Super Lawyer

Tag: Risk Assessment

  • “I would say a good mentor plays a pivotal role in shaping one’s life, and in enhancing the thought process. I was fortunate enough to work at places where I was provided complete autonomy in work.” – Richa Saraf, Head of Legal and Compliance at Merlin Holdings Pvt. Ltd.

    “I would say a good mentor plays a pivotal role in shaping one’s life, and in enhancing the thought process. I was fortunate enough to work at places where I was provided complete autonomy in work.” – Richa Saraf, Head of Legal and Compliance at Merlin Holdings Pvt. Ltd.

    This interview has been published by Anshi Mudgal and The SuperLawyer Team

    What inspired you to take up Law? Did you have to deal with any resistance from your family while making that decision?

    My father wanted me to pursue CA like the rest of my relatives, since it was considered as a good earning prospect, especially in Kolkata. For him, law meant running around court rooms, which was mostly the case back in 2011. While there were law firms like Khaitan in Kolkata, in-house roles were minimal. 

    I somehow tried to convince him that I don’t want to pursue litigation, and am willing to work as a corporate lawyer, which I believe will have an enhanced scope in 5 years, by the time I graduate from law school. However, he was so reluctant that he even got me the CPT exam form, which he said would be a backup in case I am unable to clear CLAT. 

    During that time, NLU Odisha, NLU Delhi and JGLS were just newly launched, and the entrance exams for these institutions were held separately. I was not able to fill up many forms due to the resistance at home, thus, my options were quite limited.

    Later, I spoke to a relative staying in Kolkata that I am desirous of moving to Bangalore, and he helped me with the admission process at Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies.

    Would you say your law school prepared you for the practical work which you had to do at work?

    I think the curriculum at traditional non NLUs do not prepare you for a corporate job. Neither the intricacies of due diligence nor contract drafting are taught; you learn them while at work. When I visited NLSIU for their intra college client counselling competition, on a special invite, I realised that these things are so much helpful and I missed out on so much. 

    The only advantage I had was of staying in the city of Bangalore- I could intern at some prestigious law firms, and I was able to avail the benefit of the NLSIU library for conducting research work for moot competitions. 

    In deciding between corporate and litigation practice, what are the parameters that you considered?

    My internship experience was a mix of corporate and litigation, however, given the state of courts in India, the number of adjournments; I decided against litigating.  

    You have interned with former Justice Indu Malhotra, Supreme Court. Can you share the experience with our readers?

    When I had applied for an internship with Ms. Malhotra was a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court. I had procured two internships for the same period; another one being with Mr. K.V. Viswanathan, the then Additional Solicitor General of India (who also was elevated as a Judge of the Hon’ble Supreme Court later). I searched for their email ids on the Supreme Court Bar Association directory, which provides open online access on contact details of all advocates registered with the bar association of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, and followed up my application with calls.

    The juniors at the office of Ms. Malhotra were extremely helpful and welcoming, and assigned me work like preparing a list of dates, research work on service matters, etc. In fact Ms. Malhotra also personally assigned me research work on her book on International Commercial Arbitration, which she was editing. I also visited the Apex Court regularly during my internship period, and was lucky to witness other eminent counsels like Kapil Sibal, Pinky Anand, Arvind Datar, etc arguing in court.

    How was your time interning at law firms like Krishnamurthy & Co. (K Law), Majmudar and Partners and Tatva Legal?

    Most of the law firms do not hire interns until 3rd or 4th year, and therefore, I could only intern with firms at the later part of college life. In Karnataka State Law University, the curriculum is designed in such a way that in a B.A. LL.B. course you are not taught core law subjects until 4th year.

    While many of my friends complained that they were not assigned proper work during internship, and were given clerical tasks such as lifting of files or printing, surprisingly, for me, this wasn’t the case; my first internship with a law firm was at Tatva Legal, where I was conducting research on corporate laws, and was also involved in preparation of due diligence report of a company. At K Law also, the associate partners were kind enough, and I was assisting them in preparation of opinions, drafting of agreements and legal notices.

