In his three-decade journey that has been exciting, challenging, and prolonged too, PMD confesses to foray into law as a second bet after his attempt for the armed forces. Yet, by the time he had graduated and ventured into Master’s in Law, he had mutated into an adherent purist in law.
In our first at Lex Witness, we explore exciting counsel journeys in their professional and personal spheres. Here are excerpts of our debut conversation with PM Devaiah [PMD], Managing Partner, Starlaw Partners. We explore his experience as a counsel on either side. Have an exciting read-through.
While Sharing His Experience With People And Their Behaviour, Devaiah Stresses Upon Relying More On Their Behaviours Than Them As Individuals. Recalling His Experiences He Shares;
“The core theme of my professional journey has been nothing but attending to demanding moments, dealing with people’s behaviour and people diversity, and all else is obiter. I soon learnt that, many successful and professionally qualified people succumb to their weird ways and frailties, notwithstanding their upbringing or education. For instance, meandering back to one of my constitutional law classes, I got into an altercation with one of my professors who had a tenacious view of certain doctrines. One of his constitutional viewpoints was to vehemently argue that India is a presidential form of government wrongly offered as a parliamentary one. He held this view high, higher than the tallest mountains we have thus far measured. He had his arguments which I disagreed with due respect to his. Indeed, that had some impact on my tranquility even though the same professor dwelt and professed the rule “audi alteram partem’ (a coveted principle of natural justice, which means “hear the other side”) in some other context under the same roof. The randomness of this genre, on-campus and later at work, I embraced without a frown as free schooling in frustration management upon which I moved on to become a very successful general counsel with undeterred focus and perseverence. So much for an inclusive, liberal, egalitarian environment or a lack of it.”
I had fallen in love with law as a faculty, and there was no looking back in my ‘law life’ after that. The ‘joy of jurisprudence’, as I call it is deeply ingrained in me now. The journey opened many opportunities, I was a spectator of enthralling dramatic moments, which helped me seek interaction with delightful people, and learned priceless wisdom from seniors and mentors to be treasured forever. While the results of hard work stacked up as feathers in my cap, mistakes and embarrassing moments made me wiser, stronger, and sharper
First job was with one of the TATA enterprises engaged in EPC contracts. During the first month of onboarding, PM Devaiah ventured to Bombay House, the group’s headquarters, to meet Mr. S.R. Vakil, the senior most legal advisor of the group those days. While he was about to move into the elevator, a security guard beckoned another lady and him to stand aside to make way for Mr. JRD, who was also walking towards the elevator. PMD describes further;
The gentle giant, Mr. JRD, quietly walked in and signaled the lady and me to join him, which we did. After a brief conversation inside the elevator, he quipped, “be an honest lawyer”, smiled, and walked to his office. I can chronicle that this is the shortest but the most powerful conversation I have ever had in my professional life. His demeanor and his all-white attire were a never to be forgotten synthesis of grace and dignity. It took me decades as a lawyer to decipher the core meaning of what he had advised me. Yet, ironically, I never had an incident of this nature to describe in decades to follow.”
PMD moves to Bangalore to join the most promising and interesting group, BPL, with interests in power, telecom, IT consumer durables, manufacturing with technology collaboration, and joint ventures with a slew of leading global players. PMD describes further;
There was never a dull moment at the corporate office with constant buzz leading to new business, associating with technocrats, executing high stake joint ventutres, mergers and acquisitions with global gaints, partaking in debt and equity negotiations. It was the peak of regulatory entrepreneurship in my career with the high-profile liberalization of the coveted telecom sector.”
I was extremely fortunate to have worked with Shri Chandrasekar very closely with other experts and luminaires, which ushered in the emergence of a modern and efficient telecom regime in India. Delhi was my second home, and the joke in the Delhi judicial circles those days, which was inundated with telecom litigation, was to change the notice outside the court halls from “cell phones are prohibited” to cell, and cell phone operators are prohibited”
Amidst the fight for a cellular revenue share from the then-existing fixed license fee, a challenge to MTNL’s entry into cellular services due to level playing and duopoly expectations by existing licensees was a lawyer’s paradise exploring new vistas in telecom jurisprudence in India. In addition, the need for a specialized telecom regulator, the TRAI, also gained ground and triggered public debates about its construct.
A promising moment of learning was the experience with the core team at BPL and at COAI under the leadership of Shri Rajeev Chandrasekar, who was then the CMD of BPL Telecom Business Group and at the helm at COAI. He is now the Honourable Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. His leadership in driving the emerging Indian telecom sector is unparalleled and understated. Having seen him tirelessly work on telecom issues, I believe he is the true Czar of telecom revolution in India.
