About

Singapore-based lawyer Hemant Sharma has over 17 years’ experience operating as an in-house counsel and company secretary. Having been a crucial part of legal teams for the likes of Airtel, HCL Perot, GE, Autodesk and Avon, his vast experience has offered opportunities of operating in different landscapes, regional markets, varied challenges and more importantly tremendous professional growth and agility. For about last four years Hemant has been with Yahoo, currently in the position of senior director legal and government affairs, managing legal and corporate affairs while supporting India and Southeast Asia markets. His areas of expertise encompass corporate and commercial laws, transactions, M&A, compliance, litigation, corporate restructuring, government affairs, public policy, IP and technology laws and people management. Hemant takes great pride in developing his team and believes that some of the most significant changes he has made to the legal department involve empowering his team to operate with independence and confidence. In such a diverse region, Hemant is not afraid of his team at times committing mistakes as long as these are treated as learning opportunities. ‘Advice I always give to my team members is that our education and training as lawyers give us a unique advantage to look at a problem or a situation from many angles, and therefore most of the time it may not be black or white for us in the corporate and geopolitical world. The solution lies somewhere out there! Make sure you work towards finding that solution but within the framework of the law of the land, as you would always be the flag bearer of and answerable to the legal system of the countries and societies you operate within’. Considered a trusted business partner and not just another support function, Hemant goes above and beyond to deliver practical legal advice to the business to simplify the process and make the business user friendly. This trust is evidenced by the fact that very early in his career, he got a seat at the table with the Board of Directors, CEOs and CXOs, negotiating complex multimillion dollar, multi-jurisdictional transactions, managing regulatory and labour law affairs in complex global markets, supporting end-to-end M&A deals, managing sensitive joint venture transactions, and most importantly providing solutions to complex legal and business problems. Hemant concedes this was challenging but equally rewarding: ‘It was like being thrown deep into the sea, not only learning to swim myself, but to quickly learn to extend my hand to others’. This is how his journey as a lawyer started and took him all over the world, working with some great companies and people, who are largely responsible for Hemant’s accomplishments and a gratifying career.