    Majmudar & Partners offered me a long term internship during my final year, and therefore, I declined the internship offer at Bharucha & Partners (Delhi), however, later I realised that the decision was misplaced. Majmudar’s Bangalore office was very small, with only 1 partner and 2 junior associates. The partner directly assigned me work relating to review of agreements and drafting of advice, however, no proper feedback was provided on the same. Also, he kept assuring me of a PPO, which never happened.

    After your education, you moved back to Kolkata, your hometown. Many stayed back in Bangalore or moved to Mumbai/ Delhi for better opportunities and bigger pay packages. Was this a conscious decision to move back to your hometown? If so, why? How challenging was it?

    It was more of a personal decision for me; I had stayed out of home for 5 long years, and I wanted to be close to my parents. In fact I had a job offer from Wipro Legal and Compliance Team, Bangalore, as a Legal Executive, which I declined.

    Finding a job which gives you a good exposure and also pays well was difficult. The corporates in Kolkata mostly have real estate work, and there is no departmentalisation (MA, PE, VC, Banking and Finance, and so on) as in most law firms outside Kolkata. I even interviewed for Khaitan, where the work was General Corporate; later, I joined Mr. Vinod Kothari in his financial and resolution services team, which gave me a good exposure both in terms of clientele as well as work. I worked with big corporate houses and NBFCs like Emami, Lux, Motilal Oswal, Poonawalla Finance (erstwhile Magma), Shriram Finance, Srei, amongst others. 

    You have pursued LLM from Jindal Global Law School. What was your motivation behind pursuing LLM? When did you finally decide that you need to do it? What was your topic of thesis? Why did you choose that subject for research?

     I had an inclination towards teaching, and I always wanted to pursue a PhD; the decision to pursue LLM was a just step towards that.

    I just didn’t want to leave a full time job to pursue academics, and when JGLS offered the blended LLM program in collaboration with Upgrad, I grabbed the opportunity.

    My topic for my thesis was “Lifting of Corporate Veil and Group Insolvency”. I was involved in insolvency related work since its inception, i.e. from 2017, and during my LLM, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India had constituted a working group to develop draft framework on group insolvency, the Videocon ruling was also recently pronounced during that time, it was a burning topic during that time, therefore, the decision.

    You’ve advised on market entry strategies across jurisdictions like Australia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and supported international acquisitions in Singapore. Please share your key experiences?

    I worked closely with the global expansion and marketing team of Livspace. My role included the following:

    1. to provide a comparative analysis of entry mechanisms abroad;

    2. to highlight the risks and restrictions on the marketing approach in various jurisdictions;

    3. to engage with foreign lawyers for due diligence of the target company, and to review related agreements.

    Laws in common law jurisdictions are mostly similar, and due to the emergence of technology, the relevant statutes are also readily available online, therefore, advisory on Singapore law was manageable. The difficult part was litigation management overseas. 

    Livspace is into the service industry, and therefore, there were cases filed with the Consumers Association of Singapore and with Small Claims Tribunals every now and then. Since I was not qualified to practice in Singapore, I was unable to personally appear in these matters; but still I managed most of the litigation inhouse, I used to draft replies, assist with filing (which was done online with SingPass), and was also instrumental in training the executives (mostly from operations) to appear in the said matters.

    You’ve engaged with regulatory bodies and handled litigation including under IBC and MSME. How do you build legal strategies that balance compliance with business risk, particularly in high-stakes cases?

    I am not keen on lengthy litigation and cutting the pocket of my client, I am practical that way and mostly try to conduct a cost benefit analysis for my client, and suggest negotiation or settlement, as the situation demands. However, where the reputation of my client may be at stake for frivolous claims, I would strongly urge for a no settlement policy, and to pursue the matter legally to deter the opposite party and also to set a precedent.

    Please share your journey as an adjunct faculty at Neotia University. You have taught a number of legal subjects and the trending ones from alternative dispute resolution, contracts, company law, intellectual property law and international trade law. Tell us about your teaching methodology. What advice do you share with your students on scoring higher grades?