After a great stint with FMCG, telecom, and the power sector, at Hindustan Unilelver and BPL, PMD completed a fulfilling stint with financial services and private equity for many years. With over two hundred mergers and acquisition deals of all hue and shapes, from deal closure to deal exit giving a great insight into diverse management styles, conflicts and dispute resolution, success and failures, and a wide range of learnings hovering around managing corporations with my association with the Carlyle Group, ICICI Venture and Everstone Capital. It was my honour to have interacted and worked with accomplished entreprenurs and professionals like Mr. David Rubenstein from Carlyle, Jerry Spyer from Tishman, Mr K.V. Kamath, Ms. Kalpana Morparia and Renuka Ramnath all from the ICICI Group and many other distinguisned leaders.
My long duration Asia-Pacific responsibility at Everstone was an eye-opener to feel the pulse of toggling between common law and civil law jurisdiction of lawyering and informed decision-making to protect shareholder and stakeholder interests.
Delhi senior counsels have a very different way of ensuring quality control. I had my training in that as well during my initial years. I was at the receiving end of a flying file at my face in one of my worst senior counsels briefing to seek a stay on a telecom bank guarantee matter. This was the most arduous task for telecom companies those days as DOT would encash licensee bank guarantees for various defaults.
“Do you know the law, Mr”? thundered the senior. Please give me your CEOs number; I want to tell him that he has sent a useless person to brief me. I meekly mentioned, Sir, I am aware that it’s tough to get encashment stayed. But I could not muster the courage to voice my CEO’s reluctance to acknowledge such a position and his pressure on me to get it at any cost, as the senior still held a large coffee mug in his hand!
Immediately after the pandemic, in 2021, PMD joined the Adani Group as their first Group GC pursuing a change he had been aspiring for. While the experience was a much cherished but short one, too, as he could not continue in Ahmedabad due to some pressing personal reasons and had to move back to his hometown. That was an endless ocean, and I could take a few gulps before moving on. However, there wasn’t any dearth of learning, and I emerged more informed.
On the unfortunate Hindenburg report, I liken Gautam Bhai to none other than Lord Ram, who faced considerable challenges in building the RamSetu, an ancient infraproject with the help of Vanaras. Lord Ram had to slew the Vanara leader Valli to achieve the tall order and who knows if that was right or wrong. I saw a tall business leader in Gautam Bhai and I am sure the attack on him will pass. He is a towering business leader and a son of the soil. As a lawyer, I am blessed to have met and worked with a few most inspirational people in my career.
Three decades is too long a runway to meet many personalities landing or taking off. Law and lawyering were just a function, an instrument of my professional calling. But the sea of humans I interacted with in my journey has given me immense insight into how the human minds work. Ironically, more than people, their behaviour inspires me. It is far more impactful than people themselves since most are generally a complex bundle of contradictions. Behaviours, on the contrary, are more tangible and more empirical. Actions that make you change your misconceptions and prejudices, conduct that makes you innovate your life, and behaviour that makes you desire to be like them are all highly addictive and worth internalising. Every journey is a minefield of knowledge and wisdom, so long you get your steps right, watch out for suitable detours and engage with the right people
Undoubtedly, I enjoyed a long stint at Everstone, and it was undeniably my career best. A journey of Fifteen years, I shared a great equation with the CoFounders Sameer Sain and Atul Kapur. They offerd me the widest canvas ever received in my long career. As a ViceChairman & Group General Counsel, there was a single incident or moment for me to feel uneasy about tasks I had to accomplish. They created a great work environment, set a high standard of governance and never interfered in my function, which got me going. I had to think many times before saying no to anything as a censure of anything legal or regulatory as it would pass muster without any second guessing. That was a massive pressure as I could not abuse my discretion, which could affect a business decision. The unfaltering trust and the freedom to function were the two most pressing considerations that kept me going.
Most believe in the ‘via trita via tuta’ principle, meaning the trodden path is safe. I recently read someone talking about three enemies of success. First is the comfort zone. The reluctance to change. Second is what’s known as learned helplessness, where a person cannot find resolutions to difficult situations – even when a solution is accessible and finally, the path of least resistance – an easy way to success. I wanted to break away from the routine, break my comfort zone to experiment with new things, and create something new.
I wish to be an architect now. I will, with my team, draw up a plan to organically grow the Firm into a boutique service provider to a select few clients. The migration from a general counsel to an entrepreneur is a challenging one. We will take baby steps and see how it evolves.
