I am heading Legal Department at Swiggy and look after overall legal affairs of the Organization. My primary mandate is Corporate Advisory, Risk Management, Compliance and other general responsibilities which includes Regulatory Compliances, Contracting & Litigation Management, Risk analysis and Mitigation, Due Diligence, Policies & Procedures.
My journey has been fascinating so far spanning across different industries encompassing real estate, telecom retail, telecom services and information technology services. I think initial stint of court practice has made it look easy for me to handle challenges as in-house counsel. I am happy about the abundant opportunity for learning and for trying hand on multiple domains of law. I would say in-house counsel role has seen dramatic change in the past decade and I am humbled to be part of this phase. I am also thankful to my managers, mentors and importantly, my junior colleagues for the support so far.
And if so, how? Certainly, as said earlier, inhouse role has seen a studied transformation in the past decade. Transformation is visible and over a period of time the roles and responsibility of an in-house counsel has become more prominent in any organization, be it evaluating the new business idea or making business decision, or even advising on legal compliances, General Counsel today bring on the table not just their legal expertise but also the industry knowledge. I also feel that the evolution is not only inevitable but also necessary to stay relevant in the changing circumstances. It is time today, that a General Counsel should understand the business very well to be more informed and accurate on the legal framework and regulatory requirements around the business.
It is important to note that the new generation Companies prefer to have a full fledge in-house legal department with subject experts in order to reduce the time spent on legal consultation. General Counsel nowadays has strong influence on business decisions and has become crucial for business continuity.
The challenges, I would say (a) keeping oneself updated on regular basis on the reforming Indian legal and regulatory framework, (b) bringing down the cost and turnaround time for legal assignments by effective use of both inhouse and external counsels. Now it’s important than ever to try do things innovatively and think for out of box solutions to stay relevant irrespective of industry.
Understating the purpose of association is very important for both law firm and the corporate in-house counsel. I think both should work together to enhance the quality of service to the ultimate client. It is important for a corporate inhouse counsel to choose a good law firm based on the Partner who makes the working experience comfortable.
Not specific, I would say, reading law journals, participating in the Legal Conferences and tracking industry specific litigation matters pending before various courts can help.
I would recommend experiencing the court practice at least for a year before pursuing career as an inhouse Counsel. Law Firm internship will help sharpen the legal research skills and therefore internship with firms with corporate advisory practice would help a lot.
Gadget – Chronograph
App – Swiggy, Flipkart
Automobile Brand – Honda
Writing Instrument – Ratnamson
Holiday Destination – Bandipur/ Karnataka
Cuisine – Mangalorean
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