisage a clean desk, empty of documents, tidy, with a computer or laptop on it. How stress relieving is that?
Lastly, some few advices for our young lawyers!
Stop sabotaging yourself and start taking risks!
You are not perfect, you will never be. Accept that and start working on improving yourself. Improve yourself not only by studying law and performing exquisitely in legal cases. Yes, your profession is a very important part of your life. But it is not the only one. The aspects of our life are like communicating vessels. Practice your skills in one aspect and you’ll see the gains sprawling over the others.
And by gains, I mean the traits, the mentality, the perceptions, the way of thinking you earn by devoting your time and focus on a particular thing.
By diversifying the aspects on which you are working, you are growing a more diversified skillset. And a multifaceted skillset means a multidimensional approach on legal matters.
Do not settle. Believe in something wholeheartedly and focus on accomplishing it. Set goals and look at them with an unwavering gaze. As Nelson Mandela said “It always seems impossible, until it is done”. Believe in you!
Tell us what inclined you to pursue law as a profession?
Well there is no inspiring story here unfortunately. I did choose science as my study stream for my plus two boards, but that was because my parents initially wanted me to become a doctor. Law happened pretty accidentally actually! It was more like law chose me. My uncle, who is a lawyer at the Calcutta High Court, told me at that time of the emergence of the national law schools across the country and the bright, young graduates these institutions were producing and suggested I should try taking the exams for these law schools.
I only took the exam for WBNUJS, Kolkata (ours was the last batch who took individual law school exams instead of the CLAT) after preparing for about a month. The results came out about two weeks before the boards and I was very happy to find that I had gotten through. I decided that this was what I was going to pursue and make a career out of. And that is how it happened.
Do you have any mentors so far that helped you so far in this journey, and how far do you consider the role of mentors crucial in the industry?
Yes of course. You cannot grow as a professional in the legal industry (or for that matter any industry) without the help of your mentors. A good mentor will teach you so much especially as a litigating lawyer – the art of a good draft, how much to say and what not to say in Court, how to strategize a matter etc. Whatever little I am today I am because of some excellent mentors I have had in the industry.
Why does Corporate law attract so much attention? What makes it so unique?
Well it would be easy to say that it attracts the attention of young graduates because of the money on offer, but that would be a shallow perspective. If you do not like and enjoy what you do on a daily basis, you will not stick around or grow, no matter the money on offer. This is why you see attrition rates are so high in the bigger law firms. However, if you like what you do, then the sky is the limit. Speaking personally, as a Disputes lawyer, I love the challenges of my job day in and day out.
I have to keep our clients happy and they must feel comfortable to repose their trust in their high stakes, valuable matters in me. I have to advise them correctly, guide them down the right path, put every ounce of research and knowledge into these matters so that their chances of success are enhanced and they know that they are in safe hands – it is a challenge I am up for every day of the week.
How do you manage your time schedule on a daily basis and what drives you to be consistent?
I would not lie, law firm life can be pretty demanding – whether you are an A-1 level associate or a partner, every day brings its own challenges which consume most of your time. I have varied interests apart from law – I love reading fiction, watching sports especially football, spending time with my family and my dog. While most of my time is taken up by my work, I ensure that at the end of the day (no matter how late it is) I am taking an hour or two out to do these things I love – read a bit, maybe watch a film or a game of football, take the dog out for a walk, maybe go for a run or a long drive sometimes. It rejuvenates me and helps me face the next day with the same enthusiasm again.
What differences have you noticed in international arbitration and national arbitration, I mean what’s more challenging amongst both?
Both bring their own challenges to be honest. In an international arbitration, you are bound by the procedure of the institution under whose aegis the arbitration is happening – SIAC, ICC, LCIA etc. and the procedure is much more streamlined as opposed to domestic ad hoc arbitrations.
Also, in international arbitration’s you often have to work in close collaboration with foreign lawyers or law firms, and therefore seamless execution of the work can be a challenge as well as a learning experience at the same time. On the other hand, in domestic arbitration, especially ad hoc ones, arbitrators adopt their own procedures and therefore the same may be different from one arbitration to another, and you are constantly adapting as a lawyer to make the best case for your client.
However, arbitration in India has been developing at a fast rate, and amendments to the statute in 2015 and 2019 have ensured shortening of timelines and streamlining of overall procedure, and I believe the future of arbitration in India is very bright.
Do you believe that AI will lead to data breach and violation of privacy, if yes, how can it be mitigated?
I am not a data privacy lawyer and therefore I am ill-equipped to answer this question. My opinions on AI and data breach are based on what I have read in popular media, and I do not want to adopt a conspiratorial tone for your readers without in-depth familiarity with the issue myself.
Few tips for our readers that helped you as well in this journey?
