I joined UFO Moviez (I) Ltd as Senior VP- Legal Affairs and General Counsel in 2016. UFO Moviez is India’s largest satellite-based, digital cinema distribution network and incinema advertising platform in terms of number of screens. It has presence in Middle East, US and Latin America as well. Other synergetic business initiatives of the group include NOVA Cinemaz-which is an asset-light franchisee cinema business offering a one stop solution to set-up movie theatres, Caravan Talkies-which is open movie viewing experience for India’s rural population situated in media dark areas and IMPACT -which is an electronic ticketing platform. As General Counsel of UFO Moviez, I am responsible for leading the Legal & Company Secretarial teams, comprising of 5 lawyers and 3 Company Secretaries, for all group entities of UFO Moviez. I focus on supporting business growth by providing strategic advice on business related legal issues, augmenting team and improving systems and processes for efficient functioning of the legal and CS department. I work closely with Promoters, Leadership teams and the Board of Directors of all group entities in addressing daily challenges. Some of the recent critical projects that take up my time include the amalgamation / merger of 4 group entities into UFO including 2 cross border entities, Competitor driven complaints at the Competition Commission of India, multiple arbitration petitions seeking contract enforcement and in-organic growth measures being explored by the corporate business teams. Besides these, content related issues arising out of approximately 1200 movie releases (Bollywood, Hollywood and regional cinema) every year, studio negotiations, exhibition contracts etc. demand my time as well.
My journey as a General Counsel in India started over 16 years ago, when I started practicing as an advocate at the High Court of Punjab and Haryana where I trained under Mr. Rajiv Atma Ram who is very accomplished senior counsel specializing in constitutional and administrative law matters. After almost 3 years of core litigation practice, I decided to pursue a Master of Law degree in International Economic Law at the University of Warwick and to qualify as a Solicitor on the Rolls of England and Wales. Upon my return, I was offered an opportunity to work at India’s leading IP and commercial law firm, Lall and Sethi under it Managing Partner Mr. Chander Lall.
After spending my first 7 years as a practicing lawyer, I made the switch inhouse as I was curious about how things worked on the other side of the fence. Since then, I have worked for and advised India’s largest FM Radio network, India’s leading Satellite Pay TV company and a leading agricultural bio-technology business. Along this journey, I have been fortunate to have been exposed to some of the most cutting-edge IP and Regulatory / public policy legal issues facing corporate India. I have worked on technology issues such as Technology standards and inter-operability, intermediary liability, licensing, infringement and product liability issues. I have led industry association legal committees to align and advance organisational positions. I have drafted complex position papers on cutting edge regulatory, technology& public policy issues on behalf of my organisations and presented the same before various regulators and sectoral ministries. I have led multi-pronged efforts in defending complex public interest litigation that impacted business certainty for the organisations that I was a part of. I have defended multiple Competition Commission of India investigations and hearings in my various roles. I have managed large litigation portfolios and managed the general commercial legal support for the India and the sub-continent. I have drafted, reviewed and helped negotiate large transactions in the areas of technology licensing, content acquisitions, claim and dispute settlements. I have also worked on multiple corporate merger and acquisition initiatives. I have worked with large Indian and International law firms in many of the above mentioned assignments and have worked internationally on some these issues. I have gained substantial experience in high capital intensive start-ups and in publically listed businesses. All these experiences combined have shaped me into an IP and Regulatory lawyer specializing in Media and Life Sciences sectors and have helped lead onto a career path of a General Counsel in India.
The role of General Counsels is undoubtedly continuously evolving. In today’s dynamic, technology driven business environment, General Counsels are expected to partner with the business and help the organization evolve and compete to stay ahead. This translates into implementing technological measures for functional efficiency and information retrieval, focus on IP protection and enforcement for competitive advantage, adopt a 360° approach to problem solving and being an ethical watchdog at the same time. General Counsels today are expected to be key members of the corporate decision making teams and their advice and opinions are sought on a wide variety of corporate strategy matters. A General Counsel today is much more than being a subject matter expert and is expected to add value and reduce anxiety in decision making.
Every business irrespective of industry sector would throw up challenges primarily revolving around preventing and managing organisational risks and shaping strategic corporate objectives. With constant evolution of the business practices and themes, challenges around incorporating technology for process improvements and best practices are encountered as well. Adversarial challenges involving competition and other business stake holders are fairly common as well.
I think if law firms invest their time in understanding the demands of in-house role and their business, they would be able to offer more custom made service solutions and that could surely improve synergies. Flexible fee arrangements, fast and adaptable service offerings, creative problem solving and ability to act as a trusted business partner will always help in improving synergies.
Gadget – My wireless headphones that I can’t run without
App – SoundCloud for discovering new underground music
Automobile Brand – Porche
Writing Instrument – The closest one! (I am always searching for pens)
Holiday Destination – Too many to list. I have a clear bias towards beach destination
Cuisine – Italian and North Indian
In today’s information driven world, there are a number of tools available to keep oneself updated- legal conferences, law firm mailers, social media knowledge sharing platforms, structured CLE programs offered by various institutes, streaming lecture videos etc. Ultimately it boils down to reading and reading constantly. Personally, I find that researching to speak or write on a particular topic helps me stay updated with the latest developments in a particular area.
I would always recommend that one should practice as a lawyer for the first 6 -7 years before exploring a career in-house. Your legal practice experience will give you technical expertise that is very frequently required for quick decision making in an in-house role. My advice to someone exploring a mid-career change, I would encourage them to think long and hard about their expectations from the role and then speak to someone experienced to get a realistic perspective on their expectations. The demands, responsibilities and pressures of an in-house counsel position vary greatly, by industry, company size and corporate culture and it can be very enriching and rewarding experience if one fits in well.
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