About

Since 2014, Pawan Singhal has served as executive director – legal and general counsel for the Indian subsidiary of US multinational conglomerate 3M. Singhal is a senior legal professional, with a strong legal and finance background corroborated by professional qualifications and vast corporate experience over the last 20 years. He held a number of top legal positions at reputable multinational corproations prior to joining 3M, serving at AstraZeneca Pharma India, Max Bupa Health Insurance and Intel India. Singhal says these experiences helped him hone his ‘leadership and management skills to become a seasoned, strong and versatile professional’. New initiatives that he implemented in the 3M Indian legal team include developing legal competencies through individual development plans, building professional capabilities and skills in the legal and non-legal teams through coaching and mentoring, and developing a solution-based proactive legal engagement mind-set. He has also standardised document templates for different categories of agreements, created a secretarial function with high focus on corporate governance and simplified standard operating procedures for key recurring activities. In achieving the right balance between business strategies for growth objectives and keeping the company on the right side of the laws in multiple jurisdictions, Singhal has crafted a perception of the legal team: now ‘being seen as a business partner and collaborator who is considered to be “with the business, by the business and for the business” and who enables the business to make informed decisions about potential legal and compliance risks, but at the same time without compromising on the aspects of protecting the corporation’. Proactive in the wider legal market, Singhal has been a member of the All India Management Association since 2000 and was on the National Expert Committee on Company Law and Corporate Affairs of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India in 2005.