First of all, you must decide what you want to do. Law firms are not be all and end all for a law graduate – there are a lot of career choices you can adopt – you can be a corporate lawyer, a litigating lawyer, an independent practitioner, an academic or venture into public policy.
Do not follow the herd- look into your heart and see what you really want. As I said before, if you are not finding what you are doing everyday exciting or challenging, there is no point doing it. Also, no matter which path you choose, there is only one mantra of success for all of them – read.
You have to read constantly as a lawyer, you have to keep updating yourself. Law evolves constantly, you can never be a good lawyer if you are not evolving with the law as well. That would be my two pennies for your readers.
Let’s start from the beginning – What prompted you to choose law? Was choosing law came naturally or it felt easy to adapt?
I was fascinated by the unique oratory prowess of lawyers and prestige and nobility they enjoy in the society.
What was your Law School journey like? Was Law School where you first tried a hand at writing?
Nigerian Law School is one of the most difficult law schools in the world. There are lot of materials to cover within a very short period of time. I started writing after my law school
Kindly brief us about your initial struggles in the beginning of your professional career.
It was difficult adapting to the practice aspect of the profession. I noticed a big gap in what we were taught and what is obtainable in practice. It was more like unlearning and re-learning. For instance, Faculties of law in Nigeria do not have any tech law related courses on the curricula, including law school. Anyone aspiring a career in Tech Law would either travel oversee or leverage online course platform to learn about it. I started off by taking courses on Coursera, Udemy, Future learn and the likes..
Tell us about your current role and how do you plan your day?
I practice as a Barrister and Solicitor. In my firm, I am a member of the litigation as well as commercial law team. In the transaction team, I advise on Capital Market, Mergers and Acquisitions, Data Protection, Financial Technology/ Blockchain, Intellectual Property and Start-ups Generally. I also do the litigation aspect of these areas. However, I am very intentional about building my career around Technology Law.
Why do you choose Technology Law over other sectors? What made you interested in that domain?
There is a paradigm shift towards digital economy. I once read a report that stated that 20% of the world economy is digital whereas the remaining 80% runs on digital platform. What this tells is that tech law is the present and the future and this is what prompted my interest in the area.
Do you think Technology sector and the opportunities in its legal side will continue to grow in the coming years? If yes, please explain it to us.
Yes, there is because there is a paradigm shift towards digital economy. I once read a report that stated that 20% of the world economy is digital whereas the remaining 80% runs on digital platform. Thus, many opportunities are expected to be created. Lawyers will have to advice on the Mergers and Acquisitions of Startups, Data protection issues, Digital taxation, Intellectual property, financial technology amongst others.
According to your experience, what specific observations one has to make while reviewing the commercial agreements and contracts that too according to the GDPR compliance?
It depends on the nature of the transaction and agreement. If it the transaction involves the procurement of the services of a data processor, then one should look out for clauses contained in Article 28(3) of GDPR that should guide the relationship between data controller and data processor.
What is “Data Colonisation”, please elaborate for our audience!
It is the appropriation users or customers data by either organisations, institutions or government bodies.
Any 6 best tips for our readers that worked well for you in legal?
Did you always want to become a Lawyer or was it something that you decided in the later part of your school life? What other career options would you have considered, if not law?
As a child I was drawn to the elegancy of the legal profession. I didn’t know much back then other than the fact that I loved how they dressed and spoke with so much confidence. When I was in high school I became fascinated with Fashion Designing and decided I was going to be a fashion designer but being an African child, I really didn’t have that much freedom of choice. My father felt there was no future for fashion in my country.
In that day and age he was right. Since I had studied art subjects togather with Fashion science, it was now a matter of so what’s plan B. First I was thinking maybe Business Administration but since I needed to have at least 3 choices I selected law but I was sceptical about it.
So, being a lawyer was not my first choice but looking back and analyzing the kind of person I am, I now believe I was always meant to be a lawyer. So naturally this answers your second part of the question as well. If I wasn’t a lawyer I would have either been a Fashion Designer or a Professional Baker. In fact I owned a home baking business before relocating to Sweden and I still bake for my family and friends when they have special celebrations.
How smooth is it to be an in-house counsel? Or is it the other way round?
Well I would it has it’s challenges but if you are comparing it to being a litigation lawyer working in a law firm, I would say in-house is smooth. One thing I love about being an in-house counsel is that you get exposed to a more practical aspect of the corporate culture and that helps you a lot when advising clients. I noticed when I collaborated with our external panel of lawyer on some of our cases, it was a bit of a challenge explaining to the how the processes work in the organisation vis a vis what the law says.
There are skills I obtained working in-house that have helped me feel comfortable doing tasks that’s weren’t strickly related to legal.
