While there are several initiatives and forums where, the general counsel community speaks of serious knowledge dope on topical legal and regulatory aspects, Lex Witness goes a step aside and gets into a candid coffee table conversation. Have an interesting read through.
Currently, I am working in Ingersoll Rand, Bangalore as Legal Counsel Leader. Ingersoll Rand is a world leader in creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments. Ingersoll Rand products and services help save energy, transport food and perishables and spur economic growth. My role at Ingersoll Rand is to oversee and handle for all business verticals for India and SAARC. Ingersoll Rand has been in India since 1920 and has five companies in India (one public company listed in BSE and the other four are 100% subsidiaries). I act as a business partner and support all the legal functions – corporate, commercial, litigation, general advisory and associated legal work in all five companies.
I started my journey in litigation working as an advocate in Dua Associates, Bangalore. I also had the privilege of working under Mr. KG Raghavan (designated senior counsel, High Court of Karnataka) and Mr. Arun Kumar (currently senior partner in Crest Law Partners). For a young and aspiring advocate, the one person who can influence the entire career is the senior they learn under. My time at Dua Associates, working with Mr. KG Raghavan and Mr. Arun immensely shaped my career and helped me to enhance my skill set as they were not only Seniors but also Mentors and provided me with full guidance and support. In 2003, I decided to do my masters and was accepted at Cardiff University, Wales and I successfully pursued Masters in International Commercial Law. This was the first time I had stepped out from my comfort zone of staying in Bangalore and ventured outside India to get a glimpse of the world. The two years that I spent in Cardiff widened my horizon and provided me with clarity based on my personal and academic experience. I was drawn towards the role of an in-house counsel and I focused on acquiring knowledge of the field. In 2005 I was lucky to find my life partner and after my marriage, I had a discussion with my wife and family. I come from a family of advocates – both my parents and my sister are practicing advocates. So when I brought up the idea of exploring the in-house role, they encouraged me to take the ‘leap of faith’ and dive into it. Thanks to their encouragement, I ventured to the market and was lucky to get a role of ‘Legal Adviser’ with Dell India. Though a short stay of not more than 18 months in Dell, the principles that I learnt there are still imbibed within me. After Dell, I moved to Subex Limited – a software company based in Bangalore where I reported to Mr. Rajkumar, the General Counsel. Initially I carried out the role of Legal Counsel – EMEA with a dedicated focus on the EMEA market. After a year, the APAC market was also brought under me and my understanding of commercial law in practice widened. After almost 30 months at Subex working with software, I decided to experiment with the industrial and manufacturing sector with a focus on industrial engineered products and in came into the picture, Ingersoll Rand. I have been with the Ingersoll Rand family for close to 7 years and head the legal function for Ingersoll Rand India.
Definitely yes. Unlike the traditional fields of law, that of a General Counsel is broad, vague without boundaries and sometimes I have no idea where to begin and where to look for information. There are no defined set of laws that govern our work. The common misconception is that a GC basically oversees the litigation of a company and is a middle-man between an advocate and the company; this is only about 25% of the work that I do. Earlier the GC was not involved in the decision making process – be it acquiring a company, investing monies or in litigations, the MBAs handled it. Today the GC is in a fiduciary capacity which makes it more challenging and exciting. Over the years there has been a paradigm shift – the GC role now has the ‘solutions approach’ model rather than ‘problem-solving approach’ model. The role is more of a ‘business partner’ catering to the needs and requirements of the businesses – be it in an acquisition, taking over, listing or delisting, labour disputes etc.
It’s a lonely territory for a lawyer. There is no team of lawyers to brief, there are no paralegals and it’s a challenge to speak to colleagues from different streams regarding the importance of legal procedures, compliance etc. Like I said before, it’s a role of a fiduciary and it’s a one-man role. There is constant pressure to deliver. For instance, getting a good law firm to act as the extended team – the lawyer’s fee plays a pivotal role when working with true law firm. Business and science folks speak numbers, strategies and they understand only defined procedures. It’s a challenge for a GC to keep up with the Company’s innovative arm while still working with the legal framework which has no borders, geographical or otherwise.
Gadget – external battery – this is because we need to be constantly connected to the internet!
App – TripIt – a perfect travel organiser for people who travel a lot. It’s super easy and its paperless travel. All your travel documents are through this app. I rely on it big time.
Automobile Brand – My choices are simple – “I simply like the Best” – this is a quote that I had read behind a Mercedes Benz car sometime in mid 80’s. From that day, Benz has been my favourite automobile brand.
Writing Instrument – the classic fountain pen – till date, I would prefer to use a fountain pen.
Holiday Destination – the good old cliché of Goa. Being a 70s-80s kid, Goa will never surpass the fascination for me. From law college days, been going to Goa every year with my lawyers group – been the best destination till date. My wife too enjoys Goa and given a choice, we would jump to Goa any day – either for a quick break or a long one.
Cuisine – South Indian and in particular what my mom cooks
I would list them as follows: Legal fees, Point of Contact, turn-around time and trust. As a GC we always try to minimize the costs for the Company and get the maximum benefit, year on year. That being said, the GC also needs to trust the law firm enough to lean on it when required and that’s where being prompt and cooperative helps. The synergy can come up only if the law firms convert their business model from ‘revenue stream’ to a ‘relationship stream.’ This is really important because once the relationship is successful, the GC would not hesitate to make the payment.
With the role of the GC having picked up over the years, there are plenty of forums and journals and peer-groups that we need to be associated with. With the GCs, you will find less competition and more collaboration. CLE is a very important tool for a GC as we are monitoring different jurisdictions and we need to be constantly updated. So these peer-groups and forums help us stay on track.
More than the advice, a budding lawyer needs to ask himself/herself what is the purpose of joining a company when compared with the law firms. It’s always better to try out the options and then decide which one suits best. The ‘one-sizefits-all’ theory of being a litigator is no longer true in 2017. My sincere advice would be to first get a well-rounded experience in different streams, including perhaps a Masters abroad and then take a decision. The perception of how to handle complex transaction is different from a litigator to a corporate lawyer and completely changes when the same is kept on the table of a GC. Lastly, I would urge all the young lawyers – whether in final year of law or recent graduates to go backto-basics. The legal acumen is developed only in law school and there is no point in landing on the mountain without first doing the trek. Being a common law jurisdiction, Indian legal system is very advanced and if one master it in law school, it’s definitely easy to pick up no matter what the jurisdiction or law.
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