Firstly, getting a seat at the table is a privilege that seldom should be squandered. Secondly, if you have been privileged with a seat at the table and happen to be a lawyer, then the seat is stapled with great responsibility. So long as a person at the table believes they are not sitting to merely make their presence felt but working towards a ‘unity of purpose and community of interest,’ the right environment emerges. I see great merit in viewing a table as a purposive ring without being clouded by the sides. Finally, If the focus is on the finish line, the side should matter less and less as I have a 360-degree perspective of the spectrum and experience from all sides and their shortcomings.
With less focus on economics, I will concentrate on capability and capacity building in the initial years. We have a team of lawyers who are culturally aligned and complement each other well. We will work with a select few clients until we organically grow. While we focus on general corporate, lase related work. I wish to set the platform right, gather talent and then let internal skills lead the Firm over time. I like what Mr. Jyoti Sagar and Mr. Berjis Desai did when they gracefully stepped aside as mentors. That’s the way to go. Handing the baton brings in new ideas, allows generational changes, and enhances the longevity and credibility of an institution.
Arguably, conventional lawyering is old-fashioned now. Drastic transformations in the legal profession regarding virtual hearings, the intervention of artificial intelligence, and digitization have all created enormous redundancy of traditional methods. A new-age counsel must be proficient with new-age concepts and tools to succeed in stiff competition and ruthless undercurrents. Furthermore, must successfully amalgamate the intelligence and emotional quotients most optimally for humanto-human harmony to garner client appreciation and engagement. The last word- strike a good balance between substance and form.
The list could be endless and listing could also mean limiting. However, if I were to make a quick short list, the following would rule my mind
We need stronger laws across the union of India to better manage land laws. I see weaknesses in many sides of the real estate scenario in India. For instance, we need (a) better title security and guarantee with reduced frivolous litigation. Prolonged title litigation could hamper development (b) we need better and consistent laws to protect our land. Agri land and green cover management should be better managed with a balanced approach towards development and conservation. (d) Wasteland development and water management laws need to be more modern and scientific.
Another crying need is Police reforms. We have a feudal police system that is not citizenfriendly. This is not just a legislative issue but also a massive cultural one.
The ease of doing business index should be a functional realism, not just a claim. Still, many clean-ups are needed to make the nostalgia of ‘license raj’ go away and make complete ease of doing business a pragmatic reality
Drudgery of professional life notwithstanding, its important to keep family time sacrosanct howsoever challenging it might be. I have always tried to keep family in the career mix. Its no seceret, family dynamics are more complicated now a days. The older joint family structure provided a natural family bonding and bonhomie platform. Today, nuclear families are like hand bombs. They are fragile and easy to blow up. In addition, new-age concepts like privacy and independence are creating newer challenges. Professional and personal lives are two sides of the same coin and its important to protect both sides to honour the legitimacy of the coin
Liberalization is the thesis, fetters the antithesis. Between these conflicting positions, achieving all-round efficiency and superlative proficiency is the synthesis.
I have worked with many interns and young lawyers. Most are ambivalent and impatient – two worst enemies to being a successful professional. Young lawyers think a career in law is like strawberry farming. That isn’t happening, as lawyering is a long-term incubation process. Lawyering is like learning about stars in the galaxy. I also see young lawyers opposed to the rigor of the profession. One must cultivate patience, perseverance, and passion for succeeding. Many quickly lose interest and want to move away to pursue something else.
During my decade long association with Devaiah, I witnessed his leadership capabilities, people skills and sheer professional ability. His ability to temper calmness in stressful situation and calculated aggression when needed is a vindication of his style. He has been an inspiration and role model to the entire group. As a legal mind, Devaiah is unique as he blends his vast experience with a logical and practical business sense. This has enabled him to always have a seat at the leadership table - not just as a General Counsel but also on Business Strategy. Above it all Devaiah has incredible integrity and always provides the most unbiased and honest perspective. All these put together enabled us to have a very close relationship that went beyond legal or business - much more of a close confidant and guide. I am fortunate to have travelled a personal and professional journey with him and look forward to many years more.
I have benefited from Devaiah’ s advice and guidance for the last 15 years. He has a unique ability to quickly identify the key elements of complex situations and provide solutions that carefully balance the legal requirements with the commercial objectives. Devaiah has that rare combination of a sharp legal mind and an astute business sense. He is decisive in difficult situations and his counsel has been invaluable to the success of our business.
In my 42 Years of private practice, I am yet to come across a General Counsel as optimal as P.M. Devaiah. His quick grasp of issues and ability to balance, between what business wants and compliance permits, is extraordinary. Emotional intelligence, a rare thing amongst stressed corporate lawyers, he possesses in abundance. His amalgam of integrity and sharp skillsets sets him apart from his peers.
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