Not many young female lawyers reach the height you achieved, what was the story behind your success? Were you the privileged child or had to dig in deep to quench the thirst?
I have not done much research in this area so I can’t really say whether there are many or few female lawyers that reach this level, but I one thing i know for sure is, there are more female lawyers working in house than in legal practice.
It takes boldness to be a litigation lawyer and I applaud all the ladies that chose that path. I wouldn’t consider myself privileged but some people might judge me as such because I did obtain my early education and high school education in Zimbabwe which at the time was considered to be the country with the best education in Africa.
Returning back home to Tanzania for my university education and even when I started working I did notice I had a bit of an advantage because of that experience. I was also very lucky to get my first job two weeks after my final university exam and it was in banking. That is why I never worked in a law firm.
What can be the real challenges while establishing a career in the field of law?
Law is very wide as you know. There are many branches of law and areas of practice. One of the challenges faced by many young lawyers is choosing an area of practice as well as whether to work in-house or in a law firm. It’s very important early on to decide your niche and start investing more in it. Trying to be a master of all is ending up being a master of none. When it comes to deciding where to work, it’s another challenge.
For most law graduates, the first that comes to mind is work in a Law firm, but they quickly realise how tough it is to make it in a firm. This brings confusion because throughout law school (at least where I come from) the lecturers prepare you for a career in a Law firm. But the world is different so you start struggling because you are not sure of where else you fit. We are rarely told of the option to work in-house. It took me a while to understand that I could have an in house career and still get my practising license.
What responsibilities do companies have under the GDPR?
Companies have a lot of responsibilities under the GDPR. I can’t go into details listing everything that a company need to comply with but it all comes down to accountability.
Accountability to itself, its employees, its customers, the general public and the territories in which they operate their businesses. Companies are held accountable under the law for how they govern personal data. So that means from the moment they collect it to the moment it’s destroyed and forgotten.
A company is responsible for making sure the data is secure both materially and physically, only those who need to access have access, it’s accessed and used for only the purposes for which it was obtained, It should never be kept for longer than is necessary and if it was be shared with other companies or sent to another country the proper security measure should be applied.
There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes than what I can describe here, but in a nutshell the above gives you an overview of what the GDPR requires.
As we know, metaverse, NFT’s all are on the rise, but how does it impact our privacy standards and other regulations?
Unfortunately I am not well versed on what is going on as far as Metaverse and NFT’s are concerned since that has not been my area of focus as yet, so I will refrain from assumptions. I can comment what I know in general. There is a lot that is going on with technology and it’s moving very and it’s quite unfortunate that laws will always be reactive because unfortunately laws are always enacted to solve a problem that has already occured.
Legislators will need to relook at our privacy laws and other legal instruments to make sure we uphold people’s right to privacy as these new inventions will have access to even more personal information that has potential to cause more damage than what we see today.
How has been your experience as a Co-Founder and Interim CEO of he Association of Privacy Lawyers in Africa (APLA)
APLA is still very young, we officially launched it end of September this year. There is a lot to be done. It’s hard to describe it, but I will try.
When Igxtelle who had the vision for APLA contacted me and mentioned that she believes that she and I would do great things together, I can tell you for sure APLA was nowhere near what I thought she meant. The vision of APLA is so huge that I am often scared even to try to imagine it, but I feel beyond blessed to be part of it’s inception, and now it’s establishment.
It’s also a huge challenge because nobody has walked this path before us. There are other associations but we all have our uniqueness so working on the organisational structure, setting up everything and managing a team where all of you are new to the tasks, is quite a challenge.
The good thing is I am not leading it alone. I am with all the other 6 founders supporting me step by step so I don’t feel that much pressure yet. I am excited about what the future holds for us and maybe on our 1 year anniversary I will have a different story to tell.
Would you like to give few advices to young legal professionals that worked well for you?
Believe in yourself and focus on your goal until you achieve it, as I always say consistency over perfection. Choose your niche and invest in it academically, professionaly and even in networking. Find a mentor and you can have more than one mentor actually.
Someone you know you can respect and you see where they are is where you would like to be. This cuts down your learning curve significantly.
You can have a mentor to guide your professionally and another to help you with your personal brand/profile. Never underestimate the power of continuous personal development. Whether you are employed, in between jobs or self employed always invest in perfecting your craft, attend networking events and learn from other people’s experiences.
Tell us about yourself – Why did you choose law? If not law, what other career options would you have considered?
Hi, I am Jagriti Sanghi. I am a law graduate of National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi. I am a practising Advocate with 3 years of experience in court/tribunals litigation, dispute resolution and corporate advisory.
My practice areas include civil, criminal, consumer, family disputes, arbitration, mediation, insolvency and contractual matters. I regularly appear for cases in the courts of Telangana and as well as across India.
