This interview has been published by Anshi Mudgal and The SuperLawyer Team
After receiving your B. Com Degree, what motivated you to pursue a Law Degree at Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University in Chennai?
I am a second generation lawyer, with my father Mr. Ramachandrudu (Retd IOB Legal Advisor and Deputy Secy. to Banking Ombudsman) hailing from Chennai and an ardent steward from Adv. K.K. Venugopal Offices in Chennai where other stalwarts like Hon. Former Minister Mr. Chidambaram, Late Mr. R. Mohan (Former Addl. Solicitor General of India), so it was inevitable that I was subconsciously tuned from the very beginning to what was expected from a logical, pragmatic solution provider and as a crisis handler. Business Studies culminated interest to further Commercial and Corporate laws in India.
You went on to pursue your LLM from University of Manchester, United Kingdom where you specialised in International Business Law. Can you share with us your experiences and your motivation to pursue this specialisation?
To have a global business acumen, one has to extensively study how different legal environments can impose on businesses. My agenda was to study business law with a mindset of how justice can be delivered for cross border work apart from what is practiced domestically. When laws encompass boundaries, certain denominators are preset – It is important to ascertain them while traversing the dynamism that circumstances create when businesses are perceived and run globally.
You briefly worked with a law firm before moving to the Corporates and then back to founding a law firm. What motivated your transition and could you share your experience working in both cultures?
Honestly, that is what the external world will see, when you see a profile like mine. I started with a law firm, to choose what kind of company or sector that I wished to see myself for the future, after spending some time, I realised I was interested in Cross border contracts, IT contracts and FEMA. When I realised that when money was coming into India, majority had to be invested in real estate as there was a boom around 2008. By end of 2010, I had equipped myself to handle various subjects in International law, along with FEMA and Real Estate. From manning a 10-member team to a team of 100 and also leading legal departments for 15 years across India, I realised with the connect and bandwidth, the natural progression was to lead a team with my own firm, in my case it was more of a rebranding from my father’s sole practitioner firm.
You have headed various legal departments of different big companies before starting your independent practice in 2015. What were the initial challenges that you faced while running your practice and how has your experience in the corporate world shaped your practice?
Advocates largely come from a sole practioner/ promoter/ senior practitioner driven set ups, which means they come unorganised yet they are effective in their own ways to perform a desired task. Corporate experience comes in handy, when we quantify the quality work that is executed, meaning, – adhering to process, setting policies, having TAT’s, Setting the flow of reporting structure, Ensuring Good communication and also to a large extent find time to work as a team and progress to a collective growth and vision. Heading Legal departments gives you an expertise to handle different stakeholders in ahigh paced setup by meeting their already high expectations. Being Agile and flexible at the same time can accommodate one’s decision-making power in a dynamic environment.
As the Managing Director and Principal Attorney of M/s. 5IVE LEGAL, you have experience representing clients in various intellectual property matters, including domain name disputes. What are the key challenges that international entities encounter when dealing with domain disputes in India?
Half the Work is done at the application stage itself. By having a robust application with best precedence and details will ensure your applications are successful. Secondly, when we appear for a dispute, the weightage given more to the research and that sort of research that does not necessarily extend to legal books or precedence alone but reaching and dipping into practical real-world implications. To be honest, common sense alone can half your battles in any court room. We should remember we are not creating anything but delivering what is already created, so we should not lose focus on issues that are primarily important. One main challenge for entities globally is the hesitation to challenge as they are unaware of the cost or timely outcome. They are also blindsided by the procedures involved. Domain disputes and cybersquatting to a large extent has had their disputes resolved by various forums by treating them largely to a Trade Mark that has been existing.
You have extensive experience in Private Equity Financing and advising clients on investment-related matters. How do you stay updated with the evolving trends in private equity, investment law, and regulations?
These PE or Debt Transactions revolve around various stakeholders in a transaction such as a Banker, Loan Provider, Investment Banker, TPA, Tax advisors, Authorities such as RBI/SEBI etc, and clients who are either mortgagors, debenture issuers or purchasers. I might have missed some, these entities ensure we are up to date with what’s happening, so is our language while dealing with such transactions. We treat every deal individually and hence generalisation is a misconception when dealing with such transactions.
We understand that your firm has merged with another large full-service law firm, what does this mean for the future?
The recent merger with AKM and Associates LLP, (A Six-decade old long firm) – “AKM 5ive Legal” stands as a testament to my vision for the firm—a vision that blends deep legal expertise with forward-thinking solutions. By leveraging the combined resources and expertise of both firms, this merger aims to consolidate its position as one of the top tier corporate law firms in Chennai by addressing a broad spectrum of corporate legal needs while upholding a strong commitment to ethics, excellence, and strategic vision. We have embraced technology as a means of improving service delivery, ensuring that our clients receive innovative, future-ready legal support. This transformation is a reflection of my broader belief in the power of adaptability and continuous learning.
With your expertise and experience, what advice would you give to the younger generation who wish to excel in the field of law?
My advice to young lawyers is to find you drive in what you love to practice as a lawyer in this very road that many have travelled. Now your journey may not be like others, so you can pave new paths, create detours, or merge with other knowledge banks, as long as you steer yourself to your destination.
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