    The experience was great. I had complete flexibility on the way I wanted to conduct classes. The teaching methodology varied depending on the subject- for instance, (1) for ADR, my focus was on practical aspects of mediation and negotiation through extensive role play sessions, where students were also provided feedback; (2) ITL is more of a theoretical subject, but I was not very keen on delivering notes, since that makes the class very monotonous, therefore, I used the reverse teaching methodology, where each student was assigned a topic on which he/she had to give a presentation, and then any part left unanswered was addressed by me; I believe that the flipped classroom approach enhances the presentation and speaking skills of students; (3) classes for contracts were a bit theoretical where the emphasis was teaching the essentials of the contract law and the key terms of contracts, with a blend of problem-solving and collaborative assignments.

    My advice to law students (esp to non NLU students) would be to study for knowledge, not for exams. Most of the time I hear that the students should mug up sections and case laws to pass the exams; and in some cases, students may not understand any part of what they are writing, but that seemingly does not matter for the exams. I would instead advise students to be inquisitive and ask the most important question “why”.

    Our readers will also be curious to know about your love for writing?

    My former employee Mr. Vinod Kothari is a renowned author of several books, and I was fortunate enough assist him in his books- 27th Edition of Tannan’s Banking Law and Practice in India (2017) and 6th Edition Lexis Nexis’s Securitisation, Asset Reconstruction and Enforcement of Security Interests (2020). He was the one who encouraged me to write. 

    When I was working with Mr. Vinod Kothari (who is also an Insolvency Professional), I used to write mostly on practical issues we used to face with the newly launched Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and the gaps therein along with my suggestions; later my write ups were quoted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Phoenix Arc Private Limited vs. Spade Financial Services Limited & Ors. (February 1, 2021) and by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in the case of Jayanta Banerjee vs. Shashi Agarwal & Ors. (June 4, 2021), and my writings have continued ever since; with the most recent one being on the “Co-Lending Arrangements” published by SSRN. 

    Now, I feel writing for me is more of a way to express my thoughts on any recent amendment/ judicial pronouncement.

    Is it easy to have a work-life balance in this profession?

    Well I would say that’s a decision you have to make. I have seen people quitting the profession to focus more on personal life, mostly after marriage, or to raise their kids. While I am in favour of having a balanced life, I did not want to take a career break, and continued to work even post maternity, however, with a more flexible work environment in-house. 

    Looking back at your diverse legal journey, what advice would you give to young legal professionals aiming to transition into in-house roles? 

    I would say a good mentor plays a pivotal role in shaping one’s life, and in enhancing the thought process. I was fortunate enough to work at places where I was provided complete autonomy in work. I also believe strong interpersonal skills, analytical and problem-solving abilities, research skills, and a keen attention to detail are important not only as an inhouse counsel but for any lawyer.

    Get in touch with Richa Saraf –

  • “In the corporate world, lawyers are often viewed either as impediments to the goals that ambitious sales folks are trying to achieve or ones who should suggest mechanisms to navigate around the blockers.” – Arpita Mukherjee, Consultant – Corporate practice at ANAND AND ANAND

    “In the corporate world, lawyers are often viewed either as impediments to the goals that ambitious sales folks are trying to achieve or ones who should suggest mechanisms to navigate around the blockers.” – Arpita Mukherjee, Consultant – Corporate practice at ANAND AND ANAND

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

    Looking back at your remarkable 34-year career, it’s evident that you’ve broken barriers and achieved significant success in a field where women were once a minority. Could you share some insights into the challenges and difficulties you faced during the early years of your career, and how you overcame them to establish yourself as a leader in corporate law?

    I love this question. In the corporate world, lawyers are often viewed either as impediments to the goals that ambitious sales folks are trying to achieve or ones who should suggest mechanisms to navigate around the blockers. Several times making your point of view heard in a room full of ambitious young men who had pre-decided the path forward was an enormous challenge. The only good point is that companies will not proceed until they have the legal sign-off so you surely had the last word but then your word will decide if you made enemies (lawyers certainly don’t make friends) or were perceived as difficult. I always viewed my role as a solution provider and what worked was to always share 2-3 options for the group to decide and weigh their risks. As a young professional, I always classified those options as High-risk, Medium-risk and Less Risk for the group to decide. Yes, you could say that this is more CYA, but I certainly did not wish to be seen as a blocker.