I have a passion in law, be it any subject. If someone asks me about my area of interest in law, I cannot possibly choose one.
This is because I just love the diversity of subjects from which one gathers immense knowledge. I believe that studying law is an art and it includes various aspects including but not limited to interpreting complex situations, breaking down laws, analyzing judgments, researching precedents, case management and writing simplified Articles/Blogs.
If not law, I would have chosen the path of becoming an Army Officer.
What are the best strategies that work for you while dealing with mediation cases? Tell our audience in detail please
So, mediation is quite different from the conventional adjudicatory process of courts. In mediation, there is complete party autonomy. The parties decide for themselves the outcome of the settlement/mediation process. Unlike court, mediation is not about winning and losing.
It is about reaching an amicable and sustainable solution. A court case takes years and years to be decided finally as parties can go for appeals, revision and so on. As a consequence, the parties expend lot of money, time, energy on it.
Since I know the peculiarities of litigation and court procedures, I always encourage my clients to go for mediation especially in family disputes.
The mediator’s duty is to assist the parties in charting out options and showing them the bigger picture after listening to the perspectives of both sides. The parties have to choose the best option for themselves in order to avoid the wasteful battle.
In a case, I urged the couple to go for mediation rather than jumping into long drawn contested case. The mediation worked as the couple settled their issues such as lump sum maintenance amount, custody of child, division of property amongst other things and filed for a mutual divorce with their consent terms.
There are no best strategies as such for mediation to work out. It is primarily about understanding human psychology and brainstorming viable options for the dispute to be settled peacefully between the parties.
How do you see the unconventional roles in law increasing?
My 10th Standard teacher suggested me not to choose law because she thought I would waste my talent in doing notary or basic clerical work in courts with no income. However, she didn’t know that a lawyer can don many roles.
A law graduate can become a Consultant, Paralegal, Human Resource manager, Jounalist, Faculty, Mediator, Contract Specialist, Insolvency Professional, Content Creators, Labour Relations Manager, Arbitrator and I am sure many more.
There are a variety of alternative career options for lawyers beyond the courts unlike past times.
Being an NLU student, what are the extra-curricular activities one must take advantage of? And do you believe that the law firms discriminate on the basis of NLU and Non-NLU?
At University, I used to often participate in moots, research papers, debates, paper presentation and negotiation/mediation competitions as that kept me engaged. These extra-curricular activities enabled me to think critically and opened my mind to new possibilities of research and legal thinking.
These activities should be opted by any law student irrespective of their University tag.
I have interned with many co-interns who were non-NLU students but were equally or in fact more capable and diligent. At least, the law firms I have interned with have not discriminated on the basis of NLU and Non-NLU tag. Their main focus was on the determination and hard work of the candidates.
How do you define “Thinking Legally”? Please elaborate for our audience.
Thinking legally is nothing but strategizing for my clients to come up with best and effective solutions within the confines of our legal system. It is also about learning to interpret and apply the law to a specific factual matrix of the case.
A lawyer has to approach a case from all angles, cull out material facts, avoid emotional entanglement, question everything, accept grey areas, comprehend the objective of laws, precedents and judicial opinions and anticipate the defense.
This trait comes with practice and experience and obviously cannot be mastered in a day. Thinking legally and differently is an ongoing process for any lawyer.
What was that one learning experience in your entire career trajectory that you’d credit to have shaped your career?
I helped a superannuated employee get a favorable order from the High Court of Telangana for his hard earned retirement benefits. It is when I realized that being an Advocate is truly a service to the public. I am devoted to coming up with best solutions for the interest of my clients.
Do you think that participating in National MUN, National Parliamentary Debate or National Moot Court Competition helps in real litigation or legal field?
Yes, definitely. Moot court competitions helped me in enhancing my oratory skills. It also instilled in me the confidence of drafting, researching and arguing legal points. The best part about moot court is that one has to prepare from both sides. That allows a law student to think critically on each and every point.
Because in real life, you can be approached by a client with a very weak side and you are supposed to do represent your client with the best possible arguments.
These competitions also help us to make friends with students from other Universities. These extracurricular activities enhance drafting, legal knowledge, research, command over the formal language, interpersonal skills, confidence and are always a great learning experience in a law student’s life before actually becoming a professional.
Lastly, is there any suggestion or advice that you’d like to give to our readers?
Do not ponder so much about your future, Have life goals and strive for it but always remember to enjoy it in the moment. Life is short and has many surprises for us.
Just make full use of the opportunities at your disposal in the present. This thought will help you to approach things differently. Good luck!
You have a background in science and were also an All India topper in Physics. How did you decide to choose law as a career? Was it a conscious decision?
