About

Pulin Kumar has built up a wealth of in-house experience since qualifying from Delhi University in 1991. He has worked at numerous Indian and multinational conglomerates such as Montari Industries, Triveni Engineering, Ambuja Cements, New Holland Tractors and Jubilant Organosys. Between 2008 and 2013 Kumar served as Samsung India’s head of legal, where he gained internal and external recognition for a legal case against ‘the menace of parallel imports’. Having gained extensive experience in contracts, litigation and compliance management, Kumar joined global sports manufacturing giant adidas in 2013, at a time of internal turmoil for the company due to a financial fraud reported in one of its subsidiaries, Reebok India. Kumar was able to support adidas during its handling of the crisis as well as improving the corporate governance within the group without disrupting the normal support of day-to-day operations; this improvement meant Kumar had to ‘restructure the entire working of the team by assigning specific roles to each individual’. By successfully completing the investigations in a time-critical manner, the team ensured no adverse orders were received against the group. Following a merger of the adidas and Reebok operations in India, Kumar’s pragmatism ensured consistency within the team by integrating the practices of both the brands. By participating in all board meetings and providing input on business decisions, Kumar is a trusted business partner to the senior management team and is proactive in synchronising adidas’ dynamic requirements. Kumar has provided advice on a number of positive regulatory changes, which have facilitated ease of business and attracted foreign investors. Further demonstrating his positive impact, Kumar helped adidas become the first company in India to be granted a Single Brand Retail Trading License, which resulted in him receiving industry awards. Outside of adidas, Kumar participates in legal conferences, contributes immensely to sharing best practice in internal governance related to the corporate sector and co-hosts a knowledge sharing platform “Sadgamaya”, which is an informal association, founded by a few like-minded general counsel and lawyers.