    Your career spans across diverse industries and roles, from telecom to multinational retail and now law consultancy. What drove you to make such transitions, and how do you think these experiences have shaped your perspective in corporate practice?

    I see my Legal role as a Risk Consultant. To add, I was passionate about learning new industries. Fortunately, the early 1990s and the liberalisation wave that set in our country brought several new industries into existence – Mobile Telecom, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Technologies like Optic Fibre Networks and also infrastructure expansion. I recall, there were several Public-private sector partnership opportunities that came up. My employment with ICICI as a legal counsel exposed me to study and approve/ disapprove of legal covenants to cover risk when the organisation was sanctioning project loans to companies that were being set up in these sectors. The “thirst to learn” was a key driver. Mind you, Google was only born in 1998 so it was all hard work to find material, study them and identify risks and mitigations. And then when US MNCs started to set bases in India for outsourcing their business processes, I was perforce exposed to draw balances between the laws that governed those firms in the EU/ US and the laws that are applicable in India. I remember my stint with the BPO arm of General Electric when we had to educate our Indian employees to be familiar with FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977 of the US). The list goes on as I dabbled with more EU firms (like my stint with the Finnish-German Nokia Siemens and later with Metro Cash & Carry, AG) and this shaped me to become who I am today. In summary, “Learn and Be Curious” – which I understand is a leadership principle of today’s Amazon, is in essence I imbibed as an individual, quite unknowingly and intuitively.

    Your work includes managing legal and compliance functions across various multinational companies. Can you share a particularly challenging situation you faced in this role and how you managed to navigate through it successfully?

    One such complex instance was with my previous organisation Levi Strauss. I was their General Counsel in India and the parent organisation decided to sun-set their brand “Denizen” in the Indian market. Denizen as a brand within the company had its own set of merchandisers, retail agreements, procurement and supply chain and XXXX. While the US laws are more flexible on “firing” of employees as an outcome of business decisions, the Indian laws are not as flexible. Drawing an optimal balance was challenging and complex. You had to manage local employee morale, not draw unwanted attention from any Govt department and also educate and convince my US counterparts on the best outcome. There were long and serious discussions with the India CEO, US Legal counterparts and Finance, HR. I am proud to say that we managed it extremely well and with immense employee satisfaction and complied with all local regulations. Shaking hands (the final one) with more than 100 franchisees and distributors without a single legal notice or dispute was nothing short of a feat.

    As someone who has worked across different cultures and countries, what do you think are the key skills needed to effectively communicate and negotiate in a global business environment?

    There are 4 skill sets for a corporate lawyer and they work across cultures and geographies. You need to be an “active listener” – understand the problem right, be “patient” – 99% of the times, the first answer you hear from your stakeholder on your solution is “not acceptable” or “learn from other companies in the market which are doing this anyways”; third one is “do your homework” – remember you are solution provider and risk manager, so study in-depth about the issue and potential implications of your solution and last one is “don’t be diplomatic” – a lawyer needs to “show the mirror” to the CEO. Being ambiguous, using legalese and trying to please may work for your career in the short term but then remember, you are not in for the long haul.

    You’ve had a unique journey, including working with companies like Levi Strauss & Co and Metro Cash & Carry. Can you share a memorable experience or lesson learned from your time in these organizations?

    The most important lesson before I share any experience is that working for a firm headquartered in Germany (Metro Cash & Carry) is vastly different from a US headquartered multinational (Levi Strauss & co). I was the GC in both these firms. Both countries are economic powerhouses in their continents but their ways of working, their etiquettes, their leadership & management styles, and their focus on metrics are vastly different. For example, while some prioritised “shareholder return” more than “employee experience”, making that shift in mindset was very challenging for me. So when I was at Metro Cash & Carry, all my learnings until that time came to be of not much use (I had worked mostly with US MNCs until then) and I had to unlearn a lot of them to find my way through with the German leadership.