I hail from the town of IITians, where a kid of 5th standard trying to decode a complex trigonometry equation is very common, but somebody by choice opting for “law” is still not so popular (it wasn’t at least 16 years back! Things have changed now). Modern physics has always thrilled me, and the atmosphere of the town was the perfect mix for this combo. Having said that, unfortunately I could not imagine my entire life trying to code-decode things or trying to unfold the laws of nature. Rather, I would do something closer or direct to the human side of this (literally).
Corporate law became an came as an option when the first time my dad bought me the prospectus of NLS Bangalore and told me about the concept of this “Harvward of the East”. It just clicked with me instantly, and I achieved the career I was destined to. got the career I was destined to.
You started your career as a Business Lawyer and have solid experience in the same. Can you explain to our readers what working in this area of practice entails? What are some of the choices you would suggest that young professionals should be making to excel at Business law?
To my mind, corporate law has always been one of the most popular choices for any law graduate. Whether it’sits M&A, PE-VC, business taxation or caps market, the offerings in this sector areis endless. Starting from a closely handled VC fund raise for a start up to a multi-billion dollar cross border acquisition, the scale and exposure is limitless here. The charm of closing a big-ticket deal is unmatchable, at the same time it demands a huge level of commitment and time from the practitioners.
Law school and internships provide quite a few opportunities to understand this flavour and to be prepared to an extent before you make a debut in this field. Choosing your honors and optional courses wisely (even if it is not a high scorer subject) and paying utmost attention to the final internships could be helpful for the aspirants.
You have worked with some of the country’s leading corporate lawyers, from AZB, Amarchand, JSA, and the like. Tell us about your journey – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Every organization has its own charm and pros. I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the leading names in of the industry and receive the kind of mentorship I got from them. The best part of working with these leading names is the kind of exposure and confidence it inculcates in you right from the very beginning. helps in developing since your budding stage.
As far as work experience is considered, it depends upon the person you are working with. It really does not matter whether you are working with a top tier or mid-tier firm. For me, Vaish Associates, AZB and JSA all were all equally good and amazing in terms of level of exposure, mentorship and independence, at the given level of experience.
You have now shifted from a pure M&A, PE/VC transactional background to working as an in-house counsel handling various real estate office assets. How exciting and risky was this transition?
It was a tough switch. Coming from a hardcore transactional background, I had my share of concerns and questions before making this switch. Whereas I was confident about switching to an in-house role and experiencing e the field from the other side, I was not certain about the industry I would like to confine. E-Commerce, Pharmaceutical and Real Estate were my being the top options for sure because of their huge dependency on legal function.
It was, however, my stint with JSA when I got the opportunity to work with some of the leading RE giants and realized the kind of work and options they have. Working on the Prestige portfolio acquisition by Blackstone, was the turning point of my career and it made the choice very easy.
After specifying more than a year on this side of the table, I can certainly say that the exposure, diversity and challenges of working in a Real Estate sector and Fund business, is unimaginable. I was actually scared of to getting trapped in a monotonous in-house work culture, but the fact is actually quite opposite of this. Every day is a new challenge here and at times I miss the flat days of work curve in a law firm!
Could you take us through a typical day in your life? Is it possible to carve out time for your other interests or hobbies given your hectic schedule as an in-house counsel?
For me work-life balance is really very important and something I strongly stand for. As a corporate lawyer, we know our jobs and the stakes involved. When required none of us would shy away from giving all nighters or working on 20 deals at a time. But that should not be your routine. You need to have a balanced life and a healthy routine. I agree that there is no substitute for hard work, There is no substitute for hard work, I agree, but there is no substitute for you as well in your family. Giving time to your family, socializing when possible and taking out (whatever left) time for your personal hobbies is very important.
For me, yes, I still work for 12-15 hours minimum per day. But, whenever possible I try to spend time with family, spare some time to paint and get back to my canvas. , and I am dying to wait for the normal world to return so that I could travel again! I don’t want to compromise on any of these things.
You have written more than 40 articles and paper presentations in various reputed journals. How has writing contributed to your career? How important do you feel excelling at research and writing is for Law students? Any advice to them on publications?
Writing articles is a great way to learn and showcase your skills, provided it is on the relevant topics. Law is all about interpretation and drafting, and a good article certainly reflects these two skills of the author. To me, it is a passion- Writing on topics of grey interpretations, gaps in law and new exciting announcements by the authorities. Unfortunately, I do not have much time now. But whenever possible, it’s worth sparing some time for this.
You are always looking for new opportunities and don’t mind taking the plunge. What skills do you think you have that helped you to pull this off? How are you able to learn new skills this fast?
Stability is crucial, at the same time taking risks at times is equally important. As I said, I consider myself fortunate enough to learn from the great legal minds of the industry and with that kind of solid base, I never felt it difficult or even uneasy to pick up a new practice area, sector or a kind of organization. Moreover, it’s about continuous learning and reading, which as corporate lawyers I do not think we can skip at any moment or atin any stage of our career.
