It has always been a pledge at Lex Witness to identify trend-setters in the Indian Legal Fraternity. The industry has seen veterans creating benchmarks in their respective function areas. We in this issue strike a conversation with Debolina Partap, Vice President – Legal & General Counsel, Wockhardt Group to unfold the untold sagas behind the professional excellence she has sustained over the years.
Law was one of my subjects for Civil Services exams which I qualified (did not join though). I found it very essential for every citizen of India to know besides finding the complications in the subject very interesting. I therefore, pursued it as my career.
I was posted as Southern Zonal Legal Head of IDBI in 2005. I handled the second largest asset portfolio of IDBI then also got some path breaking recoveries for the Bank which had got stuck for over 10 years. In 2006, I was appointed as Head Legal, Wockhardt Hospitals. I was instrumental of about 17 Hospitals for the Group. In 2009, I became General Counsel Wockhardt Limited. I handled litigations worth Rs.75000 Cr. And did transactions worth over 1 Billion $. In 2011 my role enhanced to global legal work and currently I am responsible for legal work of Wockhardt Group.
I have a team of 13 people with another 10 people aiding the legal department. We deal with over 60 lawfirms and there are well defined processes and protocols laid for the functioning of the legal departments inter se as also with inhouse customers and outside counter parties and law firms as also consultants. We have well defined legal and compliance management policies.
I think the biggest challenge faced by me was to prove that women lawyers can be equal or even better than men lawyers. Law being a vast subject, often the general perception is that a woman may be able to devote enough time to the work and subject. To prove this a misnomer has been the biggest challenge.
I think the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is faced with myriad challenges. But the biggest challenge is de risking and finding mitigation strategies for right product mix in the right market. A company to focus on a US market or an EU market or the BRICs or the Africa may not be very research based or precedent based. A lot of it depends of the business structure selected by the Indian company going outbound. While these are some of strategic challenges which the industry faces here, the marathon IP conflicts continue to hold limelight in permanent generic v innovator war. But what I see now is that the line between generics and innovators is thinning. Cross entry into each other’s space will be seen more often.
Today promoters understand the importance of doing business the right way as, doing it right gives a lot of premium value to the company. It has become comparatively a simpler task to engage the mind of the top management about the importance of legal compliance. In an era where Indian companies are going global, and governance values have become strict and sacrosanct, all stakeholders understand that the “only way is the right way”.
I see more positives. There is tremendous knowledge sharing with external counsels. Also with a lot of competition of mid band level lawyers, the choice to an In house counsel is now limitless because we get the best of advice at the most optimal cost. I also find that now law firms have more business orientation and are really a bi help to In house counsels in decision making and finding solutions.
I see a lot of Mergers & Acquisitions happening in the law firms. Like, foreign law firms and Indian law firms, even Indian law firms consolidating.
I would call myself a 21st century women. Gender diversity is finally reaching a satisfactory level. With Prime Minister Modi emphasizing more of education of the Girl Child I see the future to be bright rather a blink.
“East or West Law is Best”. Work Hard and be steady in your job. Young professionals switch jobs very frequently. This was not done earlier a decade back. Don’t shift job just for money because at the end of the day it is steady learning which gives you the steady money on long term basis
Your Guru: My Mother
Your Favourite Gadget: The Pressure Cooker in the Kitchen
Your Preferred Cuisine: Chinese
Your Favourite Automobile Brand: Rolls Royce
Your Favourite Writing Instrument: My Sheaffer Pens
Your Preferred Lifestyle Brand: Club Mahindra Holidays and Resorts
Spend time with my teenage son and understand the world from his perspective.
I pray every morning.
A smile never leaves my face. Always keep smiling and this helps in maintaining the blissful mix of professional and personal life.
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