    Your career has seen you handle high-stakes litigations and complex negotiations. What personal qualities or attributes do you think have been most instrumental in your success?

    I think this question has a high degree of overlap with the question above on “key skills needed”. Remember you are a “solution provider” and a “risk mitigator”. And so not being diplomatic works for you. The journey is difficult and you need to learn to be “lonely” because you are perceived to be “difficult” in the organisation despite your best efforts because you are always “showing them the mirror” and people don’t like to hear counter-viewpoints. You build your credibility slowly and then comes a point when you are consulted on every minor matter before the company. I must share that this is not easy for at times I have to let go of my personal time/ vacation to solve an issue. Family support has been the key here for they understood my situation.

    You’ve been involved in significant projects like the amalgamation of Tata Group’s telecom business with Bharti Airtel. What are some key takeaways from managing such large-scale endeavours, and how do you ensure smooth execution amidst various challenges?

    Being open to a collaborative and inclusive approach is essential in navigating large conglomerates where various key stakeholders have their own mandates. Synthesizing those mandates and bringing everyone together to address the common cause (the deal) is key to the success of both the deal and its torch-bearer.

    Outside of your professional life, do you have any hobbies or interests that you’re passionate about? How do you unwind after a long day at work?

    I am passionate about music and long drives .. like super long drives with my family. For a large part of my life my Pets who are no more “Cindy, Sophia, and Socks” were my lifelines. Their unrequited love for me was a big factor. Caring for them, and playing with them was my way of unwinding. One more pet who is still alive “chutki” gave me company when for 6 years I was stationed alone in Bengaluru (my family was in Delhi). Back then, I looked forward to every Friday to fly back home. That simple thought of flying back every weekend was an adrenaline rush for me. I love nature and have a keen eye. For example, the other day while walking on the street, I showed my family an owl sitting on a lamp pole. These are small and simple events that give me immense joy.

    With your expertise in areas like intellectual property, corporate compliance, and labor laws, what advice would you give to young professionals aspiring to pursue a career in corporate law, especially in navigating the complexities of the modern business landscape?

    Today’s youngsters are way smarter than me. I don’t think they need any advice from someone like me. I can only offer one advice and that is to develop life skills that are not taught in the classrooms today and kids of today have mostly been protected and provided for in an intense manner. For example, I am not aware of any subject that teaches you to “maintain your cool when the world disagrees with your POV” in the boardroom. You will be flooded with instances where you have to walk on water (not be diplomatic yet you also wish to rise in your career graph) and that for sure is not there in any textbook. They also need to prioritize physical health along with mental well-being. Saying anything more will be preachy.

    Reflecting on your extensive career and the changes you’ve witnessed over time, what differences do you perceive between today’s generation entering the workforce and those from when you began your career? Additionally, where do you believe today’s generation could focus more on enhancing their professional development?

    Today’s generation is much more suave, articulate and well-informed. Some of my interactions with young ones impress me no end. For example, the other day I was a judge at a student event at NLU Delhi and the subject of contract negotiation was tackled by students (who probably have never negotiated in real life situation) in a manner and with such imaginative situational responses, it really left me wanting to go back to school with them.

    Get in touch with Arpita Mukherjee-

  • “Navigating Legal Landscapes Globally – A Journey of Learning, Leadership, and Legal Excellence” Her journey mirrors resilience, international acumen, and a commitment to legal education – Saloni Rai, Director – Legal & Compliance at Aurionpro Payments.

    “Navigating Legal Landscapes Globally – A Journey of Learning, Leadership, and Legal Excellence” Her journey mirrors resilience, international acumen, and a commitment to legal education – Saloni Rai, Director – Legal & Compliance at Aurionpro Payments.

    This interview has been published by  Priyanka Karwa and The SuperLawyer Team

    You’ve had an extensive career spanning over 14 years in the legal field. What inspired you to pursue a career in law, and how has your journey evolved from your early days to your current role as Director – Legal & compliance at Aurionpro?