Finally, a word of advice for law students and graduates who want to have a successful career in corporate law.
My two cents on this..
(i) Internships are really very important. Take them seriously.
(ii) In the senior versus organization doubt, always choose the senior. No place is good or bad, it’s just the people you work with whowhich shapes the work culture of a place and ultimately your quality of life;
(iii) There is no substitute to hard work and long hours for a corporate lawyer. Try and invest these long hours rather than just spending those.
(iv) Initial 4-5 years’ experience is critical. Gain it. With a solid base, there is no limit in the corporate law world.
(v) Once you gain that position, do not shy away from taking risks or settle for anything unworthy!
How would you describe your job and yourself to a ten year old?
I would explain to him that I advise people to be aware of their decisions and actions. People must be aware of the consequences of these decisions and actions. It is an important job because I advise people how to treat each other on the basis of laws and regulations. Without my job, people might take the wrong decisions and/or do things that negatively affect their lives or others’ lives.
Why does corporate law attract so much attention? What makes it so unique?
In my opinion, corporate law has gained more attention in recent years because of the nature of human relations. People tend to gather because they need each other. This is the same for businesses, as people organise themselves to enter markets together. People need corporate law to ORGANISE themselves and interact with each other regarding their business.
Corporate law is challenging because it is complicated and needs clever attorneys to deal with its complexity. This tempts attorneys to enter this field to prove their capabilities.
In addition to what has been mentioned, corporate law pays well. This might be a reasonable explanation for why corporate law is becoming more popular with legal professionals.
What makes corporate law unique is the fact that it has a wide range and scope. It begins with the entity from the moment of its creation and even before that in some cases. It covers so many areas, such as investor interests, company management, managing the interests of people associated with the company and compliance with legal formalities.
As for professionals working in international law cases, they often say that the cases they’ve come across are quite complex; what’s your take on this?
That’s true. As a legal professional who deals with cross border law cases, in most cases I have to deal with multiple laws, which may indicate differences in the legal interpretation and/or application of such laws. Not to mention the interpretation of the words in the laws themselves.
The differences in legal terms, culture, procedures in international law cases and the multi-jurisdictions that may apply to just one international case make it challenging for me and for other international legal professionals.
Managing the expectations of an international client means another level of difficulty. You must always be accessible to your client, but, due to differences in time zones, you may not be able to answer the client immediately.
What I usually do if this happens and I cannot answer the client immediately, is that I send him a message or a confirmation that I have received his messages or emails and indicate that I will reply to him as soon as possible.
Other aspects that may contribute to the complexity of international law cases are the need for travel outside your country, translations, shipping and receiving international couriers, discoveries, and the procedures of tribunals/courts.
In international organisations and international public law, things tend to be easier, because my work with these clients does not normally require litigation. Usually, I have to prepare international agreements between international organisations and other actors in the area of public international law or offer public international law actors my legal opinion.
Having said that, I want to add that I love to work internationally, despite all the complexities and difficulties associated with international cases, because it really gives you an opportunity to show your skills and capabilities and challenge yourself.
What can be the challenges working in the field of law?
Handling the workload, finding a balance between work and your private life, making good connections, showcasing yourself and your work, and keeping up with the latest advancements and technology may also be challenging, but a key to success at the same time.
What is the difference between legal content and legal writing? How can professionals work on both sides to improve their game?
Well, this is a very important question. Indeed, legal content is different from legal writing in many ways. One of them is that the audience is different for each, as follows:
The audience in legal content: When you write legal content, you have to bear in mind that your audience are often people who know little about the law. You have to explain things clearly, to make sure that they understand what you want to say. You should not use abbreviations or complicated legal terms, nor refer to case law or other external court documents and verdicts that may confuse your audience. Keep it simple.
The audience in legal writing: Your audience here are specialised legal professionals. You have to be totally professional, adhering to a specific writing structure, such as IRAC and/or using writing styles such as the ‘Blue Book’. Use legal terms with these audience and of course you have to refer to case law or legislation to prove your point.
The goals and objectives are also different in each case. The main goals with legal content are raising awareness, marketing and building up your client base, and/or sharing thoughts regarding legal issue, while the main goals and objectives with legal writing are to address a legal issue in a scientific and professional way, to explain and prove your points regarding legal issues, and/or abiding with the formalities that are required in court.
Having clarified some important differences between legal content and legal writing, I want to emphasise that it is highly recommended for legal content to be written by an attorney, a legal professional or at least someone who has a legal education or background. The reasons for this are the following:
Protecting your brand and reputation: Legal content contains legal information, so imagine if someone who knows nothing about legal content writes something that contains false or outdated legal information!
