This is a rough transcript of an interview I did for Law, Laughter and Beyond, a podcast run by my college in conjunction with the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. This description will be updated with the link of the episode I feature in once it comes out - stay tuned!
What drove you to pursue a career in corporate law?
You know, I honestly think that this is the first time I’m realising that I have in fact pursued a career in corporate law. In any case, it happened quite by accident - life really is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. I was always interested in litigating and joined the disputes team at Trilegal when I graduated. The partner I was working with then also took up electricity law disputes (which are before a specialised set of tribunals) and I found that body of law interesting enough to switch internally, full-time into the transactional side of things. I was also extremely lucky to have found people who helped me immensely along this journey.
As to why I joined a firm, it was always seen as the ultimate culmination of the law school journey, and so I suppose that’s what I did - I think in law school, we have a tendency not to think what comes after that PPO or Day Zero placement. It took me some time to realise that your career is a marathon, and not a sprint.
To be honest, I find corporate law to be a little ’cleaner’ - by which, I mean it’s: (a) far swifter; and (b) has room, at least in India, for far neater and cleverer drafting. That also appeals to me.
How was your experience at NUJS? What were some activities that allowed you to develop your skillset?
My experience at NUJS was pretty great to be honest. In general, college gives you room to make mistakes and (hopefully), learn from them. I tried my hand at all the typical law school activities - mooting, debating, and so on - it wasn’t until 3rd year, or even later that I realised I enjoyed ADR competitions much much more. I had the chance to attend the HSF negotiation competition as a participant, and more recently, as a judge, and both were great experiences. In general, negotiation simulations simultaneously carry lower and higher stakes than actual negotiations, but they serve as useful shorthands for the real word.
I read a beautiful tweet once which said ”Lawyers spend three years in law school just to learn to say “it depends.” And you might wonder if that’s time well-spent and all I can say is well, it depends on how you look at it.” - I suppose law school is like that.
How do you think legal education in India can be enhanced to meet the needs of students looking to become transactional lawyers?
That’s a hard question. I haven’t thought much about legal education since I graduated law school, and I remain sceptical about whether large-scale, systemic reforms can be carried out. So I’ll leave all talk of the Socratic method out of this. That being said, I think that the way law is taught, or at least how I was taught, was almost philosophical in the sense of how divorced it was from actual practice.
This may also come up later, but the emphasis on being able to recite sections of statutes (or landmark judgments) from memory is rarely helpful in the real world - a-ha! moments where you know the exact precedent to apply to a problem are far rarer than you would expect. Knowing how to apply the law in order to synthesise an answer for your client’s situation is a far more useful skill than simply knowing what the law says. And I don’t think we’re taught that.
Which brings me to my answer - I think we need a lot more interaction with practising lawyers in law school than is currently done. I guess credit courses bridge the gap to a certain extent - I would try and make them a more regular feature, by which I mean try and incentivise willing individuals to delivery the same course every year. A crash course on M&A for instance, or an introduction to energy law. I know of some instances where these were done as one-off instances in the past.
But as someone who does some degree of recruiting for my team - you really don’t need that as a fresher. That’s what we’re there for once you join us. There is a basic level of expectation once you join a workplace which needs to be met and the rest the seniors at your workplace are meant to take care of.
How do you think law students can find their interests? How did you find your interests?
Exposure. As much as you can get of it.
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Next - intern. Intern a lot. As much as you can, and in as many diverse places as possible. While I took every opportunity I got to intern, my one minor regret is that I didn’t diversify enough.
Also remember, everyone has interests - the aim is to find one that lets you earn a living. And there are more than enough instances of that - I know of people from law school who have gone on to become successful sports and tech lawyers, or even philosophy professors.
I also feel like interests are somewhat of a virtuous cycle and there’s a larger feedback loop at play there. You’re interested in something -> you spend time on it -> you get better at it - you like doing it more. Rinse and repeat.
As to how I found my interest, as I said, it was purely by accident. I had no idea what electricity law was when I was in college. I also had a hostel room overlooking the WBPDCL building - it was only after graduation did I figure out what the folks over there did when I had to submit a proposal to them.
Also, watch this to figure out if being a transactional lawyer is for you.
What is it like working as a projects lawyer? What kind of work and deliverables are there? How is the access to mentorship? Is business development taught and carried out at an early stage? What tips do you have for those who want to work in this area?
Trust me, it’s pretty great, else I wouldn’t be able to do it for so long!
Our work is divided into three buckets:
- Due diligences - you can’t avoid these as a firm lawyer, regardless of practice area. Ours are just specific to the infrastructure sector, be it ports, highways or renewable energy projects. We act both buy-side and sell-side - in either case, our job is to review contracts for the development and operation of these assets as well as for revenue generation from them, along with any approvals required for these activities. The purpose of a DD report is to highlight issues - inconsistencies, factual inaccuracies, etc., basis our review and what we usually see in the market - these points serve as valuation drivers for the deal.
- Contract drafting - we draft the contracts I mentioned under the previous bucket for greenfield projects being set up by our clients.
- General advisory - again, this is pretty much unavoidable, as any kind of lawyer. If you’ve seen The Godfather, then you’ll know your role here. As advertised on the cover, you’re expected to provide counsel to your client - hopefully, with lesser bloodshed. The infrastructure sector is also heavily regulated, with many authorities exercising oversight, so things, and interpretations of these things changes multiple times a week - we’re expected to keep up with and opine on these.
On mentorship - given that it’s an area of law that requires some technical expertise, we all know and recognise that mentorship is required, and it’s fairly easy to come by. We’re a small community and are always very grateful when someone expresses an interest in joining us. Business development is also a little easier, again, since it’s a small and close-knit community.
Tips on those who want to work as projects lawyers - that’s a good one! I honestly don’t think there’s anything specific - I know Legally India had a great list of books for projects lawyers, although I think I’ve only read one of them so your mileage may vary. I do think being a good lawyer is important. Since today’s the World Cup final, let’s put it this way - Kohli isn’t a professional tennis player but I guarantee you he‘ll be a lot better at it than the average person. The same for goes for law - if you’re a good enough lawyer, a change in practice area won’t affect you too much. Be good with contract law, admin law and interpretation of statutes - you’ll use these skills frequently, regardless of where you are or end up going.
That being said, having good instincts as a lawyer is helpful (and that can be learnt), but all you really need is a keen eye for detail and to be willing to work hard and learn - it’s not rocket science!
Not that rocket science is rocket science - after all, we owe a great deal of our aviation history to amateurs working out of garages.
Oh, and Hidden Systems is a fun dive into how the power sector works. Feel free to borrow my copy.
Cheers!