    A deep interest in Humanities since my school days and an unusual career choice are the two prime factors that inspired me to pursue law as a profession. For me, Law as a career was never a substitute, rather it was deeply ingrained in my mind as I find it extremely intellectually challenging. The journey, so far has been quite enriching and fulfilling coupled with highs and lows. There have been some noteworthy remarkable achievements – be it an association with National Payments of India (NPCI) during its inception, which is the Centre of India’s world-acclaimed digital revolution or an association with Micro land where my promptness to business requirements despite time zone difference was widely appreciated by both the external and internal stakeholders. Nonetheless, it is explicitly implied that my achievements so far have been an outcome of all the learnings and experiences that I gained in various organisations with diversified job profiles but with a common goal of business progression. The current role as Director – Legal & Compliance has ushered in a new leadership segment to my journey. The tenure to this point has been quite challenging and satisfying marked with freedom of decision-making and leading the organisation from legal standpoint.

    What unique challenges or experiences in your various roles have had the most significant impact on your growth as a legal professional?

    Law as a profession is known to be ever challenging irrespective of the years of experience gained. However, for me, one of the common unique challenging experiences across all the organisation has been in the form of adapting and doing deep-dive in understanding the organisation’s business so as to be positioned to provide suitable legal opinion and guidance without hindering the business growth. The opportunity to be associated with NPCI during its inception time, came with an ardent task of managing and setting up the Legal Department solely, which I navigated through every day learning and guidance from an external Legal Consultant from RBI. The journey is a milestone in my career graph as I am extremely proud to be associated with the roll out of some landmark products such as IMPS, RuPay Domestic Card, Aadhar which have made India standout in the financial world across the globe. This has been an extremely satisfying engagement which keeps me inspired in my current role as well.

    Beyond your role as a legal professional, you’ve conducted legal awareness sessions and training. What motivated you to take on this role, and how do you believe legal education contributes to a more robust business environment?

    Legal awareness and training sessions are equally important in one’s career as they give you a completely different perspective and outlook. It helps in broadening your learning horizon. This also entails first educating yourself from various journals and through deep research from the open domain. The conduct of training sessions gives an opportunity to interact with a variety of audience from various sectors and knowing their perspective and thought process. The questions and queries posed provides you ample in-depth knowledge and broaden your spectrum with solid foundation. The legal awareness and education are essential for robust and healthy business environment as we have seen so many businesses failing due to financial roadblocks and a lack of adherence to legal compliances. The current corporate world has realised the importance and this is visible in the form of a surge in the demand of seasoned legal professionals.

    Having managed legal and compliance workflows across continents, how do you ensure that your approach aligns with diverse regulatory landscapes, especially in the APAC, AFRICA, and MIDDLE-EAST regions?

    The legal and compliance workflows across continents and geos do require in-depth studies about various regulatory aspects of different countries and devising a solution in alignment with the same without hindering business growth. This also requires engagement with local legal team for any local conflict resolution for business to proceed further without much delay. Promptness and Collaboration are key in handling such diverse regulatory landscape.

    As a legal leader, you’ve been involved in setting roadmaps and providing quick assistance to internal stakeholders. How do you balance legal rigor with the need for agile and efficient business operations?

    Sound legal knowledge, strong work ethics and practical solutions to any problems have been my forte. I was fortunate to have been engaged in various diverse projects since the inception of my legal journey which has given me the adequate opportunity to play a key role in business decision-making. Besides, being part of the business team in various meetings and discussions has additionally helped me gain a better grasp of the business requirements.

    Beyond the legal domain, are there specific activities or hobbies that you engage in to unwind from the demands of your role? How do you strike a balance between your professional and personal life?

    I do engage myself in travelling around and exploring new places both in India as well as abroad. I also engage myself with music and reading especially new developments in the industry that I am associated with. I do value time and believe in balancing both my professional and personal commitments and growth.

    Looking ahead, what’s a legal or compliance frontier you’re excited to explore or address in the coming years, and how do you see it shaping the industry?

    Looking ahead, the legal or compliance frontier that I am excited to explore or address would be either in the Euro Zone or the U.S.A. to further upskill my international exposure.

