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International Consultants USA

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Group Editorand CEO

Shyam Grover

27 IN-DEPTHGoods & Services Tax (GST): So Close Yet So Far With the original date for its introduction in having been missed

due to various reasons, all eyes are on its promised new date of

April 1, 2016

37 IN-FOCUSMisleading Ads and Absence of LawDespite several legislations, there is ad galore in misleading

consumers. What needs to be done so that the practice of

misleading people to sell products is thwarted?

56 SNEAK PEEKDecriminalization of IPC Section 309Suicide is a complex issue and therefore suicide prevention efforts

require coordination and collaboration among multiple sectors of

society. The present decision of the government to decriminalize

attempt to suicide will go a long away in moving forward.

72 EDUCATION SPECIALFree and Fair Trial in the CommunicationAgeAny institution is liable to be abused if it exceeds its legitimate

jurisdiction and functions. In this digital age, the innocents may be

condemned for no reason or those who are guilty may not get a fair

trial and may get a higher sentence than they deserved.

* Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act. Printed & Published by Shyam Grover, SriGro Interactive Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Tara Art Printers Pvt Ltd, Noida, Editor: PBA Srinivasan. The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for errors & omissions contained in this publication, howsoever caused. The opinion & views contained in this publication are not necessarilythose of the publisher. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on the information contained in the publication which is provided for general use & may not be appropriate forthe readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trade marks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing.

E X P E R T P A N E L

Prof. Madabhushi Sridhar NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

H. V. Ramadas Advocate, Karnataka High Court

Kumar V. Jahgirdar President-CRISP, NGO working for

Child Rights

Editor-in-Chief

PBA Srinivasan contents

A D V I S O R Y B O A R D

Dr. Justice AR Lakshmanan Former Chairman, Law Commission

of India

Amarjit Singh Chandhiok Additional Solicitor General of India

Justice R. S. Sodhi Retired Delhi High Court Judge

Lalit Bhasin President - Society of Indian Law Firms

Badrinath DurvasulaVP & Head Legal

Larsen & Toubro Limited

Krishan Kalra Former Secretary General, PHDCCI

REGULARS

CUTTING EDGE

PAGE 08

62 SNIPPETS

78 JOBS ARENA

80 CAPSULES

83 COFFEE BREAK

84 BUZZ SQUARE

89 EVENT CALENDAR

90 TRIVIA

48S. RAMASWAMYEVP-Group General

Counsel, Escorts Limited

& President, ICCA

counselcorner

Freedom & Law in TheAdministration of Justice

Is it Time for Next Reforms from The FinanceMinister?

India’s Taxing Woes and FDI

The present taxation is beset with problems which is not suited to

more benevolent foreign investment regime in India. With India’s

fortunes pegged to investments from foreign investors, many

changes in the FDI policy are needed to bring the transition.

expertspeak

33

LAWRENCE JACOBSO

SAURABH BHAGOTRAZaiwalla & Co.

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Briefly, tell us about your role in theorganization and the mandates you handle?I currently hold the title of Vice PresidentLegal at Aricent, and am based out ofGurgaon. My madate at Aricent includes,inter alia, frontline legal support on aglobal basis for Aricent’s transactions-these could be revenue generatingtransactions, cross border M&As,insourcing deals etc. I am also responsiblefor corporate compliance, Intellectualproperty matters, open Source compliance,strategic initiatives of the organization, andany legal advisory issues that arise duringthe course of Aricent’s operations.

Tell us something about your journey so far asa General Counsel in India?My journey has been an interesting mix ofpractice as an external counsel and avariety of industry mix as an in housecounsel. I started my career with a boutiquelaw firm, where I learned the basics of lawpractice, which saw me setting up my ownlaw practice. Having pursued that path fora few years, I took up an in house counselrole with an ITES company in Bangalore,selling my share of the practice to myerstwhile partner. This was a toughdecision, but in hind sight, the correct one,since today, I considermyself as a well roundedlegal professional who hasthe ability to analyse andsolve issues holistically,since I can anticipateconsequences from alitigation and regulatoryaspect while at the sametime not losing focus of thecore business aspect of anyissue. My journey as an inhouse counsel has seen mehold leadership positions in

22 | Lex WITNESS | February 2015 A Lex Witness Reader Connect Initiative

tête-à-tête

Himanshu GoswamiVice President-Legal Aricent Group

ON A CASUAL NOTEFavourite Gadget – has to be my Smart

Phone

Favourite App – Google News and

instagram

Favourite Automobile Brand – Harley

Davidson and Range Rover

Favourite Writing Instrument – Sheaffers

Favourite Holiday Destination – Leh and

Khajjiar

Favourite Cuisine – Thai and Mughalai.

The Professional Triumph

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February 2015 | Lex WITNESS | 23A Lex Witness Reader Connect Initiative

tête-à-tête

organisations like ACS, Microsoft, WNSand currently at Aricent. This has beena very fulfilling journey, which hasgiven me exposure to some of the bestinternational corporate flavours andpractices and has given me theopportunity to learn something new ateach juncture and this learning processis a continuing one.

Do you feel that the role of GeneralCounsels is evolving in today's businessscenario? And if so, how?Yes, the role of the General Counseltoday has evolved to a great degreecompared to what it was, say, twodecades ago. From being an office thatwas approached only in the event of adispute or where there was a regulatorycompliance that was needed, today theoffice of the general counsel is anintegral cog in the wheel of theorganization. The office of the GeneralCounsel is multifarious in its remit andis the conscience keeper of thecompany. Today’s General Counsel is avalued partner to the business and isproactively involved in areaslike deal structuring, revenuerecognition, risk mitigation,compliance, governmentadvocacy, policy planning,corporate governance,taxation, M&A etc. The officeof the General Counsel is thetrusted advisor to the board ofdirectors and is an integralpartofthe senior leadershipteam of the organization..

What are the key challenges thatGeneral Counsels have to dealwith on a regular basis,irrespective of the industrysector?Some key challenges that everyGeneral Counsel, and in fact every inhouse lawyer, has to face is to maintaina fine balance between risk mitigation,regulatory compliance and businessenablement. An overt focus on anyone, to the detriment of the other two,can result in derailment of a company’sstrategy. Hence the General Counselhas to be a professional who is well

versed in all aspect’s of the company’soperations, so that they can walk theproverbial tightrope when it comes tobalancing out seemingly irreconcilablechallenges. The other key attribute thatevery legal professional needs today isgood inter personal skills. Given theinherent challenges of this role, an in-house legal professional needs toensure that the interests of variousarms of the organization are taken careof while ensuring that this is not at thecost of exposing the company to risk.For this, apart from good subjectmatter knowledge, a high degree of softskills are imperative.

Any advice for someone exploring a legalcareer as an in-house counsel?To any budding lawyer looking at acareer as an in house counsel, myadvice is two fold:

In the first 3 to 5 years of your career,try and work in a multi-specialty lawfirm and obtain a broad based skill set.You should look at

becoming a generalist in your initialyears rather than a specialist.

Read. There is no substitute for reading.And by reading, I don’t just mean lawjournals, but business journals,financial papers and the like, so thatyou develop a keen understanding ofbusiness dynamics while honing yourskills as a lawyer.

What are your thoughts onimproving synergies betweenlaw firms and corporate in-house legal teams?One of the key areas that a law firm needs to

focus on is to train their lawyers to be more

business friendly. A legal advisor needs to speak

the language of a business lawyer and not a legal

consultant, for a law firm to position itself as an

extended arm of the organization. While I see this

improving with each passing day, we need to

cover a large distance before we catch up with

our counterparts in countries like the US,

Germany and UK.

w

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