This interview has been published by Anshi Mudgal and The SuperLawyer Team
What initially drew you to the field of law? Was there a defining moment or experience that solidified your decision to pursue it as a career?
They say ‘Blood is thicker than water’, well this proved true in my case and there were significant circumstances and events in my life that had drawn me towards the field of law. Later on, as a child as I grew up, I came to know my grandfather was also an advocate and somehow his stories and the cases he advocated motivated me to seek logic and reason in everything and life at large therefore making me question ‘Why?’
My grandfather Late Nirad Behari Sikdar who passed law in 1942 from Calcutta University had a great influence on me but I didn’t have the good fortune to see him but I had heard his stories which made me realise and achieve my destiny later in life and pursue a career in law. I think not seeing him was something I wish I had but then I realised by carrying forward this noble profession, this way I could be a part of him and yet pave the legacy he had made.
As an advocate, he was a senior counsel who had done some impressive landmark cases of that era like against the North Frontier Railways in the year of 1966; as he was a hardcore civil practitioner. I slowly developed a passion and love for law as I tread on my journey, as each day I consider myself to be an apprentice learning and improving the craft of practising law.
What motivated you to pursue an LL.M. in Corporate and Financial Law, and what drew you specifically to this area of specialization?
Well, my internships and clerkships were all aligned towards general corporate practice in Corporate Teams of law firms and organisations because from the onset of my law school, I was much interested in commercial laws and corporate laws. Slowly, I developed a sweet spot for this niche area of law.
I think it is very important to discover and understand your path at an early stage because then you can focus and decide your stream line in the field of law and hence carve your practice area. As a law student and even till now I was always focused on academia and research because better research means better practice and vice -versa. My main objective to do an LLM was to focus on research and academia pertaining to my practice area that would enhance my analytical reasoning and articulation on general corporate and commercial laws. This is a myth that masters are done to have a hike on your payslip or promotion in your organisation. NO, it doesn’t work that way, masters are done simply to have a niche area of intellectual understanding and to develop an expertise of knowledge in a certain specific practice area for those who like to pursue it.
Once I had asked my law school senior in my final year, “Should we do a masters”, his blunt reply was “Yes if you are rich”, well both my masters programs, I had been offered scholarships for the tuition fees because of my precedent academic credentials and entrance exam score also for the second one I didn’t take it because I was working(had taken a sabbatical from the firm), also so that a student who really needed the financial support would get it, hence higher education is not always necessarily only for the rich I suppose.
This area of specialisation is very dynamic as the regulatory, compliance part of the practice keeps on evoluting throughout the world and the best part is that the application is not necessarily bounded by the jurisdiction and surpasses borders and becomes universal for the application part of the law at most times.
In the early stages of your career working both in corporate roles and later with a law firm what key experiences helped hone your legal skills, and how did they contribute to building a strong foundation for your current practice?
Well, during my early years I remember that I was very curious, I wanted to solve problems, I asked ‘why’ till I was satisfied with the answer given. I always did my homework. I did more than what was asked for not because of my senior’s satisfaction but for the fact that I wanted to deliver. I remember asking myself “What can I give? ” and what I am bringing to the table.
I was punctual and I had an eagerness to learn. I think discipline played a strong foundation in building myself for the lawyer I am today but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to have fun and a good time. Balance is the key and with the right momentum and a little bit of luck the world is your oyster. Just like a lot of lawyers when I worked at law firms, clients were my main focus. Also when I worked in-house, stakeholders were my primary focus.
There is a saying that if a good in-house counsel takes care of the stakeholders, then the stakeholders would take care of you. As a lawyer I think it is very important to build relationships and that’s exactly what I have done in most places I have worked till now.
What prompted your transition from working in the corporate sector to practicing with U.S. & Co (Advocates & Solicitors)? How would you compare the roles and working environments of both settings, and what unique insights did each offer?
After a certain point of time, I think change is inevitable, I took the jump trusting my instinct being the right time to do so. I think the best way to cater as an in-house lawyer is to understand the business because the organisation is your one client and your sole purpose is to make every effort to retain legal sanctity and regulatory legal compliance for the organization also to defend when necessary. Over here you dawn many hats but touch upon almost every available practice area but in a limited spectrum for your day-day work also you have to learn to efficiently manage your stakeholder and have good stakeholder management skills because they are not necessarily lawyers or have studied law but can be people from different verticals in the organisation. You have to be patient, diligent and research-oriented practitioner catering to your stakeholders.
Whereas, in private practice every client possesses a new challenge and there is a need that you got to have the client’s best interest at all times and do what is possible in offering the best possible legal service. Now, it becomes challenging when stepping towards the senior roles in a law firm because you are not only supposed to cater to clients but also bring in business and have a book as a partner which would be mostly about business development in the firm.
Each role has its own appeal and sets of unique challenges as the seniority increases, the complexity increases and the role becomes proactively engaging in different ways for both in-house and law firm lawyers.
As a Principal Associate handling a diverse portfolio of corporate clients across sectors such as IT, pharma, and infrastructure, you’ve led several high-value transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, and investor rounds. Could you share insights into a particularly complex or high-impact deal you’ve worked on and how you navigated them?
One of the most challenging high value transactions was a cross-border acquisition in the technology space. The deal was a high value deal and our client was a mid-sized Indian technology company acquiring a European database company.
Now there were some key challenges we needed to focus on the deal:
- Regulatory Issues across Jurisdictions- We had to navigate both Indian regulatory requirements of FEMA, SEBI and RBI Approvals and EU compliances including GDPR.
- There was a heavy due diligence on the IP Risks done by the team.