If this happens, your credibility and reputation will be ruined and people will not trust your advice anymore. Beware of this please and do not make such a mistake.
Being responsible: It is true that providing legal content to the public doesn’t constitute an attorney-client relationship nor an attorney-client privilege, but you are morally responsible for the content. This content may be used as a reference or it may influence someone’s decisions or actions. Thus, it needs to be written by an attorney, a legal professional or at least they must review it very carefully before its publication.
Preparing legal content is not an easy job. Searching through legal documents, laws, legislation and case law is hard work and requires a high level of legal education. Search engines dedicated to the law, such as Westlaw, LexisNexis and others, are vital when it comes to legal searches, and unfortunately it is very difficult for non-legal professionals to use these engines properly.
So, it is highly recommended, if not a must, that legal content be written by an attorney, legal professional or at least someone with a legal education or background.
What was your topic of research for your LLM [Master of Laws]? What prompted you to undertake that topic for your research?
I did my LLM in International Law at the College of Law, Stetson University in the USA. The title of the research paper was ‘Ensuring Respect for International Humanitarian Law: Appointing Legal Advisors to Commanders in the Armed Forces’.
I decided to research this topic because I believe that legal advisors can play a vital role in times of both peace and war. In my opinion, everyone needs a legal advisor to help him/her take the right decisions and actions; thus, access to legal aid should always be one of our human rights.
What would your parting message be to all these young budding lawyers?
It was nice talking to you and I would like to tell you guys that you should believe in yourselves, be proud of being lawyers, and do not forget to give back by pro bono or in any way you can.
Is law something you were inclined to pursue, and why did you decide to pursue it?
While growing up, I aspired to become a couple of things, but law never crossed my mind. Pursuing law was never part of my plan. While pursuing Commerce in senior secondary I had Business Studies as a subject wherein for the first time I came across partnership law. I found it quite interesting. After that, I went on to pursue B. Com where I had Company Law, tax laws, partnership laws as some of subjects.
My interest in law increased but it was limited only to commercial aspects of law. After that I decided to pursue Bachelors in Law (LL.B).
What was your Law School journey like?
I pursued my LL.B from Campus Law centre, Faculty of law, (Law Fac) University of Delhi. It was a whole different world. There were students from all walks of life.
From struggling to attend morning classes to exploring nearby food joints, from having most crucial legal discussions over tea to attending fests across DU, my college life at law faculty is very integral to what I am today.
After my LL.B I pursued my LL.M from the Indian Law Institute. The culture at ILI was completely different from Law Fac. Multiple assignments, presentations, Wednesday seminars and daily class work kept me on my toes. It required a lot of hard work and smart work.
I can proudly say that ILI has prepared to be calm in most stressful situations. I remember one of our professors would send a 100-150 pages article at 5:00 in the evening and we had to read it, analyse, and make comments for the early his morning classes.
Little did I know how important a life skill he was teaching us. Today, when I have stressful work situations, I stay calm, and I have the confidence that I can do it within the limited time frame.
I pursued my second master’s degree in International Business Law (IBL) from University of Helsinki (UH). The college culture was nothing like my previous educational institutions. However, when I got admission, it was the COVID period, and all my classes were held online. I had a 9-month-old when I started my LL.M at UH.
It was a challenging phase, not getting enough sleep at night, waking up preparing meals and attending early morning classes. There were times when
I would switch of Zoom camera during the lectures, feed my daughter during the class holding her head from one hand and making class notes from another. But the study culture in at DU and ILI had prepared me well enough to cover maximum syllabus in a short span, filter through huge study material and find important points and trained me well in writing answers. I participated in multiple events organised by the University and the Student Wing of Lawyer’s Union.
Kindly brief us about your initial struggles in the beginning of your professional career.
My career struggles are two folds, the first one was in India and the second in Finland. I am the first lawyer in my family. My parents were unsure of the choice of my career but have always been supportive even when they had practical doubts.
The struggles for the pioneers of legal profession in a family are quite real, especially when you are a woman. However, I was fortunate that there were online platforms where job advertisements for junior positions were posted. I got the opportunity work with and learn from Supreme Court Lawyer Adv(DR.) A.K Gautam. Once you gain a bit of experience, learn your craft then the legal fraternity is open, and you can explore your professional options.
When I moved to Finland, my Indian experience and education was not of much use while looking for a job. I could not even get a trainee position. It was a difficult and that made me take the decision of pursuing my second LL.M.
While pursuing LL.M I realized that knowing the language was quintessential to legal roles. I saw Data Privacy as an area where I believed and assumed that most work would be done in English as Data flow is transnational. I developed an interest in the area as well.