    Having worked with various organizations, you’ve likely encountered emerging legal professionals. If you were to advise the current generation of legal enthusiasts, what crucial skills or knowledge areas do you believe they should focus on to excel in today’s legal landscape?

    My advice to the current generation of legal enthusiast would be to have a very strong foundation and knowledge about the core legal subject-matter, develop an agile approach rather than following a set pattern and be open to new learnings at every stage. Learning coupled with application makes a worthy lawyer.

    Get in touch with Saloni Rai-

  • Vijayanand Subramaniam, COO at Transasia Soft Tech -Cyber Risk Management In Conversation with SuperLawyer Speaks on Risk Assessment ,Cyber Security & Careers in Same

    Vijayanand Subramaniam, COO at Transasia Soft Tech -Cyber Risk Management In Conversation with SuperLawyer Speaks on Risk Assessment ,Cyber Security & Careers in Same

    This interview has been published by Prabhjot Singh, Priyanka Karwa and The SuperLawyer Team

    What inspired you to pursue a career in Cyber Security and Technology Law? 

    I have in most part of my career been engaged with leading industry verticals which are prone to high risk, BFSI being prominent amongst them. Risk management has been one of the primary focus for most senior executives in any form, be it operational risk, credit risk, compliance risk, security and fraud risks and so on. Given the fact that I have been a Banker and also spent a decade with technology coupled with a background in law, this only got better with changing digitization trends. Emerging technologies paved way for a deeper engagement that prompted me to move towards Cyber Law and Cyber Risk Management.

    What challenges have you faced while working in this field? 

    As our risk advisory committee comprises of risk management professionals and domain experts from Insurance and technology, we undertook extensive research on modelling in Cyber Risk Assessment & Quantification.  The initial years were quite enriching in terms of brain racking sessions on conceptualizing the idea. 

    Some of the challenges we faced were to identify the key points that could bring stakeholders from diverse industries on a common understanding of Cyber Risk Assessment, Quantification, pricing and claims management. Our key stakeholders are Insurers, Reinsurers, Breach Response Vendors, Cyber lawyers and Corporates.

    Cybercat is an outcome of extensive research in Cyber Risk Modelling, Can you explain?

    This is a non-linear model to quantify cyber exposure more accurately with a very “low error margin”. Organizations can undertake assessment and quantify cyber for catastrophic events, which will assist different stakeholders within the organization namely management, operations, legal, finance and technology to understand business impact and thereby mitigate risk with policy and technical measures or by way of risk transfer to insurers (Cyber Insurance).  The model provides a mechanism to price Cyber risks for Insurance industry.

    What do you consider to be the biggest challenge of Cyber Security and Technology Law? 

    An organization’s major challenge would be to ensure cyber security culture with a top-down approach across the organization.  It is important to understand three principal components of cyber risk which is operational, reputational and litigation risks and ensure greater degree of compliance. The enterprise information security policy should be enforced, delegated and implemented in true spirit. The driving force behind any cyber security program is its leadership and it sets precedence for the organization. Cyber-attacks revolve mostly around the “human angle”. While technology may provide a pathway they have to be handled efficiently as cyber governance, risk and compliance play a pivotal role in addressing these risks.

    What do you think are the most important skills needed to be successful in this field? 

    The field is wide open and there are many avenues today, most disciplines have branched out giving great opportunities . Some of the skills that are required for a career in this field are Cyber security engineering, Network security, incident forensics analysis, Data Architecture, problem solving skills and threat hunting analysis.  

    What advice would you give to someone considering a career in Cyber Security and Technology Law? 

    There will be a huge demand for candidates such as Cyber security specialists, Information security experts, Forensics experts, Privacy specialists, cyber insurance specialists, and Cyber dedicated lawyers in the coming years.

    How have you seen the landscape of Cyber Security and Technology Law evolve over the years and what new opportunities it can bring for people in this field? 

