From boardrooms to law firms: General counsels eye law firm opportunities
Increasingly, general counsels (GCs) or legal heads of companies are keen to look at law firms for career opportunities.
A survey conducted with about 300 general counsels or legal heads of the companies states that about 43% of respondents are keen to look at law firm opportunities, mostly when they are getting closer to retirement or lack available in-house opportunities where they can leverage their experience optimally.
A survey conducted with about 300 general counsels or legal heads of the companies states that about 43% of respondents are keen to look at law firm opportunities, mostly when they are getting closer to retirement or lack available in-house opportunities where they can leverage their experience optimally.
Interestingly, most respondents preferred stability over all the other incentives, hence while tech platforms continue to compensate above the market trends, many GCs prefer not to work for a startup, states a survey by executive search firm Native, exclusively shared with ET. According to the report, in the last 18 months, GCs have been seeking stability over all the other incentives, the survey shows.
The survey indicates a lack of available in-house opportunities, where GCs can leverage their vast experience and expertise optimally, as one of the primary reasons for leaving corporates to join firms or start their law firms.
In April, Sanjit Nagarkatti, former general counsel of Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd joined the law firm Economic Laws Practice (ELP). Last year, Ashok K Gupta, former general counsel of the Aditya Birla Group started his firm AKG & Co along with Rajiv Chauhan.
Some other such instances include Shuva Mandal, founding partner of law firm Anagram Partners, who started his firm after leaving Tata Sons Ltd as Group General Counsel and Devaiah P M, the founding partner of Starlaw Partners, who was vice chairman and the group general counsel at Everstone Group.
“General Counsels today want to do transformational work in order to have a palpable impact in their organization,” said the report.
The GC’s role is no longer confined to that of a Chief Legal Officer but now has transitioned into having considerable management oversight and acting as a strategic advisor to the board.
The survey suggests that historically a majority of Indian Companies had General Counsels reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). However, about 50% of the surveyed GCs report to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), about 24% report to global or regional general counsels, about 15% report to the CFO and about 11% report to the board.
“As the contribution of GCs in the growth trajectory of companies has substantially increased, the companies too have realised the value brought in and are rewarding GCs with higher management oversight, strategic involvement and ESOPs / Equity,” said Priyanka Jain, head of policy and legal at the fintech startup Fi Money.
The survey also indicates a trend of law firm partners or veterans joining in-house teams. This includes Richa Mohanty Rao joining Urban Company as general counsel in May 2023. Before that, she was a partner at the law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Also, a full-service law firm Trilegal’s counsel Nistha Soonnee joined fintech startup Slice as deputy general counsel in February 2022.
“Given India has over 5000 listed companies and that number keeps increasing every year, the demand for General Counsels and abundance of specialized opportunities will continue to grow in the coming years,” adds the survey further.
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