About

Described as ‘dependable, intelligent and hardworking’, Smitha Murthy has over 17 years of experience in the legal sector. After almost six years at law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co., she moved in-house for the first time, spending two years at Dubai Aluminium, where she was mainly responsible for drafting and negotiating contracts with raw materials suppliers and other service providers including IT software. After brief spells in-house at Independent Mobile Infrastructure and at law firm Narasappa, Doraswamy & Raja, Murthy moved back in-house to join the legal department at multinational conglomerate 3M’s India office, where she provided legal support to its multiple business units and support functions. For the brief period when there was no head of legal for the company’s Indian subsidiary she stepped in to provide necessary support to the leadership team, and took the lead in implementing enhanced compliance initiatives. In late 2014, Murthy moved to Monsanto, an American multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation, to take up her current role as assistant general counsel for the India region. Murthy works extensively with the company’s India business and global legal teams guiding the business through complex issues in commercial matters, regulatory frameworks and intellectual property related issues for existing products and to enable introduction of innovative products to market. The role required a very steep learning curve in a highly technical area, but Murthy’s unique approach sees her highly regarded for being ‘personable, diligent and timely in her work’.