Team size: 7

Can you tell us a little about your significant accomplishments over the last few years, as a team or by yourself?

Over the past few years, the in-house legal profession has increased in value and recognition. There has been a complete shift in the mindset of Indian companies in involving in-house counsel from the beginning of the transactions and operations. That is a great accomplishment for the overall profession and my team.

My team’s role has evolved into a four-stage solution — legal advice, risk mitigation strategy, negotiation of contracts and dispute resolution and mediation settlement.

Legal departments now have a decisive say on all aspects, such as transactions, compliance, contracts, litigation and ESG. This has helped the organisation develop a more valuable approach to risk mitigation, reduced litigation, and finalising deals and recoveries.

Have any recent political, economic or regulatory changes impacted your work or company? How are you dealing with this?

Recent changes have taught us many new things we ignored in previous years. Working from home helped us to understand that it is possible to deliver by a team sitting in remote places. Covid-19 made us more techno-savvy and has demonstrated that our litigations or deals could be possible from different locations. Compliance is at the top of the discussions, which is zero tolerance for the team. ESG and CSR are the new areas we look forward to, and we are working on Diversity, inclusion and giving back to society. Overall, learning for the department and team has strengthened the legal and compliance system in the organisation.

How has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities?

We are always concerned about climate change and sustainability at the organisation level. Being infrastructure consultants, we play a vital role in educating, influencing and implementing the importance of environmental awareness and sustainability. We understand the need for attention to climate change and social and economic development sustainability. Our cross-border discussions always have one main bullet on the agenda: the sustainability of our business activities, and our team is well-equipped to deal with this.