I found a trainee position after being rejected by almost 20 places. Good things take time; I found a trainee position in one of the biggest MNC in Finland and that experience helped my professional journey. However, it’s not that easy, I still feel the need to learn Finnish language as without it I am restricted in my career growth.
If a contract is in local language, my merits are of limited use there. I also understood that as an immigrant I need to work way more than a local. Since I had charted my way into privacy, I decided to be part of International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and applied to be part of IAPP Helsinki Knowledge Net Chapter.
I am a Young Privacy Professional (YPP) with the Helsinki Chapter. There is a lot more to be done and miles before I go to sleep.
Tell us about your current role and how do you plan your day?
I am a Privacy Specialist working with Tietoevry Finland. My job involves ensuring privacy and GDPR compliance withing the workstream I work. It involves reviewing commercial contracts, analysing the need for Data Processing Agreements, making impact assessments, and negotiating with clients in matter related to privacy. In short, I deal with the aftermath of Schrems 2 judgement.
I am very structured in my approach. I like to have a clear idea of things I am supposed to do, and I prioritize my cases depending on deadlines, the billing from client etc. I have developed a system to do my work and I like documenting things for future review. My calendars are well maintained and are up to date. I reserve around 15 hours weekly for working alone, around 12 hours go into meetings and rest is for contingencies and writing mails. However, there is no rigid rule, and each day looks different depending upon the need of the hour.
I like to maintain a balanced approach in my work life and personal life. My work hours begin around 7:30 in the morning and I like to end my day by 15-15:30 in the afternoon. I start early so that I can have the whole of evening to spend with my daughter. I reserve 1 hour after dinner to read about new legislations or cases coming in the privacy arena or anything that interests me.
What’s your take on privacy regulations in India? We have seen many industries violating the rules during covid specifically in India, what improvements do you suggest?
In India, Right to Privacy is an integral part of Right to Life and personal liberty under Art. 21 of the Constitution. It includes rights to erasure, right to be forgotten etc.
However, a law strictly dealing with protection of personal data, ensuring proper compliance by companies processing personal data, and tackling the issues in modern digital world. is much needed. The Personal Data Bill 2019 has been withdrawn and as many as 80 changes were suggested in the Bill. Protecting personal data should be the prioritized specially when Data is the new Oil.
The Bill has many lacunas, there were criticism from many well versed in the area. My suggestion would be to have a Bill that focuses on protecting Individual’s personal data with a balanced approach towards the controllers and processors.
Do you think AI and Legal Tech can pose some challenges as well with a bunch of benefits in the legal industry? If yes, please share the same with our audience.
Legal tech and AI are in their growing field, there is much that is unknown. There are developments in AI every day. Witnessing formation of a new law can be challenging and full of opportunities. There has been a surge in demand for tech lawyers, legal professionals specialized in privacy laws and cyber security. I believe professionally growth in AI and Legal tech offers an opportunity of employment and growth.
Were there any specific roadmap or strategies that led you to success in law, or it was all unplanned right from the beginning.
During my LL.M in IBL I opted for Information Law as a subject and that is when I decided to take more optional courses in the area of privacy. I also figured that in the privacy sphere most work will be done in English and not Finnish. And after I was sure about my career path, I planned my growth parameters, being part of IAPP was one of them.
I felt that being an immigrant with no or little professional network, networking is what was needed, IAPP events provided an opportunity to network with other privacy professionals and their bulletin kept me aware of latest developments.
I stepped out of comfort zone and reached out to alums of IBL course asked for their advice on how and where to apply, attended multiple mentorship programs, CV and cover letter writing sessions held by top consulting firms, lawyers working as in house legal counsel, privacy counsels and privacy specialists.
I had to start from scratch all over again and this time it was more difficult as I was not in my country, I did not speak or understand the language spoken in the country I am residing.
According to your experience, what specific observations one must make while reviewing the commercial agreements and contracts that too according to the GDPR compliance?
The first thing you must see are the signing parties, if both are in EU, then check if the client has entities outside EU/EEA, what are the sub processors being used by the client to process your organisation’s personal data, what kind of data is being processed, why is the data being processed, what is the category of data subjects, is sensitive data being processed, are global cloud service providers involved, where are the data centres, what are the additional security measures listed.
Once you have answer to these questions, see if there is transfer outside EU/EEA, then an SCC would be required except for adequate countries. Once it has been reviewed legally, ensure to collaborate with your privacy manger to check the privacy measures taken by the client.
Lastly, as a woman in law, what would your advice be for the upcoming female legalprofessionals?
There is nothing women cannot do; they might be restricted because of their circumstances but they surely can achieve anything the set their eyes on.
Hard work pays off and from one woman to another, if I can do it, so can you!
Ask for help and advice when needed and empowered women around you will guide and empower you!