- We had to do Investor coordination, the transaction had multiple investors including PE funds and strategic investors with varying expectations. Aligning all the stakeholders required careful drafting of the SPA and waterfall structures.
- For the cultural and operational integration, we closely worked with the client’s internal team and foreign external team for minimum disruption and retainment of key talent in the organisation. The deal closed after six months successfully resulting in a significant boost in our client’s global footprint.
While dealing with matters relating to data privacy compliance under the DPDP Act, 2023, how do you balance legal innovation with compliance in today’s fast-evolving corporate regulatory landscape?
Having an equilibrium in legal innovation with compliance under the DPDP Act, 2023 in India’s vigorously changing fast paced corporate regulatory environment requires a proactive strategic and multi-disciplinary approach.
It is very important to understand the spirit as well as the Letter of the Law. The DPDP Act emphasizes consent, purpose, limitation, data minimization, and accountability. It is very important to interpret the law holistically. To designate individual rights while enabling business innovation. Design should be made on the onset of privacy by design principles into products, services, and internal systems.
For better judicial interpretation regulatory landscapes e.g. India’s DPDP, EU GDPR, etc are mostly dynamic. It is very important in having a practical governance framework in place as a centralized privacy governance model. To conclude it should be understood that innovation and compliance are not mutually exclusive. In accordance with the DPDP Act, organisations should have a momentum towards an ethical innovation, to have solutions futuristic but privacy oriented. Thus, developing frameworks that are transparent, adaptable, user centric that supports the business which can promote in this evolving legal environment.
What are some common legal pitfalls startups often encounter during early-stage funding rounds, and how did you proactively address or mitigate these while managing the legal aspects of a technology startup?
Navigating startup early-stage funding rounds can be quite tricky and this may lead to derail progress or damage in the long run.
Some common pitfalls for startups (Early-stage funding) are:
- Wrong entity in corporate formation and structure
- Incapability in protecting and securing IP Intellectual Property
- Chaos on Cap Table
- Non-compliance with Securities Laws
- Improper Due Diligence
- Ambiguous Drafted Founder’s Agreement
- Violation of Employment Laws
To manage these legal aspects, it is required to have an active startup focused mindset to set up the company properly and duly advise fundraising. There should be a clean obligation of IP, use safe templates and investor friendly terms, do equity management from issued founder stock. Commit to a structured well planned due diligence flagging risks. Also, last but not least there should be proper scrutiny for supportive compliance with corporate governance and employment law.
What advice would you offer to law students and young professionals aiming to explore corporate law, particularly in areas like M&A, data privacy, and legal compliance? Are there any specific resources or approaches you’d recommend to help them stay ahead of the curve?
I think for law students and young professionals it is very important to have sound knowledge because there needs to be a marriage between theory and practice, that’s where excellence happens. General awareness of recent deal structuring in the market and the tactics followed is always helpful; it helps us understand the latest trends in deal structuring M&A. Also, it’s very important to stay updated with the latest regulations and the statutory norms.
In data privacy one should have a clear understanding of GDPR and DPDP 2023 also one must keep in mind data privacy is not just theory its operational. It is cardinal to understand privacy and compliance are implemented in practice. One can get certified through CIPP/US, CIPP/E these are law focussed privacy certificates from IAPP.
Legal Compliance goes beyond because it acts like a bridge between legal, operations and ethics. Nowadays, businesses try to build a strong legal and regulatory foundation by developing practical, business – facing skills in Anti-Corruption laws: FCPA, UK Bribery Act, AML/KYC in Banking and finance, Anti -Trust Laws (Competition), Environmental & Labor regulations, corporate governance & SEC rules also sometimes there are industry specific compliance. For law students and young law professionals it is also important to make tailor made internship choices from an early stage and take special attention to corporate law classes, white-collar crime, regulatory law or ethics.
- For M&A some recommended reads are: Mergers & Acquisitions and Other Restructuring Activities by Donald DePamphilis, The Art of M&A by Stanley Foster Reed, Alexandra Lajoux and H. Peter Nesvold. It also is important to read industry reports Like the Financial Times, Bloomberg M&A News, Reuter Deals etc.
- For Data Privacy I recommend EU Data Protection and the GDPR by Christopher Kuner, Privacy Law and Society by Anita Allen & Marc Rotenberg, comprehensive research can be done through Westlaw, LexisNexis and Bloomberg Law.
- It is advisable to do some certificate courses as well on these practice areas which helps to stay ahead of the curve and also equips with the latest trends and focus of the industry at large.
- Legal Compliance is something where one needs to keep abreast with the latest regulatory laws and focus on the industry trends that provide valuable market insights to delve much further to understand the concepts and safeguarding it. It is recommendable to take one or two internships in an in-house legal department of any good organization to gain a much more mature practical understanding.
Balancing the demands of a legal career with personal life can be challenging. How do you maintain this balance, and what are your go-to ways to unwind or recharge outside of work?
Yes, indeed it is challenging and always has been and would be. Well, maintaining a balance is difficult as it is all about managing workflow and if there is work then it has to be done with maintaining a certain standard, that’s all. I try not to work on a Sunday most times because Sundays, I try to keep for my family and myself.
I try to rejuvenate from work by listening to all kinds of music under the sun and I myself play the piano since childhood for the last 24 years. Since my seventh grade I had been interested in Equestrian activities so I did learn In India and UK now also occasionally I go for pursuing this hobby at the Polo Club when I have the time. I like to travel when I have the time and also, I do love driving, I take out time for going on long drives. Off late, I don’t get to read much outside law these days but I do like to read novels and autobiographies.
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