    The quantum of cyber-attacks has leaped over the years exponentially. All countries throughout the world are focussed towards having a National Cyber Security policy and data protection laws.  There are few countries that have exhaustive laws while some countries are yet to have comprehensive laws. The onus now shifts to corporates as measures are required for regulatory compliances without which having regulations is simply defunct. This again will bring plethora of opportunities to legal, Information security and technology specialists or those with techno-legal qualifications as corporates would need specialists to fulfil compliance requirements.

    What do you mean by Strategic Cyber Risk Assessment? and How does C-level executives benefit from the Assessment?

    Every organization today is in some state of fear of getting hit by a Cyber-attack, be it Malware, Ransomware or data exfiltration etc. While in most entities it is the technology that adheres to most of these technical processes it is important for the Senior Management to understand cyber and its impact to business.  Cybercat provides C-Level Cyber Risk Assessment at a macro level for executives to get a broader view of Cyber Risk for their organization. 

    This will assist senior executives to get first-hand information about organization’s cyber posture and the monetary value at risk.  This can further succour in the overall cyber program envisaged by the top leadership in making it a cyber resilient organization.

    What do you think is the most important thing to consider when it comes to protecting a company’s digital assets? 

    Every organization should have an inventory of digital and physical assets and also have a tracking mechanism of inventories.  There are a few things that should be part of mandatory company Asset and data protection policies such as protection of digital assets, viz, password management, Multi factor authentication; Role based access, Encryption and back-up of data. Centralized digital asset management is also used by industry to manage digital assets.

    What are some of the easiest ways of conducting litigation and risk assessment?

    There are multiple ways of conducting Risk Assessments remotely, let me differentiate between Cyber and Non-Cyber Risk Assessments.

    The Cyber or Technology Risk is assessed through the Cybercat©™ platform. The platform itself is a robust internationally validated risk model and proprietary software (Registered and copyrighted) that has been written around the risk platform. This provides a completely automated report for not just assessment, but also quantification in INR/$ terms and recommendations for risk mitigation and improvement. As the assessment is generated on real time basis it would be ideal to run the assessment either on quarterly or trimester basis in order to map the dynamic risk profile. This will cover operational, reputational, legal and technical risk Assessment.

    The other forms of assessment which are core technical would comprise of Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration testing and Red team assessments.

    Non Cyber or Non technology risks have a different objective as they deal with Directors and Officers Liability, Crime Insurance and Professional Indemnity and Contract Risk. They would also need a detailed ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) with specific questionnaires crafted around the key areas to understand the time value of legal dispute and probable loss estimates.

    According to you, what are the most important steps a company should take to ensure its Cyber Security and Technology Law compliance?

    Here are couple of key steps that I can think of:

    • There is an impending need for a strong leadership focus on cyber security.
    • An organization has to drive the cyber security change to create greater awareness and a sense of responsibility amongst their human resources.
    • Organization should have a greater understanding of their systems, network and data and undertake Business Impact assessment to guard against risks and quantify damages.
    • Organizations should evaluate their existing versus newer technologies and put a layered protection to combat cyber-attacks.
    • Organization should consider frequent assessments to find the vulnerabilities and take mitigation actions.
    • The legal team should be proactive in determining the risks related to their organization’s business profile.
    • Last but not the least having a Cyber Risk mitigation plan is inevitable for all organizations to not just understand risk but also to take measures to bring down cyber incidences.

    Lastly, any 5 best pieces of advice for our young law professionals?

    Today’s young law professionals are so dynamic that they don’t need any advice. Yet here are a few things which I suggest out of my experience:

    • Law is an ever changing field and hence one needs to be an all-rounder.
    • Law professionals should look at widening their horizon during their academic stint besides trying to acquire practical knowledge through internships all through the course.
    • Law professionals should keep track of multiple sectors and understand the changes that are happening in each sector.  While one need not be a specialist in everything, but keeping tab of things always helps in creating niche area of practice over a period of time.
    • As there is no perfect solution for anything and only possible options one should ideally think from a future point of view and visualize possible solutions.
    • Young lawyers should ensure to write good legal pieces and publish them in reputed law journals to add credibility and value to their profile which will go a long way in building and establishing their reputation as a subject matter expert over years.

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